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HOLDING YOU OWN IN A CANNABIS DEBATE
These are some of the most common quick fire questions and answers. Sixty years of Reefer Madness
lies and hystertia means that most people today who oppose cannabis law reform come from a
position of ignorance of the true facts. Use these answers to help set them straight! (See also
Marijuana Myths, Dutch Cannabis Policy, Answers to Common Questions, )
Question: Is cannabis harmful to health?
Answer: Much research, including The Lancet and DEA Judge Young. The Merck Manual (USA),
LaGuardia Commission (Canada), The Wootton Report (UK), The Shafer Commission (USA) Jamaican
Studies, Costa Rica Studies, have not shown cannabis to be at all harmful to health. However,
NORML NZ recognises that some people do have problems controlling their cannabis use. For these
people, health education and treatment is the best solution, rather than arrest and
incarceration.
Question: Is cannabis a drug?
Answer: Debatable. See earlier.
Question: Is cannabis poisonous?
Answer: There is no fatal dose for cannabis, and there has never been a recorded death in over
10,000 years of use.
Question: Does cannabis intoxicate?
Answer: Not in the sense of losing control, which is what intoxication does. Intoxication is produced
by toxics; cannabis is not toxic.
Question: Is cannabis THC?
Answer: Tetrahydrocannabinol is one of hundreds of cannabinoids in cannabis. THC is not cannabis,
cannabis is not THC.
Question: What are the effects of cannabis?
Answer: We'd like to simply say 'try it and see' but that would be a crime! Cannabis relaxes alpha
waves produced by the brain. The effect is usually mild, relaxing and pleasant. Any undesirable
or unpleasant effects of high doses or in the novice wears off as the cannabis wears off. It can
produce giggles, increase concentration, stimulate appetite, help sleep etc. Many artists and
sportsmen use cannabis. We must be careful to distinguish between the effects of pure cannabis
and those of the doubtful substances often sold on the street, which may contain nasty drugs.
Question: Does cannabis damage the reproductive system?
Answer: No. This false claim was based on the work of Dr Gabriel Nahas who experimented with cells in
petri dishes. Nahas' generalization from the laboratory dish to human beings has been rejected
by the scientific community. Studies of humans have failed to reveal any damage. Moreover we all
know plenty of people who have used cannabis for years and they all have plenty of normal,
healthy children. See also Greek Studies.
Question: Does cannabis damage the immune system?
Answer: No. Again there is no evidence. Two studies in 1978 and one in 1988 showed that cannabis
actually stimulates the immune system.
Question: Does cannabis impair short-term memory?
Answer: No. Some people may find themselves distracted whilst others find cannabis aids concentration
and improves memory. That is why so many good musicians smoke cannabis and are able to remember
complex series of notes and words.
Question: Is today's cannabis more potent than in the past?
Answer:No. It is about the same. In the past delays in analysis effected results. Potency cannot be
determined by the amount of THC alone. The most potent form of cannabis was probably that sold
as 'American Cannabis' in the 1920's.
Question: What does cannabis smoke contain?
Answer: Over two thousand different chemicals, none of which produces harm. Compare with coffee which
contains over 800 volatile chemicals, only 21 of which have ever been tested on animals and 16
of those caused cancers in rats.
Question: How many convicted annually?
Answer: In 1997 there were over 22,000 cannabis 'offences' reported by the police in New Zealand, up
from 5184 in 1979, an increase of almost 400%. Cannabis makes up 95% of all drug offences. Around
60% are for simple possession. 37% of all those arrested are Maori - almost three times
over-represented on a population basis. Cannabis law enforcement costs the New Zealand taxpayer
over $17 million every year in policing costs, and a comparable amount again in Court and Prison
costs. These costs do not include prohibition-related crime such as assaults, murders, extortion,
theft, or lower police efficiency resulting from the reduced respect for the law and the criminal
justice system that prohibition creates.
Question: How many people die as a result of cannabis use?
Answer: None. Ever. It is not toxic and there is no overdose.
Question: Is cannabis addictive?
Answer: No. It is habit-forming only in the sense that it is natural to wish to repeat a pleasant
experience. There is no withdrawal. One simply returns to whatever state one was in before
consumption. See LaGuardia, and Shafer for more information. But we must remember that those
people with addictive personalities can come to psychologically depend on anything, and those
using cannabis to ease their suffering may depend upon it as a medicine. This does not mean that
the hundreds of millions of people using cannabis worldwide are cannabis addicts.
Question: Is cannabis a 'gateway drug'?
Answer: No, otherwise the 500,000 smokers in NZ in 1990 (Black & Casswell, Drugs in New Zealand 1990)
would be addicts of other drugs by now. The situation in Holland has confirmed that cannabis use
does not lead to drug use. In any case a huge percentage of the population takes drugs of one
sort or another. The fact that a lot of heroin users previously took cannabis does not suggest
that most cannabis users will ever take heroin. Rather than the 'gateway' effect being a result
of cannabis use, it is a result of the prohibition-created black market. See LaGuardia, Jamaican
studies.
Question: Do you advocate the use of cannabis?
Answer: We would like to be able to advocate the medicinal use of cannabis in preference to many
prescribed drugs, as well as advocate the preferred use of cannabis for hard drug users and
alcohol addicts. Unfortunately if we did this we would be subject to arrest for incitement.
Question: When was cannabis made illegal?
Answer: In New Zealand in 1961 under the Narcotics Act, as a result of the mis-classification of
cannabis as a narcotic. Cannabis was 'properly' banned with the passing of the current Misuse of
Drugs Act in 1975.
Question: How many cannabis users in the world?
Answer: An estimated 600 million - but this probably far too low.
Question: How many cannabis users in New Zealand?
Answer: The most reliable study, Drugs in New Zealand 1990, by Black & Casswell of Auckland University's
Alcohol and Public Health Research Unit showed:
12% of the entire population aged between 18 and 45 are regular users.
43% of the entire population aged between 18 and 45 have tried cannabis at least once.
18% of the entire population aged between 18 and 45 have tried cannabis at least once in the past year.
Half of all those who had ever tried cannabis had done so by their 17th birthday. Use was highest
amongst 20-24 year old males; 65% have tried cannabis.
Question: Is cannabis fat soluble? Does it stay in your system?
Answer: Yes, for from 14 to 40 days. But this is long after any effect has worn off and it causes no
harm. Vitamin A and DDT are also fat soluble and linger in your body; this does not mean they
necessarily cause any harm or create any benefit.
Question: What are the other uses of cannabis?
Answer: Besides social use and medicinal use, as a fibre for paper, rope and cloth, as a building
material and board for furniture, packing material, animal bedding, foodstuff, prevents land
erosion, to make plastic, paints, varnish, and sealant, as a fuel as a lubricant etc. There are
over 25,000 different uses for industrial hemp (cannabis fibre), the cultivation of which without
a permit is currently prohibited in NZ.
Question: What are the penalties for cannabis?
Answer: For possession, in NZ, anything from a caution to three months in jail with or without a fine
of up to $1000. For cultivation, supply, possession with intent to supply, importation and
conspiracy (including being concerned or knowingly involved with any of these offence), up to 7
years in prison with an unlimited fine and confiscation of assets. In Holland the sentences for
even huge amounts are relatively light. In some countries even the death penalty is a
possibility.
Question: What are the dangers of smoking cannabis?
Answer:
- Getting arrested.
- Being expelled from school or fired from your job.
- Health hazards from impurities.
- Being offered hard drugs.
- Mixing it with tobacco.
- Becoming a social outcast and/or persecution.
- Convictions, a criminal record, banned from entering some counties (eg USA, Japan etc)
- All prohibition created problems (eg, violence, police corruption)
Question: Is cannabis at all dangerous?
Answer: Of course, everything has some danger. You can drown in water, air starts fires, you can
choke on a sweet. Cannabis is about as dangerous as the same sized piece of wood. You could hit
somebody with a large lump. However, cannabis was described by DEA Administrator Judge Young as
one of the safest known substances.
Question: Is decriminalisation a step in the right direction?
Answer: No. Decriminalisation is simple turning a blind eye to small time users or growers. It avoids
the real issues of control, and simply makes it easier for the police to bust even more cannabis
users. Cannabis quality could not be tested. NORML NZ proposes that a regulated cannabis market
be set up to control everything from who grows the cannabis, what they grow, where it is sold,
how it is labelled, packaged and promoted, who it is sold to, where it is sold, and how much tax
is paid. We want it sold by reputable dealers who's profits are taxed. And we want controls
placed on minimum ages (we propose 18 as a legal age of consent) and its marketing.
Question: What about synthetic cannabis?
Answer: Research is continuing to produce medicinal cannabis substances which do not give a high when
consumed. Cannabis is a holistic plant - the whole plant is necessary. Synthetic 'drugs' such as
Nabilone or Marinol are considered virtually useless compared with natural cannabis and can have
unpleasant side effects such as depression. Cannabis usually alleviates depression.
Question: In third world countries the poor and unemployed are seen sitting smoking
cannabis, they never seem to get anything together and remain poor. Isn't this an effect of
cannabis? That is, does the use of cannabis a-motivate?
Answer: No. The reverse is true. Because they are poor and unemployed they have time to sit and smoke.
Cannabis grows wild in many of these countries. They smoke it because it helps them stay happy
in their positions. In the same countries many working people smoke cannabis. You do not see them
on the streets because they work and smoke at home. The same is true in New Zealand. See also Dr
Andrew Weil.
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