Study Proves Ecstasy is Safe … ish

Finally! After years of dodgy reporting and hysterical reactions, ecstasy(MDMA) has been given the green light. Well, maybe not green but at least amber.

Residual Neurocognitive Features Of Long-Term Ecstasy Users With Minimal Exposure To Other Drugs

John H. Halpern1, Andrea R. Sherwood4, James I. Hudson2, Staci Gruber3, David Kozin1, Harrison G. Pope Jr2,*

Article first published online: 15 FEB 2011

© 2010 The Authors, Addiction © 2010 Society for the Study of Addiction

ABSTRACT

Aims:  In field studies assessing cognitive function in illicit ecstasy users, there are several frequent confounding factors that might plausibly bias the findings toward an overestimate of ecstasy-induced neurocognitive toxicity. We designed an investigation seeking to minimize these possible sources of bias.

Design:  We compared illicit ecstasy users and non-users while (1) excluding individuals with significant life-time exposure to other illicit drugs or alcohol; (2) requiring that all participants be members of the ‘rave’ subculture; and (3) testing all participants with breath, urine and hair samples at the time of evaluation to exclude possible surreptitious substance use. We compared groups with adjustment for age, gender, race/ethnicity, family-of-origin variables and childhood history of conduct disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. We provide significance levels without correction for multiple comparisons.

Setting:  Field study.

Participants:  Fifty-two illicit ecstasy users and 59 non-users, aged 18–45 years.

Measurements:   Battery of 15 neuropsychological tests tapping a range of cognitive functions.

Findings:  We found little evidence of decreased cognitive performance in ecstasy users, save for poorer strategic self-regulation, possibly reflecting increased impulsivity. However, this finding might have reflected a pre-morbid attribute of ecstasy users, rather than a residual neurotoxic effect of the drug.

Conclusions:  In a study designed to minimize limitations found in many prior investigations, we failed to demonstrate marked residual cognitive effects in ecstasy users. This finding contrasts with many previous findings—including our own—and emphasizes the need for continued caution in interpreting field studies of cognitive function in illicit ecstasy users.

The myths about ecstasy have plagued us for decades and continue today. Although MDMA is probably the safest recreational drug we know of, it is still classified by all countries as a schedule I drug along side heroin and LSD. It is even listed as more dangerous than cocaine and amphetamines. Even though several US health industry groups went to court in 1985 and the judge ruled that MDMA should be available for research, the DEA ignored the ruling and used their own special emergency powers to ban it immediately. Since then, it has remained as a schedule I drug. This was the start of a campaign against MDMA where the truth comes second to scary myths, ranting nutters and dubious research. Although it still rages on today, this latest research might finally shed some myths that are all too often, quoted as facts.

With Ecstasy out of control in the states, the government attempted to take action – with propaganda. In 1998 the DEA decided to sponsor Dr. George Ricardi of John Hopkins University to do a study pertaining to the effects that Ecstasy had on the brain. With Ricardi’s research complete he published his final results. His research showed that when a person takes one single recreational dose of Ecstasy it reduced the brain’s serotonin (chemical in the brain that regulates mood, appetite, sleep, and emotion) by 50-85% which was then irreversible. With this information out, NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse) produced a pamphlet labeled, “Your Brain on Ecstasy,” the image shown was that of a brain with a line cutting down the middle of it. On the left side was the label, “Your Brain Before Ecstasy” with a full, healthy looking brain. On the right side were the words, “Your Brain After Ecstasy,” which was visually portrayed as a shriveled, hole infested lump. The image was supposed to show the serotonin depletion after a dose of MDMA but as Dr. Stephen Kish (who is the world’s leading researcher studying the brain) said, “The problem with these index cards given to young people by NIDA is that the brain scan pictures of the Ecstasy users looks like there are large holes in the brain, and that’s just not true. But for me the main problem with the index cards was that it was based on faulty data (Jennings, 2004).” That is where the myth was born that Ecstasy causes holes in the brain. In 2002, Ricardi performed another government funded study on the effects MDMA had on the brain. This test was to prove that one tablet of Ecstasy could cause Parkinson’s disease in the individual. His test was performed on monkeys, by injecting them with what was allegedly a single dose of “Ecstasy.” His verdict: Ecstasy can lead to Parkinsonism. 

Dr. Kish was right; there was faulty data in the 1998 Ricardi study. The first obvious fault in his study was the fact that from the subjects he used to test, it could not have been certain whether or not they had ever even used MDMA in their lives because there was no hair sample (hair samples are used to test for drug use over a long period of time). The second major issue that’s prevalent is that during his testing, Ricardi noted that some brains had almost 40x more serotonin than others, “scientists say such a variation is simply impossible (Jennings, 2004).” After being disproved by Kish he retracted his 2002 statement that said that Ecstasy can lead to Parkinson’s disease by saying “[he] mistakenly gave methamphetamines, a far more toxic substance than Ecstasy, to the monkeys he used in the study (Jennings, 2003)." 

--Bluelight

The “Hole in the brain” myth was popularised by Oprah and an MTV special on Ecstasy in 2000. This type of publicity still drives the hysteria surrounding ecstasy along with the usual suspect from the anti-drug brigade.

The problem to date is that the research into MDMA has been dubious at best. Although not as bad as the “Hole in the brain” scam or the claims that it causes Parkinson’s Disease after one use, most research has been rejected by experts as biased or flawed. Ironically, this latest robust research is by NIDA, the very group who blindly supported the flawed studies by Dr. George Ricardi and spent millions promoting his findings. Even after Dr. Ricardi’s research was exposed as flawed, NIDA refused to remove his findings from their website. You have to wonder if they commissioned this latest research in the hope that negative results would back their decade’s old campaign against MDMA. Whatever their motives, this latest study must be burning a hole in the brain of the officials who have tried so hard, for so long to demonise ecstasy.

Related articles

Top Drug Advisor - Ecstasy is Safe as Riding a Horse

Ecstasy - Not Just For Ravers

The Result of a Quiet News Day? - It’s Not Pretty

MDMA/Ecstasy Trial for PTSS (Sandra Kanck Was Right)

Drug Hysteria Ignores Trauma Suffering

Cracker Comments - Feb/Mar 2010

Ecstasy - Not Just For Ravers

Not many people know this, but ecstasy(MDMA) was originally a successful treatment for several psychological disorders including post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). 

MDMA was first produced about 100 years ago but it wasn’t examined for it’s potential until the 1960s. It took another 10 years before it’s promising future was realised when a Californian psychotherapist postponed retirement to study it and started introducing it to therapists in Europe and America. In 1985, the DEA stepped in and banned MDMA after it started making the rounds of the dance club scene. Without any investigation into whether MDMA was being used for research, an emergency classification was made to have it classed as a Schedule 1 drug - the most restrictive category for drugs with “a high potential for abuse” and “no currently accepted medical use”. This was despite a court ruling that recommended MDMA should not be banned but left to medical experts for continued research.

Because of US drug policy and the DEA, thousands of people have missed out on a potential cure for PTSD. But this is just a fraction of the real damage caused by an ignorant and fanatical DEA. The worldwide crack down on ecstasy has seen the rise of dangerous fillers replacing the relatively safe, MDMA, resulting in a massive increase in deaths and related harms. But, with the current shift towards more evidence based policies and the realisation that current drug laws have failed, we may start to see drugs like MDMA once again put back in the hands of medical experts and scientists.

Researchers Use Ecstasy to Treat PTSD

US Health News

By Madonna Behen - HealthDay Reporter

July 2010

A small study suggests that the illicit "club drug" Ecstasy may have one positive use: making psychotherapy more effective for people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The drug, also known by its chemical acronym MDMA, appears to benefit patients for whom standard treatments have failed. But experts stressed that the study is preliminary and safety issues must be resolved before any recommendations can be made.

"PTSD treatment involves revisiting the trauma in a therapeutic setting, but many patients become overwhelmed by anxiety or numb themselves emotionally, and so they can't really successfully engage," said study lead researcher Dr. Michael Mithoefer, a psychiatrist in private practice in Charleston, S.C. "But what we found is that the MDMA seemed to temporarily decrease fear without blunting emotions, and so it helped patients better process their grief."

In PTSD, the sufferer typically "relives" the trauma via flashbacks or in other ways, such as becoming hyper-vigilant to everyday sounds. Other mental health issues include depression, anxiety disorder, adjustment disorder and alcohol and substance abuse.

Mithoefer and his colleagues studied 20 patients who'd had PTSD for an average of 19 years but had failed to get relief from psychotherapy and medications. The study participants underwent two eight-hour psychotherapy sessions scheduled about a month apart, with 12 patients taking MDMA, and eight taking a placebo. Subjects were also given psychotherapy on a weekly basis before and after each experimental session. An independent psychologist evaluated each patient's symptoms of PTSD prior to and after the sessions.

At the end of the trial, more than 80 percent of the patients who received a combination of MDMA and psychotherapy no longer met the diagnostic criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder, compared with only 25 percent of the placebo group. In addition, the three patients who reported being unable to work due to post-traumatic stress disorder were able to return to work following treatment with MDMA.

During the trial, none of the patients had any drug-related side effects or neurocognitive problems related to the drug, the researchers reported.

The study is the first completed randomized, double-blinded clinical trial to evaluate MDMA as an adjunct to psychotherapy in any patient population, the researchers said. It was sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, a Belmont, Mass.-based nonprofit group that focuses on the medicinal uses of psychedelic drugs.

The phase 2 study, the second of three phases of research required by the federal government before approving a drug for a specific use, was published online July 19 in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.

Before MDMA began to be used recreationally under the street name Ecstasy, many psychiatrists and other therapists in the United States and Europe used the compound as a catalyst to psychotherapy, the study authors noted. However, the drug has been illegal in the United Kingdom since 1977 and was criminalized in the United States in 1985.

People with post-traumatic stress disorder who may want to experiment with the drug should know it can be dangerous when not used properly, Mithoefer said. "It needs to be taken in a therapeutic setting with careful monitoring and a lot of follow-up to help patients integrate the experience successfully," he said. "I've had patients with PTSD outside the study tell me that they've used MDMA at a party and had bad experiences, because when feelings about the trauma came up, they weren't prepared to deal with them."

One important limitation of the study, Mithoefer said, was that most participants guessed accurately whether they were in the treatment or the placebo group, and trial investigators could detect raised blood pressure and other symptoms in the MDMA group. He added that an upcoming phase 2 trial -- looking at the effects of MDMA-assisted therapy on veterans with PTSD -- will hopefully avoid this problem, since all patients will receive the drug, but in different dosages.

Related Articles

MDMA/Ecstasy Trial for PTSS (Sandra Kanck Was Right)

Top Drug Advisor - Ecstasy is Safe as Riding a Horse

Drug Hysteria Ignores Trauma Suffering

The Result of a Quiet News Day? - It’s Not Pretty

Ecstasy Tablets Kills More Australians
CourierMail
By Lisa Mayoh
January 2010

MORE than 100 young Australians have died after taking ecstasy in the eight years to 2008, The Sunday Mail can reveal.

A ground-breaking report into the use of the drug, whose scientific name is MDMA, shows it claimed 82 Australian lives over five years from 2000 – and fatalities are increasing.

Conducted by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, the study into MDMA-related deaths in Australia is the biggest and most comprehensive analysis to date, and has prompted calls for further research into its prevalence.

Additional figures obtained by The Sunday Mail show another 23 people died from 2006 to 2008, which is considered to be an "under-representation" due to many cases still under investigation.

Of those, 10 deaths were reported in 2006, seven in 2007 and six in 2008, with 65 per cent of victims aged between 20-29 and more than 70 per cent male.

More than 80 per cent of the deaths were unintentional and 15 of the 23 victims took other drugs along with the MDMA, including cannabis or alcohol.

In the earlier cases examined by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, 91 per cent of the deaths were directly caused by drug toxicity and MDMA was the sole drug involved in a quarter of cases. It also contributed to a number of drownings, cardiovascular conditions and car accidents.

Funded by the federal Department of Health and Ageing, the report found the median age of fatalities was 26, with the youngest victim aged 17 and the oldest being 58.

"While reports of MDMA-related death are far less common than those of opioid, amphetamine and cocaine, the number of MDMA-related deaths appears to be increasing," the study said.

Always keen to publish a good scary drug story, the CourierMail pounced on a report from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) into the increased use of ecstasy(MDMA). With the report disclosing drug related deaths, the frenzied journalist knew she had a scorcher on her hands. So out it came, chock full of statistics about how dangerous MDMA is. The headline screamed - Ecstasy Tablets Kills More Australians.

A closer look though revealed some interesting abnormalities.

... and MDMA was the sole drug involved in a quarter of cases...
... and 15 of the 23 victims took other drugs along with the MDMA, ...

So, MDMA alone wasn’t responsible for 100 deaths over the last 8 years to 2008 but about 25 or so. That’s 3 deaths per year which pales into insignificance when compared to alcohol that kills about 3,300 per year. The mortality rate for MDMA exclusively is less than Asprin, Panadol, falling out of bed, falling off a ladder, disease of the middle ear, drowning in the bath tub, riding a bike or horse etc. With millions of pills taken each month, there is bound to be some who are allergic to or have a bad reaction to MDMA so the annual rate of about 3 deaths is very low for a drug this popular. Added to this is the unknown dose that was taken. They could all be overdoses from taking several pills at once.

And something else was amiss. Why does the NDARC report only represent the years 2000 - 2005? Where did the “Additional figures obtained by The Sunday Mail” come from? Where is the original NDARC report and what is the title?

Trying to find the ground-breaking report was no easy feat without a title. It must be somewhere because the article hinted that there was imminent danger with a warning that MDMA had taken 82 Australian lives over five years from 2000 – and fatalities are increasing. Where was this important report that prompted an article in the CourierMail? Where do I look? Searching NDARC and the Federal Department of Health and Ageing websites for something that had no name was not getting me anywhere fast and Google was bringing back millions of results. Then I finally found a link to the report at the NDARC website. At last!

I received this error:

General Error
HTTP Web Server: Lotus Notes Exception - Entry not found in index

POOP!

After a while, I eventually found the report at a science journal but it required a paid membership or subscription to read the full text. No wonder the CourierMail didn’t name the report: Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-related fatalities in Australia: Demographics, circumstances, toxicology and major organ pathology. [link]

Luckily, an abstract was available which gave me some insight into the report. My conclusion ... why did the CourierMail publish an article in January 2010 when the report came out in July 2009? This wasn’t a recent report at all and was submitted for peer review 12 months ago. To top it off, it only covered 2000-2005. WTF?

I’m really interested to know why the author, Lisa Mayoh and the CourierMail went to so much trouble to produce only 5 sentences about this obscure report? The fact is that the CourierMail article relied on additional information to provide the bulk of the statistics. So the question still remains ... why was this article printed in January 2010 when the ground-breaking report is a year old relating to data from 2000 - 2005? Was it a quiet news day or just another attempt by the CourierMail drudge up a scary drug story?

Funnily enough, I happened to find the link via a search on the same page as other NDARC articles from Jan Copeland and Paul Dillion, both from the National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre (NCPIC). In case you don’t know, NCPIC is part of NDARC and also a prohibitionist mouthpiece for the government trying to maintain the public scare campaign on cannabis. If you read the abstract, you will see the similarities.

On a side issue, whilst searching for the elusive report, I did come across other studies that were much more important and news worthy than a report giving statistics 5-10 years ago. I suppose, scary drug stories are the forte of Murdoch’s trashy media enterprise so there’s not much chance of a rational, positive article being published about the report below?

Is Ecstasy A Drug Of Dependence?
October 2009
This paper examines the evidence for an MDMA or “ecstasy” dependence syndrome. Animal evidence suggests that MDMA may be a less potent reinforcer than other drugs, but that it does have dependence potential. This suggests that (a) ecstasy dependence might be less likely than dependence upon other drugs; and (b) factors related to the behavioural and psychological aspects of reward and dependence may make a relatively greater contribution for ecstasy than for other drugs, where physically centred (and better understood) features of dependence may be more salient. Human evidence supports this proposition. Some people report problems with their use, but the literature suggests that physical features play a more limited role than psychological ones. Tolerance is apparent, and withdrawal is self-reported, but it is unclear whether these reports distinguish sub-acute effects of ecstasy intoxication from symptoms reflective of neuroadaptive processes underlying a “true” withdrawal syndrome. Studies examining the structure of dependence upon ecstasy suggest it may be different from drugs such as alcohol, methamphetamine and opioids. Consistent with studies of hallucinogens, a two-factor structure has been identified with factors suggestive of “compulsive use” and “escalating use”. Regardless of the nature of any dependence syndrome, however, there is evidence to suggest that a minority of ecstasy users become concerned about their use and seek treatment. Further controlled studies are required to investigate this phenomenon.

SOURCE:
Is Ecstasy A Drug Of Dependence?
Louisa Degenhardt - National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales
Raimondo Bruno - School of Psychology, University of Tasmania
Libby Topp - Centre for Health Research in Criminal Justice
Available online 15 October 2009.

Related Articles:
Did They Really Say That? Part 1 - The Media
CourierMail - Cocaine Hysteria Thrives in Trash Media
Will The Daily Telegraph Writer Who Wrote This Crap Please Own Up
Drug Reporting in the MSM - They Just Get Sillier and Sillier
CourierMail - The Media Scourge

Stop Repeating Yourselves ... You’re Wrong

How many times do we have to witness and ultimately pay for this ridiculous attempt to please an ignorant public, boofhead politicians and the moral police? Once again, at The Big Day Out, police caught only a small percentage of attendees with drugs while thousands got through. There were dozens of officers, sniffer hounds and public searches all meant to deter drugs from entering the festival. It happens all too often now with the costs mounting up and the shock value decreasing significantly.

Year after year we repeat the same warnings before the event starts, but every year there are still people who stupidly try to get past us and fail
-Superintendent Rod Smith

Why do the police keep doing the same thing, over and over, but expect a different result? According to many, Albert Einstein made a similar observation and claimed it is a sign of insanity. Repeating the same flawed strategy again and again but somehow expecting the latest result to miraculously be different. You get the drift here. The police keep giving out dire warnings that anyone bringing in drugs to a music festival like The Big Day Out, will be caught and dealt with harshly by the courts. Each year though, only a few people get caught. Most are given a caution while thousands simply bypass the sniffer dogs and continue on like the police never existed. This is repeated for each music festival in every state. Insanity? ... or just another fault with the prohibitionist model for dealing with drugs? It doesn’t take a genius like Einstein to work this out and in fact it didn’t. The cliché was actually coined by novelist, Rita Mae Brown.

Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results
-Rita Mae Brown, Sudden Death (Bantam Books, New York, 1983), p. 68

Not only do the police re-enact the same old strategy but they try to turn it around and put it on the people who attend these festivals. This gets to the crux of the futile approach taken by our government on drug control. We are historically consumers of drugs and we are always going to partake especially young people at a music festival. Whether the constabulary are there or not, drugs are going to be smuggled in and unless every single person, including the staff, the musicians and the police themselves are stripped searched, there will be plenty to go around. That olden but golden observation becomes apparent once more - if we can’t stop drugs getting into prison, how are we going to stop drugs getting into ... the Sydney show grounds, the Melbourne show grounds etc.

A total of 381 people were arrested, with police laying 104 drug possession charges, 12 drug supply charges, six assault charges and one malicious damage charge. Police also issued nine cannabis cautions, ejected 11 drunk people and caught 18 people trying to jump the fence into the venue.
-(AAP) PerthNow

It’s becoming all too common for the police to join the chorus of crooked politicians and agenda driven anti-drug zealots pushing out fear, exaggerated harms and lies. Droning on about “no drug is a safe drug” or “we’re putting drug dealers and drug users on alert ... we will catch you!”, might keep those “crooked politicians and agenda driven anti-drug zealots” happy but it’s not really productive. Like so much of the typical anti-drug rhetoric from the media and politicians, messages from the police are often produced just to please converts of the drug war or exploitable parents who have already been paralysed with fear. Think about the hundreds of thousands who use ecstasy, speed, cannabis etc. when they go out or on special occasions. Most of them have never had a problem with their drug taking or even seen any lasting negative effect. They have undoubtedly seen booze cause some major upsets but rarely does the same happen with recreational drugs. In fact, I’d dare say it’s the opposite and they have an absolutely cracker of a night. These are the supposed targets of these anti-drug messages but with the constant stream of dire warnings never coming to fruition, the message fails to make an impact. The truth is, and it’s a hard truth ... recreational drugs are taken so often because they are enjoyable, exciting and exhilarating with very little downside. You don’t hear this mentioned very much.

There is this idea with some young people that taking drugs enhances their day out, in reality, they are putting their lives at risk by taking illegal drugs sold by people out to make a quick buck.

They might think this is just an ecstasy pill, but as police members, too often we see the tragic effect of these foolish decisions.

Make no mistake, there is no such thing as a safe party drug.

[...]

No overdoses were recorded among the 10,500 people that attended the event
-Detective Inspector Mark Zervaas - (AAP) The HeraldSun

Yep, you read that right. After all the dire warnings, his last reported comment was, “No overdoses were recorded among the 10,500 people that attended the event”. And we wonder why these messages are over looked by the target audience as just more anti-drug babble.

Apart from being totally pointless, the attempt to stop drugs entering The Big Day Out raises a bigger issue. Why is such a dangerous drug like alcohol allowed to flow freely whilst so much effort is put into stopping safer drugs like cannabis, LSD and ecstasy? This elephant-in-the-room just keeps eluding us over and over as the anti-drug zealots come up with new, fanciful arguments over and over. Remember the constant grind about dope being a gateway drug? That took 40 years of repeated research proving it a myth. Then cannabis supposedly caused all sorts of madness including psychosis, schizophrenia and amotivational syndrome. After numerous studies, they too was finally narrowed down to effect only a tiny group of people with amotivational syndrome being a complete furfie. Since then, cannabis has been blamed for causing testicular cancer, lung cancer, making us sterile, changing personalities and being anti-social. They too are loosing out to science and research which means the anti-drug brigade will have to devise new symptoms of cannabis use to scare the public.

But it’s ecstasy(MDMA) that’s getting the fear treatment at the moment. It wasn’t too long ago that ecstasy was touted as the new drug scourge crippling society. Warnings of massive depression, holes in the brain as seen in CT scans and of course addiction ... all after even one pill. The hype was so intense that the anti-methadone campaign in the US, One Pill Can Kill was mistakenly taken up by anti-ecstasy groups, the police and local nutters.

Ecstasy was perfectly legal until it hit the dance scene in the US. The DEA in spectacular form, ignored a scientific court ruling and rushed through an emergency law to class it as a schedule I drug. This put an end to promising research into Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other psychological problems. It seemed that too many young(and old) Americans were just having too much fun for the DEA. But it was a Newsweek article that put MDMA on the most feared list in the US. Newsweek cited flawed research that just one pill could create “holes” in the brain and they provided a CT scan to prove it. It was later revealed that the test subject monkeys had been injected with pure methamphetamine instead of MDMA and the hole in the brain scans really meant nothing. But the damage had been done. Much to the delight of anti-drug crusaders, ecstasy was now seen as a killer. It took over 2 decades of overseas research to eat away at the myths surrounding ecstasy and only now is the real truth coming out. Not addictive, very few deaths, very few problems, statistically safer than riding a horse.

Det-Supt Charlie Carver, of the Serious and Organised Crime Squad, said many seized ecstasy pills contained harmful chemicals such as chalk and washing powder.
-The Sunday Times 

The latest strategy by the anti-drug nutters is not aimed at MDMA itself but the contaminants that are mixed in by manufacturers to extend their product. You have probably read about ecstasy being be cut with glass, rat poison, cleaning agents, heroin etc. The reality is that ecstasy is now being cut more than ever but usually with other mind altering drugs like PMA, Mephedrone, caffeine and ketamine. As far as I know, the claims of glass, heroin and poisons being included in ecstasy pills are myths.

Ecstasy has never been cheaper or more dangerous in Perth, a major new study reveals.
 -The Sunday Times 

Ironically, it’s the drug laws themselves that present the most danger. An unregulated industry(prohibition) breeds crime and a black market where there is no age restrictions, health guidelines or quality control. To top it off, the federal and state governments won’t allow doctors to run pill testing booths at music festivals or raves. This leaves users at the mercy of criminals and what they decide goes in the mix. If you have a complaint, don’t ring The Office of Fair Trading or contact a consumer rights group. The illicit drug industry handles complaints in their own special way - usually with intimidation and violence.

If we look to the club scene in London for setting the trends here in Australia, we should be worried. As MDMA is becoming scarce in London, most ecstasy pills are being filled with steroids, caffeine and mephedrone, a drug we know very little about. This has caused the arrest rate for possession of MDMA to drop significantly in London over the last few year. From 1,197 in 2006 to 773 in 2008. 2009 is looking to be less than 500. This is not a case of drug manufacturers trying to extend their profits but because of a crack down on MDMA precursors by the authorities`. China is now the sole manufacturer of the main precursor for MDMA with exports coming from only 2 countries. They are all heavily regulated and monitored with less than 5 litres in total being sold in 2008 and 2009.

Our philosophy is that we don’t want people to die in order to learn a lesson
 -Students for Sensible Drug Policy

This might keep the AFP, DEA and other drug enforcement agencies happy but as usual, their mindless obsession and limited thinking is killing people. In other words, cracking down on the relatively safe drug MDMA, has caused a surge in PMA, mephedrone, BZP, GHB and other more harmful drugs. Why are anti-drug agencies and groups so inept with logic? They think that if you simply make it harder to get a certain drug then users will just stop taking all drugs? Or when a certain area is targeted by the police - drug users just don’t give up and the dealers quit to get legitimate jobs. The drug scene simply moves somewhere else. Haven’t they ever heard of the Balloon Effect? - squeeze one end and a bulge appears somewhere else.


Insanity
So when will this farce stop? We have silly, ignorant politicians making all sorts of comical statements mixed in with deceitful politicians blatantly lying for some selfish agenda. Giving their support, are the moral crusaders who are mostly happy clappers from the religious right or the new breed of racist, Howard loving, pro-Israel, Tim Blair arse licking neo-conservatives. And in case you still have missed it, we have the sensational and heavily biased Murdoch media pumping out myths, lies and inane opinion pieces designed to brainwash a susceptible public.

Anyone with a hint of intelligence should be able to see the massive flaws in the current system. For example, why do we still have a major drug problem after 50 years of being “Tough on Drugs”? Why is alcohol still legal when it kills 10 times the number of people who die from all illicit drugs combined? Where are the masses of drug induced mental health patients? Why are there still so many drugs available when every week we hear that a new bust was supposed to greatly reduce drug supply?

Where is the common sense and pragmatism? Why do we spend billions on stopping drug supplies but drugs are now easier to obtain than ever before? Why do we keep rolling out the same expensive “Tough on Drugs” strategy when it never meets it’s targets? Why aren’t politicians caught out by the media for lying when they make brash, non-truthful statements? Most anti-drug claims by politicians are simply lies with no scientific evidence but for some reason, opposing political parties don’t just let it slide by but usually try to out do them. This childish banter of “I’m tougher on drugs than you” is purely political and only exacerbates the societal damage already inflicted. And the damage is real, costing many lives and causing incredible carnage. Why is this allowed to continue without any real scrutiny from the media?

While advances in science and medicine bound along exponentially, the approach to drug use lingers in the dark ages. Keeping the public ignorant and fearful of drugs is the prime objective for politicians because it’s a vote winner. That would change if the public were more aware of the facts but with decades of propaganda, myths and fear being forced on them, they don’t have hope. It’s spooky to think that just 10-20 minutes on the intertubes would expose a 100 years of misinformation and lies with the truth there for anyone who cares to find out.

Police Arrest More Than 300 People At Big Day Out
(AAP) PerthNow
January 2010

MORE than 300 people were arrested over the two-day Big Day Out music festival in Sydney, with one person caught with 24 ecstasy tablets, police said today.

Police, including officers from the Dog Squad and Commuter Crime unit, targeted drug and alcohol-related crime and anti-social behaviour at the festival in Homebush on Friday and Saturday.

A total of 381 people were arrested, with police laying 104 drug possession charges, 12 drug supply charges, six assault charges and one malicious damage charge.

Police also issued nine cannabis cautions, ejected 11 drunk people and caught 18 people trying to jump the fence into the venue.

Ambulance officers were also kept busy, with 1587 people treated by St John Ambulance volunteers over both days, while 36 patients were taken to hospital.

Many of those revellers were treated for dehydration, as temperatures climbed into the 40's on both days.

Drugs seized during the police operation included cannabis, ecstasy, ice, LSD, cocaine and amphetamines.

"One person was found entering the venue allegedly in possession of 24 ecstasy tablets," police said in a statement.

Superintendent Rod Smith said most festival-goers enjoyed themselves responsibly, but some people still hadn't got the message.

"Year after year we repeat the same warnings before the event starts, but every year there are still people who stupidly try to get past us and fail," Supt Smith said in a statement.

"The results also show that anti-social behaviour won't be tolerated, and those charged over the last two days will have to face the consequences at court."

WARNING! - Drug Users Being Responsible ... Again!

What is it with the mention of drugs that send journalists into a frenzy of drug hysteria? Is it the journalist or is it the media organisation they are writing for that creates a maelstrom of exaggeration, panic and moral frenzy? The Australian Heroin Diaries has previously reported on some real cracker articles by Fiona Connelly, Sally Morrell, Piers Akerhead, Miranda Devine, Laurie Nowell etc. Except for the Devine Ms. Miranda, they all write for news.com.au. So what possessed Ben Harvy and Lauren Zwaans to write the article in the Adelaide Advertiser titled, Drug Dealers And Users Can Google Up A Few Hits?

Let’s see. It had nothing to do with drug dealers, nothing to do with “hits” and nothing to do with Google. That kind of spoils the clever headline pun. Maybe it’s part of the Adelaide Advertiser’s attempt to run it’s own special investigation like the CourierMail’s, The Drug Scourge from a few months back? Gawd, I hope not. Why then write about the website, Pillreports.com? I can recall reading about Pillreports.com a few times but that was years ago. It’s not surprising though since Pillreports.com has been around for nearly 10 years. So why is this news all of a sudden? There’s nothing new to report except a few comments from Drug and Alcohol Services (South Australia) executive director Keith Evans and SA Detective Inspector John De Candia. And what was the important message that commanded a whole article in a city newspaper ... Drugs are Bad mmkay! Oh, and a threat of life in jail if you are “carrying commercial and large commercial quantities” of illegal drugs. I must acknowledge Keith Evans and John De Candia though for the advice that seeking information from Pillreports.com might be rife with danger. Since the government flatly refuses to offer pill testing services (a decision they both support), the alternative is to pop away and hope for the best. Thanks for the safety tip fellas.

However you interpret the article, it’s still old news.

Pill Poppers Sharing Drug Reviews Online
Drug Users Issue Ecstasy Warning
Deadly New Mix Of Nye Party Drugs
Drug Takers Use Web To Find Best Deals For Cocaine, Ice, Heroin, Ecstasy

Inthemix.com.au wrote about news.com.au and their article, Pill Poppers Sharing Drug Reviews Online back in July 2008. It’s a great insight into how news.com.au source their information.

Pillreports.com is an international website run by Enlighten Harm Reduction, a lobbyist organisation in Melbourne. Please check them out as they provide some excellent services.

Drug Dealers And Users Can Google Up A Few Hits
Adelaide Advertiser
By Ben Harvy and Lauren Zwaans
October 2009


A WEBSITE acting as an open forum for ecstasy dealers and users is exposing the truth about Adelaide's drug underworld.

The pillreports.com website contains conversations between people about their experiences with drugs and the latest pills to hit the streets.

On the website, there are candid recommendations between users on what pills they deem "safe" to try, which is worrying experts.

Drug and Alcohol Services South Australia executive director Keith Evans said there was a cultural phenomenon emerging in which people saw themselves as "experts".

"It's a really worrying trend - the sort of culture that says `I got it from Jim. Everybody who's got their stuff from Jim has said Jim's stuff is good and therefore ipso facto I believe Jim's stuff is good, we'll all search out Jim'," he said.

"The reality isn't like that.

"Where Jim happens to have got it (the drugs) from will differ and even if you take out the legal consequences of it, you're always taking a gamble - it's Russian roulette."

The most recent Adelaide update on the pillreports website was submitted by user machetevip: "I'm going to be trying these Saturday night (ecstasy pills) and will update with a user report but so far these are looking quite good," he wrote.

A subsequent report detailed a timeline of machetevip's experience on the drugs.

"I was dancing and chatty and had some nice feelings on them," machetevip said.

There were 12 responses to the user report.

But Detective Inspector John De Candia said the health and legal consequences of illicit drug taking remained.

"Just because they're buying from the same seller does not mean they're buying from the same batch," he said. "It does not provide them any safeguards."

He said trafficking penalties in Australia for carrying commercial and large commercial quantities could result in "hefty penalties" ranging from 15 years to life imprisonment.

MDMA/Ecstasy Trial for PTSS (Sandra Kanck Was Right)

South Australia had the chance but blew it and now Canada are going to take the honour. You might remember back in June 2008 when SA Democrat, Sandra Kanck recommended using MDMA (aka ecstasy) to treat Iraq war veterans with post-traumatic stress syndrome(PTSS). She was heavily criticised and knocked as some sort of loopy, pro-drug activist. Sandra had previously suggested using MDMA for the victims of the Eyre Peninsula bushfires in 2006 and the response from parliament and the media was no different back then. Now it seems, those who criticised her are looking pretty damn stupid. Her very suggestions are being taken up by Canada by way of a trial of treating PTSS patients with MDMA.

Preliminary studies have shown that MDMA in conjunction with psychotherapy can help people overcome PTSD. MDMA has empathogenic effects, and it is also known as the popular drug Ecstasy (although "Ecstasy" does not always contain pure MDMA). In laboratory studies, MDMA has been proven sufficiently safe for human consumption when taken a limited number of times in moderate doses.
-Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies

There were many who criticised Sandra Kanck simply for looking to our medical know-how to solve a medical problem. It was like being back at school where mob mentality took over the playground and some poor kid copped hell for being different. Sandra was mocked and made fun by many so called adults in a disgusting display of ignorance and political point scoring. From the media to Veterans' Affairs Minister, Michael Atkinson. From Veteran groups to her own party. They all joined in without researching a thing. And now they must feel like absolute morons as another country initiates her suggestions. How long will Australia suffer from ignorance and fear? How long will our policies be decided by narrow minded, ideological, self righteous fools? I fear that it will be long after the rest of the world changes.

Landmark B.C. study lets trauma sufferers find relief with ecstasy
The Globe and Mail
By Frances Bula
September 2009

Vancouver therapists get green light to use drug in trial to treat post-traumatic stress

Two Vancouver therapists have become the first Canadians to be permitted to give ecstasy to patients in a scientific trial aimed at finding new ways to help people with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Psychologist Andrew Feldmar and psychiatrist Ingrid Pacey, with the help of the Boston-based organization Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, also known as MAPS, are recruiting 12 people to take part in the trial, which they hope might include Canadian soldiers and police officers.

Mr. Feldmar said that like Vancouver's supervised-injection site, the trial has obtained an exemption from Canada's narcotics laws, and is waiting for an import permit for the Swiss-manufactured drug.

The Vancouver experiment is part of small but growing international movement to use drugs such as LSD, MDMA or ecstasy, and psylocibin as part of therapeutic treatment, which has received significant backing from MAPS. The organization, founded in 1986, is a non-profit focused on lobbying to have psychedelic drugs and marijuana used for treatment.

“There is a new interest,” said Mr. Feldmar, who worked at Vancouver's Hollywood Hospital in the 1960s when it used LSD as a treatment for alcoholism. “These substances are extremely effective. It was just when they were used irresponsibly that it created a senseless panic.”

MDMA was first synthesized by Merck Pharmaceuticals in 1912, but was rediscovered in the 1960s. It was considered an aid to psychotherapy before it was popularized as a party drug.

Mr. Feldmar said MDMA, often defined as an entheogen or psychoactive drug used to induce a mystical experience, helps people with post-traumatic stress disorder by breaking down barriers that are blocking their recovery.

He said it allows them to experience a sense of being in the present, of feeling connected to their therapist, and of feeling supported and loved.

“You feel connected, therefore you feel able to go back and deal with the trauma.”

MAPS executive director Rick Doblin said a U.S. trial in Charleston, S.C., recently ended, and “it got tremendous results,” although they haven't been published in a science journal yet.

Small studies have already been done in Israel and Switzerland along the same lines, he said. A study in Spain had to be cancelled after running into opposition there.

An article published this year in the Journal of Psychopharmacology noted the two trials showed initial signs of promise in treating trauma.

Authors Pal-Orjan Johansen and Teri Krebs of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology looked at the three effects MDMA has on brain chemistry:

- It boosts levels of oxytocin, which is what produces the feelings of connectedness and warmth that people on ecstacy experience.

- It balances two regions of the brain, helping a person to control emotional responses better.

- It boosts levels of cortisol and norepinephrine, which control emotional learning.

Mr. Doblin said MAPS designed the Vancouver study, got it through the regulatory process, and will now start raising the $200,000 needed to run it. Eight of the 12 patients will get full-strength doses of ecstacy up to three times during their treatment, while four will get a placebo.

“We want to see if we can replicate the U.S. results in a similar cultural context,” he said. “Also, it's important to start research in Canada, because you have a tradition of being pioneering in psychedelic research.”

Mr. Doblin said Mr. Feldmar and Dr. Pacey are exceptionally qualified therapists, which made them ideal for the trial.

The two have sent out messages to other Vancouver therapists to recruit patients for the trial. Mr. Feldmar said that could include Afghan war veterans, police, firefighters, people who have been victims of crime, or immigrants who have been tortured in their home countries.

Mr. Feldmar achieved minor fame in 2007, after it was made public that he had been barred from entering the United States when a border guard searched online for his name and found that he had written an article saying he had taken LSD in the 1960s before it became illegal. His story was later featured on The Colbert Report show.

Related Articles:
Ecstasy Is The Key To Treating PTSD - The Times(UK)
Drug Hysteria Ignores Trauma Suffering
Agony or Ecstasy – Drug Trials Show Patient Benefits

CourierMail - The Media Scourge

The CourierMail is currently running a scare fest on drugs in Queensland titled, “The Drugs Scourge” . Being a News Ltd owned newspaper, you wouldn’t expect much in the way of rationality and accuracy yet I must say I was really surprised. Really surprised because it was even worse than I imagined. It’s like they have taken the worst from A Current Affair/Today, had it rewritten by Piers Akerman, Chris Pyne and Bronwyn Bishop and then edited by John Howard. It’s a shocker!

One of the glaring over dramatisations is the effects of ecstasy on Queensland society. Shocking headlines like “Bad Ecstasy Trip Is Agony” and “Drug-Fuelled Revellers Rife” conveniently mix up heavy methamphetamine use with casual ecstasy use creating a modern day “Reefer Madness” but with amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS).

The Queensland club scene is described as some sort of post apocalyptic alternative future where a drug crazed youth are MDMA zombies. Where an epidemic of “Party Drugs” is wiping out an entire generation. Where our innocent kids are being reeled into a life of drug addiction where carnage and death are the inevitable results. Out of dozens of articles though, there is only a single report on whether current drug policies are working.

Watch as channel nine’s Sarah Harris and Lisa Wilkinson report on the CourierMail’s investigation called, The Drugs Scourge! Warning: This is not a comedy skit.




Where do I start? Maybe with the main cause of harm from ecstasy ... prohibition. They are right by saying that ecstasy pills are full of unwanted ingredients but this is purely because they are illegal. And as the serious looking Sarah Harris explains, 10 people have died from PMA in ecstasy over the last 10 years ... a pretty good record really considering millions of doses are taken annually. Why didn’t she say “only” 10 people have died? They keep mentioning that unknown ingredients or dangerous contaminants are the real danger but where was the call for pill testing or regulating MDMA sales? I suppose common sense doesn’t rate very well.

Glossing over the differences between amphetamines and ecstasy is just as deceitful. Although they come from the same class, they are very different drugs and share almost none of the same levels of harm. Abusing amphetamines can be very dangerous but most users do so recreationally. Some fact checking will show that amphetamines are not actually addictive at all but can cause dependancy. Stating that 33% of first time users become addicted is just not true. No drug known to man is instantly addictive.

They see their mate take one and nothing happens, they take one themselves and nothing happens and all of a sudden, they’re hooked. 
-Dr. Bob Hoskins. Queensland Health

Is this how the public source their information about drugs? No wonder there is no rational debate in parliament about our drug laws with much of the population completely ignorant to facts. The role of the media has to be called into question over this. Not just the hysterical trash reporting but the lack of critical analysis from other media outlets. The CourierMail’s report is ripe for being pulled apart and exposed as misleading and often untruthful but I am yet to find one article disputing the legitimacy of the report. But it’s not just the reporting that is full of misinformation but some of the so called “experts” who are happy to add their own interpretation of the truth.

You wouldn't give it to your dog let alone take it yourself [...] Look, it's a drug, it can be abused. I think you could never safely administer it.
-Detective Kerry Johnson - State Drug Investigation Unit

Is anything more annoying than a condescending reporter who knows stuff all about what they are saying? Apart from having to sit through the clip’s entirety, not much. Even the detective with his fanciful connections between casual ecstasy use and 25 years in jail doesn’t compare. I dare say that this clip is going into the drug propaganda archives along with Reefer Madness.

You think about it, here you are, come from a good family, a good upbringing, great surrounds, you've got no reason why and suddendly you're facing court on drug trafficking. You're going to loose your liberty for a long time and probably very little sympathy from us too.
-Detective Kerry Johnson - State Drug Investigation Unit

Asset seizures, 25 years in jail, loss of liberty... this is what will happen if you start giving ecstasy to your friends says Detective Kerry Johnson. LOL. But his bizarre warning backed up with “probably very little sympathy from us” is when it becomes disturbing. He paints a gloomy picture but it is exactly what the Courier-Mail wanted - doom and gloom. But the figures don’t add up. With tens of thousands of weekend users and well over 10 million ecstasy pills dropped each year, there is very little evidence of the carnage portrayed by The CourierMail and Detective Johnson.

Continually time and again we see it escalates from, I just take the odd pill at a party or a rave night or whatever it might be, to, I only supply my 2-3 friends and that might pay for my pill and that sort of deal is pretty harmless. The amount of time it escalates to the level where all of sudden their in the organised crime area, they're selling quite a lot of pills, they're getting themselves into debt trying to maintain a lifestyle. Next thing you know they're facing a charge from us, let alone the 25 years imprisonment for trafficking, you're also then looking at the case of significant asset seizure through restraints, proceeds of crime legislation.
-Detective Kerry Johnson - State Drug Investigation Unit

What really scares me is the zest to portray ecstasy as some new terrifying drug that has sent society into a never ending tail spin of chaos and despair. The zest of Detective Kerry Johnson to catch ecstasy users and dealers with the goal of ruining their lives as much as possible. The zest to scare parents and the public into a stupor of fear and worry. And for what? A drug that is rated by experts as much, much less harmful than alcohol?

Is the Truth Important?
Like all good trashy journalism, an appropriate headline is essential. Drugs menace uncovered, How addiction leads to jail, Bad ecstasy trip is agony, Drug users' Russian roulette, Drug-fuelled revellers rife, Ecstasy's deadly cocktail, Mail system delivers death and more. I suppose some balanced reporting is out of the question. Maybe something along the lines of Ecstasy found to be much safer than alcohol, UK Government report recommends lowering ecstasy danger rating, Alcohol causing more problems than all illicit drugs combined, Expert groups want cannabis legalised, Government ignores their own scientific report on drugs, Politician admits he inhaled and enjoyed it etc. Some examples of the what the CourierMail calls the truth:

Safe injecting rooms have been tried. Heroin trials have been conducted. Everything from decriminalisation to including drug education in school curriculums has been discussed.
-We need a leader for drugs battle

Heroin trials have been conducted - that’s news to me. Safe injecting rooms have been tried - this is past tense. They mean to say, a safe injecting room is being successfully operated in NSW. Decriminalisation being discussed? Several states have decriminalised cannabis for personal use already but it has certainly not been seriously discussed by the federal government. The Greens have shown that the 2 major political parties are not ready for any discussion on drug policy alternatives like decriminalisation. When the Greens suggested Australia consider decriminalisation they were abused and scoffed at as radical weirdoes by Labor and The Libs.

DRUGS are the No. 1 risk young people face and the Federal Government's focus on binge drinking means it is missing the problem, a Liberal MP and former adviser to John Howard has warned.
-Booze focus misses top risk of drugs, says Jamie Briggs

Drugs are NOT the number one problem. That’s just wishful thinking from the media and conservative politicians.

It is ecstasy, of all amphetamines, that shapes as the timebomb. One in four Australians aged 20-29 has tried the drug – and numbers are escalating each year.
-Drug trade's tragic toll and institutional ignorance revealed

When the facts are against you, it’s best to play on the unknown. The illusion of a future drug crazed nation is standard fare for the media because in reality it never actually happens. One in four(20-29) might have tried ecstasy but those that have problems with it are negligible. The only option left for an excited journalist is to use ridiculous comments like this ... “It is ecstasy, of all amphetamines, that shapes as the timebomb”. hehehehe. The writer, Matthew Fynes-Clinton and the CourierMail have hit new depths of deception and silliness.

Murdoch and His Trash Media Empire
In this age of information, how can a major media outlet like the CourierMail produce so much bullshit? Is this acceptable for an advanced society? Where is the scrutiny from the media or why isn’t there some authority questioning the legitimacy of this crap? If the subject was different like diabetics or mental health, I’m sure there would be an uproar. Is it because the CourierMail are playing along with the views of the 2 major political parties or because the public accept these distorted articles as factual?

We can no longer criticise the English Tabloids or Fox News in the US for being biased, sensationalist and trash media when we have the equivalent like the CourierMail, Daily Telegraph, HeraldSun etc. We do however have to take some of the blame as we are the country that produced the owner of all this trash media. The worst of the English Tabloids, Fox News and Australia’s News Ltd newspapers are all owned by former Australian, Rupert Murdoch.

Related Articles:
Ice - More Drug Myths
AMA Pushing Zero Tolerance (Ice - More Drug Myths Pt II)
Top Drug Advisor - Ecstasy is Safe as Riding a Horse

The Christian Institute on Drugs

There has been much debate lately about the UK government’s decision to flatly reject the advice of their own appointed expert group, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) and not down grade ecstasy to a class B drug. Several media articles have suggested that by ignoring scientific evidence, common sense and reason, the UK government has failed to act in the best interests of the people.

The Christian Institute added their voice to the debate with an article titled, 'Killer' drug ecstasy to remain in class A on their website. The article was typical of their prohibitionist stance including quotes from supporters of the government’s decision.

Home Office Minister Alan Campbell said: “Ecstasy can and does kill unpredictably. The Government has a duty to protect the public and firmly believes that ecstasy should remain a Class A drug.”

Unsurprisingly, the comments were the usual mishmash of moral issues and anti-drug sound bytes.

Ian Johnston, president of the Police Superintendents’ Association, said: “This is not some academic or scientific exercise, this is dealing with people’s lives. If we downgrade ecstasy, we are in danger of sending mixed messages out to young and vulnerable people.”

The article even included a comment from discredited anti-drug crusader, Professor, Andy Parrott.

Professor Andy Parrott of Swansea University, who has spent more than 14 years conducting research into ecstasy, says Prof Nutt has significantly understated the number of deaths caused by the drug.

CANNABIS CLAIM
In what might come as a bit of a surprise to some, the article also included a matter-of-fact statement that down classing cannabis was a disaster.

In 2004, under advice from the ACMD, the Government downgraded cannabis from class B to class C. It proved to be a disaster and the Government reversed the policy earlier this year.
The Christian Institute -  'Killer' drug ecstasy to remain in class A

But it wasn't a disaster. Cannabis use actually dropped during the period of being a class C drug. The evidence for the claimed “disaster” goes back to an earlier article by The Christian Institute:

Since the downgrade of cannabis in 2004 judges, police, parents and mental health experts have called for the move to be reversed because of the damage it has caused.


The availability of skunk - the strongest form of cannabis - has soared since the law was weakened. According to Home Office research, it now accounts for between 70% and 80% of samples seized by police, compared with 15% six years ago.


In April senior police officers called for a return to tougher laws. The Superintendents’ Association of England and Wales argued that cannabis should be returned to class B to “…send out a clear message - especially to the vulnerable and the young - that cannabis is illegal and can be dangerous.”


They said: “The downgrading to Class ‘C’ sent out the wrong message, unintentionally suggesting that cannabis was harmless and legal.”
-The Christian Institute: Lords consider plan for tougher cannabis laws

Here are the facts:

Senior police want cannabis reclassified

"This has been exacerbated by the wider availability of stronger forms of the drug. Many heroin and cocaine users began their drug dependency with cannabis use in their teens,"
-The Superintendents' Association

How about that for a statement! Hinting that cannabis will lead to heroin and cocaine dependency is straight from the anti-drug crusaders handbook of propaganda. Maybe they should have cleared up the fact that hard drug users also started drinking alcohol, coffee and slurpees too and that cannabis itself is not the factor that leads to heroin and cocaine. It ‘s mainly those at the top of the Superintendents' Association that are voicing their support to reclassify cannabis. There have been several senior police who have publicly dismissed the need to reclassify cannabis but they don’t rate a mention in any articles by The Christian Institute. Some district police chiefs have even called for an end to prohibition all together and many are not prepared to enforce cannabis laws.

Sends the wrong message
The champion of all anti-drug slogans. Whether it actually means anything in the real world is debatable. The trade off for “sending the right message” is usually the truth or even people’s lives.

Stronger potency (skunk)
Debunked. Higher potency leads to less intake which ironically is probably a a plus for stronger cannabis. A simple comparison can be made with alcohol. If someone drinks 2 bottles of beer on a given night, they wouldn’t consume 2 bottles of whisky just because it’s available. Anti-drug crusaders cannot grasp the concept that drug users pace themselves and instead subscribe to the myth that taking drugs means getting as stoned as possible, as quickly as possible.

Cannabis is a gateway to harder drugs
Disproved many years ago. The only gateway effect is from strict cannabis laws that force both hard and soft drug users into the same circles. Cannabis does not lead to users wanting something harder.

Links to mental illness

The BBC's home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said the Advisory Council had been looking at new research from Keele University about links between cannabis and mental illness. He said the study found nothing to support a theory that rising cannabis use had led to more cases of schizophrenia.
-BBC: Police want cannabis reclassified

Cannabis use has increased ten fold since the 1960s but schizophrenia cases have not increased per capita. Also, psychosis is only triggered in those that are predisposed to the condition. Heavy use though does cause mental health problems. For an average user, moderate use does not cause mental illness.

So much for the truth.

But this is not just about the rejection of research and evidence. There is nothing factual to suggest that stricter laws prevent drug use and the fact they supported the reversal of an already successful strategy reveals how far they will go to assert their ideology. Conservative media outlets like The Christian Institute have driven the government to make irrational and totally bogus decisions that will go down in history as some of the worst policy making ever. The BBC politely sum it up.

If the government does reclassify, it would be rejecting the findings of the Advisory Council's panel of 23 drug experts, which has never happened before on a decision about drug classification.
-BBC: Police want cannabis reclassified

THE CHRISTIAN INSTITUTE
The Christian Institute are consistent with their agenda, using religious teachings as an excuse to support punitive treatment of drug users and the damning of harm reduction. Luckily for them, the ambiguity of the bible and a vast array of moral symbolism in religion allows them to pick and choose the parts that suit their agenda. This gives them great scope to promote their cause especially to conservatives and evangelists.

From a Christian perspective, harm reduction greases the tracks of sin.
-The Christian Institute: What we believe - Harm reduction approaches are un-Christian

Like all organisations of the religious right, they hate drugs and abstinence is king. They make several references to drug use on their website in the What We Believe section and even include Harm Reduction as a major topic.

This philosophy is superficially appealing because it has a desirable goal – the reduction of harm. Many people have been taken in by this profoundly naïve philosophy. But by opposing restraint, ‘harm reduction’ actually increases the number of people involved in a harmful activity rather than reducing it.

The aims of The Christian Institute aren’t about helping addicts or finding a realistic solution. Their selective pickings from the bible and broad moral topics are merely disingenuous attempts to push conservative values and really have nothing to do with the goodwill of a loving god.

The Bible bluntly teaches that drunkenness is wrong: “Do not get drunk on wine” (Ephesians 5:18). Intoxication and loss of control are intrinsic to taking drugs.


Intoxication is also wrong because of escapism. People cannot solve their problems by running away from them. Down the ages Christians have been at the forefront of battling against the epidemic of public drunkenness and the personal tragedy of alcoholism. Now Christians must take a stand as it becomes ever more fashionable to argue for the legalisation of all drugs.
-The Christian Institute: What we believe - Taking Drugs is Wrong

I am sure a munificent Jesus would be cringing at the idea of a profit based institution using his name to alienate people. It seems this brand of religion is void of the original Christian values and more interested in becoming powerful, political and rich.

The Christian Institute exists for "the furtherance and promotion of the Christian religion in the United Kingdom" and "the advancement of education". The Christian Institute is a nondenominational Christian charity committed to upholding the truths of the Bible. We are supported by individuals and churches throughout the UK. We believe that the Bible is the supreme authority for all of life and we hold to the inerrancy of Scripture.
-The Christian Institute website - Who we are