STEPHEN FRY

A very good post. Another point worth noting is Dr Donald Tashkin did a study on the link between smoking marijuana smoke and lung cancer, expecting to find a strong correlation; he did not, in fact he found the opposite in that marijuana actually seemed to offer protection against lung cancer.

You can watch Dr Tashkin talk about his findings on youtube here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJmQ16cGBHU

april101 I agree with you to a point. There are more drugs then ever readily available for ANYBODY with the funds to partake. I however disagree that trying to stop the problem at the border is the solution or indeed increasing penalties for their use. Certainly with cannabis this is not the answer as it is easier now more than ever to simply grow it yourself even in less temperate countries such as the UK.

For countries like Afghanistan their main, and generally only, export is opium. Now we all now that opium is the raw material for making heroin but it is also a substance greatly needed for making legal medicines. During the crackdown on the poppy fields the world realised that due to the lack of production of this raw material there was a shortage of medicines it helps to make as like it or not a large percentage of the make-up comes from that illegal crop.

Again this just shows the rank hypocrisy we find ourselves in today. We are now fully aware that the WAR on drugs, launched by Nixon in the 1960's, has been nothing more than a sham to win votes through propaganda. But that WAR, some would argue is aimed more at the people rather than the drug producers, still rages on at the cost of Trillions to the worlds economy and more over millions of peoples lives.

In a perfect world we would all abstain from taking any form of intoxication. From caffeine (people often forget or simply do not believe caffeine a drug but it is and quite a dangerous one if abused) to crack and heroin. But we all like to indulge ourselves now and then even when we are aware of the risks and dangers involved.

We are sentient beings who like to open our perceptions and explore our consciousness and we have been doing so for many thousands of years. It has recently been revealed that Steve Jobs came up with some of his ideas while using LSD. We are all aware of many artists (The Beatles, Bob Marley, Andy Warhol etc etc etc) doing the same and I'm sure there are many more examples of creative individuals throughout history. Of course that is not to say that this is the norm and I would imagine these people only make up a small percentage overall. But in our current society we would label such people as 'druggies' 'deadbeats' 'drop-outs' so on and so forth. I would hardly apply any of those labels to Mr Jobs!

Drugs are easily abused. More so while under the cover of prohibition. Due to you being more vulnerable to the criminals selling you the substances and are also fearful of seeking help when you develop a problem due to fear of persecution and prosecution. Nobody wants to think that their children are going to be put at risk by being offered drugs and there is a common misconception that those opposed to prohibition (such as myself) want some kind of drug free-for-all which simply is not the case. If anything we want tighter controls and more restrictions as what we currently have can best be described as a free-for-all (if you have the cash the dealers care very little what age you are or if the substances are likely to cause you more harm than others).

Tax, regulate and control as with alcohol and tobacco is the best solution. It is a lot easier to control the substances if you control the restrictions of their production and sale. Of course there will always be somewhat of a black-market as there is with nearly all products. But this is an area where our law enforces should focus their energies as opposed to seeking out those who simply use the substances.

It was recently calculated that if cannabis alone was sold legally the amount the country (just the UK) would make would be around £6.5 BILLION! Currently this goes into the pockets of criminals while the government spend many millions trying to stop it! Unfortunately our, as many other governments, fail to see this ludicrous state of affairs even when they are being advised by the bodies they have set up to advise them on such matters (???) and independent investigations such as the U.N advisory council who are all stating that the path we are on is incorrect and we need to change course.

I fully believe that a change, undoubtedly for the better (see the situation in Portugal, a complete success in many regards), is coming. But due to fear, selfishness, religious beliefs and greed (ruthless financial and political gain) we have to wait until some brave people/organisations are willing to stand up to the people who don't want it to happen. Also once the public is made fully aware, educated in the matter, I would believe many others would also agree even if they do not agree with the use of drugs themselves. Which is of course one of the luxuries of living in a supposed free society. Freedom of choice!

An excellant post, leeprew

The hypocrisy of our "elected" politicians in claiming to be concerned with our health when it is unarguably prohibition which causes the vast majority of danger and harm in drug use... it shows they are unfit for office. Although I wish Labour had won the election, I knew Gordon Brown was not fit to lead when he announced that he was planning to disregard the recommendations of his Drugs Advisory commission even before they had reported. Here was the leader of a supposed democracy spending public money on a Commission which he was intending to ignore!

This moralistic status quo is a completely irrational abuse of power which victimises people with enough imagination to be interested in their own minds! The tragedy of the prohibition and demonisation of LSD is a crime against humanity. The fact that a psychedelic underground continues to exist is a tribute to the spirit and the heart of the human species.

The prohibition of mind-expanding drugs has disenfranchised millions of people... no wonder the boring twats in suits get away with it... they've jailed and otherwise ruined the viability of so many lives through what is essentially an attack on a culture that threatened the illogical and brutal processes of the political and cultural status quo we inherited from the architects of the 20th Century's legacy of antagonistic time bombs (the Middle East, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, all driven towards eventual disaster through machinations of our self-interested narrowly focused "leaders"). Sorry to drift off topic, but the threads do lead me to see it all as a piece. A cultural tragedy still playing out, due to the hypocrisy and cowardice of our politicians.

This is all quite interesting, despite a fair amount of sycophancy to Stephen.
Just to add that my remark on the show was not the work of an idle fantasist.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2419713.stm
It's my job on the show to be "usually incorrect" and to be unafraid to pipe up despite the legions of patronising bloggers lining up to declare me a moron