From: shug <[s--g] at [sol.co.uk]> Newsgroups: alt.drugs.pot,alt.drugs,talk.politics.drugs,alt.drugs.usenet,rec.drugs.cannabis.rec.drugs.misc Subject: Results of Cannabis Drought Date: Wed, 21 Aug 1996 15:43:24 -0700 Legalise Cannabis Campaign Scotland - June's NEWS! "Author" content="Stuart Young" >DROUGHT NIGHTMARE FOR MEDICAL USERS The whole of the Britain has been suffering from the worst cannabis drought in living memory. All sorts of conspiracy theories are going around. There have even been a couple of news stories about the drought, in the Aberdeen and Edinburgh evening papers. But whatever the reason behind the lack of cannabis, there®s no doubt that people are being harmed. Scottish medical cannabis users have been especially hard-hit. Many MS patients have phoned LCC Scotland to tell us that their tremors have returned; some can't write, and one can't walk any more. Another medical user who emailed us from Aberdeen, has had to return to powerful synthetic drugs such as Diazepam, Baclofen, Amytriptoline and 2 to 3 times his normal dose of Temgesic. With cannabis he only has to take a handful and feels normal, without it he was taking 42 pills a day, and feeling in a haze. And there is evidence that young drug users are turning to heroin instead of cannabis. Glasgow drugs education group Enhance told us that at first there was reluctance to take smack, but after a month of the drought, kids began smoking it to come down off E. Enhance think that maybe a 1000 new heroin addiction cases could be caused in Glasgow by the drought. In addition street violence in Glasgow has apparantly increased, because instead of the calming influence of cannabis, people are jellied and drunk instead. Research has shown that when cannabis is more easily available people take it instead of more dangerous drugs. Some states of the USA decriminalised cannabis in 1978: emergency hospital admissions due to other drugs fell after the change in the law. The reverse is true too, when cannabisis not available people will take other more dangerous drugs. If the government want to reduce the harm caused by drugs then the answer is clear: they should make cannabis more easily available. Many small-time independent cannabis-only dealers were busted early this year in central Scotland. LCC Scotland assume that this was due to organised gangs phoning the new police crimestopper lines, so they could monopolise the market. One drought theory is that the gangs then witheld the supply of cannabis in order to raise the price, or worse, in order to sell more profitable, and more dangerous, drugs instead. However the drought is UK-wide and since no one gang controls such a large area, we believe that the drought must have been caused by events outside Britain. Possibly it was a combination of fields going up in smoke in Morocco and Interpol success on the mainland. 18th June IMPRISONED AUTHOR DENIED APPEAL Mick Marlow, who is serving a one-year jail sentence for writing a cannabis grow book, has been denied permission to appeal against the sentence, and thus cannot receive Legal Aid. His family and friends had hoped that with the outrage his sentence provoked he would have been bailed pending appeal by now. His wife Angie is distraught that he®s still in prison. His book, 'Tricameral Sensimilla' was due to be republished in Amsterdam this week, but there have been some hitches. Marlow can still appeal without legal aid, but it will cost him around five thousand pounds, and the appeal must be registered within a week. Mick and Angie hope that a kindly benefactor will guarantee this sum, so that they can register the appeal, and allow them time to raise the money by donations. Money will be gratefully received at by Angie Marlow, Keeper's Cottage, Flaxley, Newnham, Glos. GL14 1JR ---------------------------- Shug