IN THE NEWS| MARIJUANA - London England - March 2007 - A major U turm in position against Marijuana | Cannabis: An Apology
Two weeks ago, on Sunday March 18, the British newspaper Independent on
Sunday published information on its stance on cannabis that means a
complete U-turn from its earlier position.
In 1997 The Independent, under 'the auspices' of its editor Rosie Boycott,
started a campaign for de facto legalisation of cannabis. The paper also
supported a march in London in 1998 in order to promote the use of
cannabis. Furthermore, Rosie Boycott and 'her' paper initiated a campaign
in order to gather signatures in support of its stance on cannabis.
In the article on March 18, The Independent writes, "In 1997, this
newspaper launched a campaign to decriminalise the drug. If only we had
known then what we can reveal today...", and the paper continues, "Record
numbers of teenagers are requiring drug treatment as a result of smoking
skunk, the highly potent cannabis strain that is 25 times stronger than
resin sold a decade ago. More than 22,000 people were treated last year
for cannabis addiction - and almost half of those affected were under 18.
With doctors and drugs experts warning that skunk can be as damaging as
cocaine and heroin, leading to mental health problems and psychosis for
thousands of teenagers, The Independent on Sunday has today reversed its
landmark campaign for cannabis use to be decriminalised."
(The article is available at
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article2368994.ece)
The fact that The Independent has reversed its landmark campaign has been
noticed all over the world and has initiated a very important debate on
the dangers and health consequences of cannabis use.
On Sunday March 25, The Independent wrote, "Our front-page headline last
week, "Cannabis: an apology", certainly grabbed the attention of a lot of
people. No issue since the Iraq war has provoked such a reaction from our
readers and from other media. Today we publish a selection of letters,
including many from people dismayed by our repudiation of our 1997
campaign to decriminalise cannabis."
Of special interest is the unprecedented contribution to a newspaper
debate by the Executive Director of UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs
and Crime), Antonio Maria Costa, who writes the following in The
Independent on Sunday on March 25.
Posted March 27, 2007
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December 15, 2007
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