Swiss Study Finds Cannabis Use Alone May Benefit Some Teens

Teens that use cannabis may function better than teen tobacco-users, and appear to be more socially driven and have fewer psychosocial problems than those who do not use either substance, according to a Swiss survey.

Researchers at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland surveyed 5,263 students, including 455 who smoke marijuana only, 1,703 who smoke marijuana and tobacco and 3,105 who smoked neither one.

The survey, which will be published in the November issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, found that marijuana-only smokers had better relationships with friends, better grades and were more likely to play sports than teens who smoked tobacco and those who abstained from both substances.

A U.S. substance abuse expert disagreed with the study and said U.S. teens should not be encouraged to use marijuana, particularly since teenagers’ brains are still developing at this time.

“Switzerland is very liberal compared to us in many ways,” Dr. Edwin Salsitz, senior physician of chemical dependency at Beth Israel Medical Center. “In general, it’s not a good idea for teenagers to use psychoactive drugs. The brain is still developing until the age of 21.

“Maybe (there’s) a cultural bias there that says it’s ok to use marijuana once or twice a month,” he continued “But from what I know, I’ve never heard that anyone thought it was beneficial. Most experts here would say that it’s not a good idea to use cannabis before the age of 15, because it interferes with school and the development of brain.”

Researchers found that marijuana-only users had the following characteristics:

— More likely to be male (71.6 percent marijuana smokers versus 59.7 percent of teens who used tobacco and marijuana)

— Play sports (85.5 percent vs. 66.7 percent of tobacco and marijuana)

— Live with both parents (78.2 percent vs. 68.3 percent of tobacco and marijuana)

— Have good grades (77.5 percent vs. 66.6 percent of tobacco and marijuana)

Cannabis-only smokers were also less likely to have been drunk in the past 30 days, less likely to use cannabis before the age of 15 and less likely to use marijuana more than once or twice in the past 30 days. They were also less likely to use other illegal drugs, compared to students who used both substances, researchers found.

“The gateway theory hypothesizes that the use of legal drugs (tobacco and alcohol) is the previous step to cannabis consumption,” the authors wrote. “However, recent research also indicates that cannabis use may precede or be simultaneous to tobacco use and that, in fact, its use may reinforce cigarette smoking or lead to nicotine addiction independently of smoking status. In any case, and even though they do not seem to have great personal, family, or academic problems, the situation of those adolescents who use cannabis but who declare not using tobacco should not be trivialized.”

In comparison to students who abstained from both substances, marijuana-only smokers were:

— More likely to be male (71.6 percent cannabis users vs. 47.7 percent of teens who abstained)

— Have a good relationship with friends (87 percent vs. 83.2 percent)

— Be sensation-seeking (37.8 percent vs. 21.8 percent)

— Play sports (85.5 percent vs. 76.6 percent)

— Less likely to have a good relationship with their parents (74.1 percent vs. 82.4 percent)

The fact that some students who smoked marijuana were less likely to have a good relationship with their parents wasn’t surprising to Salsitz. “The way to look at it is to look at alcohol as an analogy,” he said. “Do adults or teens who use alcohol have better relationships than those abstinent? That’s just not true. It looks like if you smoke marijuana and not tobacco, it’s better for you.”

He said the study should be viewed in terms of culture. “In France, people drink wine with food, but they don’t get drunk,” he said. “Kids also start doing this when they are young, and that’s different from here. I don’t think anyone would say that the active ingredient in marijuana is doing anything good in the brain, compared to abstaining or smoking tobacco, so there must be cultural reason for this happening.” - FOX NEWS

Bom - Luck y Dube

Legalise all drugs.

One of Britain's most senior police officers is to call for all drugs – including heroin and cocaine – to be legalised and urges the Government to declare an end to the "failed" war on illegal narcotics.

Richard Brunstrom, the Chief Constable of North Wales, advocates an end to UK drug policy based on "prohibition". His comments come as the Home Office this week ends the process of gathering expert advice looking at the next 10 years of strategy.

In his radical analysis, which he will present to the North Wales Police Authority today, Mr Brunstrom points out that illegal drugs are now cheaper and more plentiful than ever before.

The number of users has soared while drug-related crime is rising with narcotics now supporting a worldwide business empire second only in value to oil. "If policy on drugs is in future to be pragmatic not moralistic, driven by ethics not dogma, then the current prohibitionist stance will have to be swept away as both unworkable and immoral, to be replaced with an evidence-based unified system (specifically including tobacco and alcohol) aimed at minimisation of harms to society," he will say.

The Chief Constable's verdict

* British drugs policy has been based upon prohibition for the last several decades – but this system has not worked well. Illegal drugs are in plentiful supply and have become consistently cheaper in real terms over the years.

* The number of drug users has increased dramatically. Drug-related crime has soared equally sharply as a direct consequence of the illegality of some drugs. The vast profits from illegal trading have supported a massive rise in organised crime.

* The ABC classification of drugs is said by the RSA Commission to be indefensible and is described as "crude, ineffective, riddled with anomalies and open to political manipulation". Most importantly, the current ABC system illogically excludes both alcohol and tobacco.

* Mr Brunstrom says: "If policy on drugs is in the future to be pragmatic not moralistic, driven by ethics not dogma, then the current prohibitionist stance will have to be swept away as both unworkable and immoral. Such a strategy leads inevitably to the legalisation and regulation of all drugs."

* The chief constable asserts that current British drugs policy is based upon an unwinnable "war on drugs" enshrined in a flawed understanding of the underlying United Nations conventions, and arising from a wholly outdated and thoroughly repugnant moralistic stance.

* He concludes: "The law is the law. In the meantime, I will continue to enforce it to the best of my ability despite my misgivings about its moral and practical worth."

Belfast Telegraph

Dagga seized in Port Alfred home

Dagga packed in 50 kilogram bags worth about R120,000 was found at a house in Nemato in Port Alfred, Eastern Cape police said on Wednesday. Captain Mali Govender said police found the dagga on Tuesday night. No one was arrested as there was nobody in the house. - Sapa

Prince! Perfect!

• Azifwekaré - “homeless pothead” on the song "Style" and director credit to the "Face Down" video
• adopted as official name from 1993 to 2000

Click the pic - you have 21 days...
Live Sky High Genius

Son of safety and security - drunk death on wheels

The son of the national minister for safety and security, Siyabonga Nqakula, smelled of liquor when he allegedly drove into oncoming traffic and caused a head-on collision earlier this year, the Cape Town magistrate's court heard on Friday.

He was also unsteady on his feet, the victim, Yaseen Moses, told the court.

Nqakula, 27, of Bruma in Johannesburg, pleaded not guilty before magistrate Phindi Norman to charges of drunken driving and reckless driving... - SAPA

Labels warn boozers

The Health Department has published regulations requiring labels on alcoholic beverages to carry messages “highlighting the negative effects of alcohol consumption”.

The regulations have been published under the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectant Act.

They are the result of lengthy consultations with parties concerned to address “the challenge of alcohol abuse”, the department said yesterday. – Sowetan

I wonder what these labels will look like:

Warning if you drink while pregnant your child could be affected.

That's mild and should get the message through...

Or

Could cause liver cirrhosis (sic)/e.g./i.e./'I-am-saying'/just like Health Minister Manto.

And for the illiterates? Is it going to be printed on papsak's? and on umqombothi yeast packs? in all 11 Languages....?

Oh yes! One day Cannabis will have a label on it that will read as a much milder and less harmful intoxicant. Truth will prevail!

Geen Boomplant week vir 2007

• Geen Boomplant Week vir 2007

• Maar as jy will... Boomplant...

National Arbour Week kicks off in South Africa

This year's National Arbour Week will be celebrated under the theme "Plant a tree, grow our future". The week starts today and will end on September 7. In Limpopo, various events will be held in all the municipalities.

The main focus of the week is to highlight opportunities for sustainable economic development, community participation, poverty alleviation and job creation in forestry. It is also to focus on the vital role trees play in the natural environment and to encourage the youth to participate in tree-planting activities. - SABC

Alcohol abuse a drain on economy

More than double the amount collected in liquor taxes is spent on the social costs of alcohol-related trauma and accidents in South Africa each year.

With this in mind, a government and industry initiative - aimed at reducing the socio-economic impact of alcohol by ensuring legal compliance by traders and responsible drinking by consumers - was announced on Monday... - Pretoria News

Rowerr!

This lion was reared by the guys in the clip,he was then released into the wild in Africa but a year later the guys returned to see if he was doing OK.

Check out the look on the lions face as he realises-"thats not food its my MATES!!"
The wild lion he is friends with, has never met the humans and is totally passive towards them.

Rasta warders to take case to High Court

Five prison warders were dismissed from their jobs for refusing to cut off their Rastafarian dreadlocks, their union said Friday.

The five, employed at the Pollsmoor prison outside Cape Town, were disciplined for contravening the Department of Correctional Services' dress code, said Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union spokesperson Benzi Soko.

"The dress code cannot supersede the constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion," said Soko, adding the matter would be pursued to the highest level necessary.

"Our lawyers are preparing an urgent application to the Cape High Court for the members' immediate reinstatement."

He said the five were barred from the workplace, but were receiving their full salaries pending the outcome of an internal appeal process.

The department confirmed the dismissals, saying the five "defiantly ignored warnings to comply" with its dress code.

"The department of correctional cervices fully respects the legal rights of every official but cannot compromise discipline nor appreciate the flouting of its policies and regulations," it said in a statement. - Sapa-AFP

City's heart is hardening, say homeless

For the homeless on Fort Wynyard Road, the by-law is a puzzle: "I want to ask them why they don't take the rubbish away but they take us away," says Rasta. - Cape Argus

They Say..

Police say, In the 2005/2006 financial year 290 000kg of dagga valued at R377-million was seized throughout South Africa while police, through their cannabis eradication programme, destroyed 170.5ha of dagga plantations valued at R119-million in the Eastern Cape alone.

Pretoria News


I would say - someone can't add... that looks like the appelton case below and not total figures, once again I would have to question these figures - which continuously seem to amaze me. How this can be called a success when each year the figure is higher - - - all that is clear to me - is the current way of dealing with drugs is flawed and destined to fail in preventing social harm.

Guard stoned to death

A fire destroyed shacks at an informal settlement in Mamelodi near Pretoria on Friday, police said.

Police spokesperson Paul Ramaloko said the cause of the fire was not known, but it started after residents at the Lusaka informal settlement in Mamelodi East attacked security personnel who had arrived to evict them.

He said one of the security officers was stoned to death and a truck was also burnt.

He said people refused to move and a confrontation ensued between them and the security officers.

"They threw stones at security guards and one security officers was stoned to death.

"A truck that was to load their belonging was also set on fire," he said.

A strong police contingent had been sent to monitor the situation, he said. - Sapa

Police & Prison call for review of Cannabis/Dagga laws

The union representing the majority of South Africa's police called on Thursday for a review of the laws against dagga and sex work.

In resolutions approved on the final day of its national congress in Cape Town, the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) declared that both areas should be "regulated".

One delegate even urged that if sex work was legalised it should be turned into a public-private partnership rather than be left to the vagaries of free enterprise.

The resolutions, both proposed by Popcru's Gauteng region, follow a suggestion earlier this year by National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi that prostitution be legalised for the 2010 soccer world cup.

The resolution on dagga noted that use of the drug was regulated in other parts of the world, such as Holland's Amsterdam.

It called for research on "the prospective aspects of dagga regulations" and on the drug's medical effects, and committed the union to work towards steps "to counter the stigma".

The union will also "pursue discussions with authorities on dagga regulations".

One delegate, Durban police officer Christopher Mkhize, told the congress that dagga had been around in South Africa long before white settlers arrived and decided it was wrong.

"We can't stay with that in a democratic country," he said. "It is our democracy and we are the ones who should say what is wrong and what is right."

He said he himself would not have achieved his current qualifications if it were not for the money raised by his family's cultivation of dagga in rural KwaZulu-Natal.

"Most of our kids have been taught through money generated by dagga," he said.

The resolution on sex work - described in the original motion as "prostitution" but changed after objection from a female delegate - called for "street transactions" to be made illegal, which they already are, and for a working environment which complied with labour legislation.

Giving his interpretation of the dagga resolution, union president Zizamele Cebekhulu told Sapa afterwards that the union was calling for research "that confirms the danger of dagga to a human being".

He said the drug contributed a certain percentage to South Africa's gross domestic product whether one liked it or not.

"Some parents are still smoking dagga in their house. It's outlawed, but they smoke it. So we say, regulate this thing, tax this thing, and... let dealers not go away with the money."

He insisted that regulation of the drug would mean a harsher regime than the current ban on dagga.

"It's useless to say it's illegal, and yet you have got no control measures over it.

"We say, regulate it, meaning that you put more stricter measures in terms of dealing and in terms of consuming dagga." - Sapa

Battle at Kruger!

Irrigation scheme a white elephant

More than R200-million spent on an irrigation project in Limpopo appears to have gone to waste, SABC television news reported on Friday.

The availability of water and electricity were not considered during the programme's initial planning and there was no water available in its installation area, according to the Friday night report.

Some of the R100-million worth of irrigation equipment had been vandalised. - Sapa

GM truth 2

"The world would be a better place to live if more people smoked cannabis than drank alcohol,"

George Michael, also defended his use of cannabis.

"I'm not going to pretend that my drug of choice is not marijuana, because it is," he said.

"We could sit here with any number of policemen and doctors and they would all tell you if everybody who had a dependence on alcohol changed their mind and had a dependence on weed, the world would be a much easier place to live in.

"What I am saying is that nobody ever came home stoned and beat up their wife."

The singer plays a second straight night on Saturday in Aarhus, Denmark, on his 25 Live European tour that will see him become the first artist to play the new 90 000-seater Wembley Stadium in London, something he described as a "dream come true."

Scorpions burn 3 900 bricks of dagga - "It's a feel-good occasion"

Standing outside a warehouse, Scorpions head Leonard McCarthy held up a shrink-wrapped, one-kilogramme brick of dagga and smiled for the cameras.

Behind him, workers inside the building were pushing four tons of the drug into a furnace to be incinerated - about 3 900 bricks with an estimated street value of R364-million, had the bricks reached their destination in England.

"It's a feel-good occasion," McCarthy said. "Scorpions in the Western Cape have punched a hole in organised crime."

The burning put a ceremonial cap on Operation Appleton. In July, the investigation led to the largest seizure of contraband in the Western Cape yet.

It was also the largest success yet in Project Red Cross, the Scorpions' two-year-old initiative targeting South Africa's drug syndicates.

Members of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) will not discuss the specifics of the programme for fear of tipping off criminals about their methods.

The project has its sights on international traffickers and importers and exporters who deal in the largest and most valuable drug loads and who have made South Africa a hotspot in the global drug trade.

The Scorpions had not gained extra manpower or funding for the effort, but officers were using resources more strategically, said NPA deputy spokesman Tlali Tlali.

"We are operating on the basis of what we have," he said. "We will not fold our arms and say it's not enough."

This translated into extra emphasis on fundamentals like information analyses and following up on even the smallest leads, he said.

In the case of Project Appleton, the tip-off seemed unextraordinary at best, said Jannie Stamatiadis, a Scorpions special investigator and the project's manager.

An ordinary theft complaint spurred the investigation, largely on a hunch. The Scorpions found the dagga - a seedless variety grown in Mozambique and prized on the European market - packed into the apple containers, two days before they were to be shipped to England.

A South African and two British nationals have been arrested. The investigation continues. Cape Times

'Apple box' drugs go up in smoke

About four tons of dagga seized before it could be smuggled out of the country in apple boxes is due to go up in smoke on Wednesday.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Phumzile Kotane said on Tuesday that drugs, mostly dagga, were seized in the Scorpions' Operation Appleton in Cape Town, which foiled an international drug trade worth about R364-million.

"Operation Appleton ended in July 2006 with the arrest of two British nationals and a South African. The trio was caught in the act of concealing tons of drugs in boxes of apples which were being exported," said Kotane.

"A warehouse used to store more drugs was later discovered by the investigators.

"It was clear that the intention was to smuggle the drugs into the United Kingdom."

The three were convicted of trafficking in drugs and given sentences ranging from five to 12 years and fines.

NPA spokesperson Tlali Tlali said the drugs could not be destroyed until the court case and any appeals were over.

"You don't interfere with exhibits of evidence until the trial is concluded."

The drugs are due to be burnt in the Western Cape on Wednesday afternoon. - Sapa

Cops dump guns, drugs on city tip

A haul of home-made guns, knives, cellphones and drugs, including tik, have been found at a municipal tip near Muizenberg - all of it believed to be evidence dumped by police.

There were at least 30 knives, homemade BB-type guns and drugs, including dagga, Mandrax and scores of tik straws and lollies.

The stash also included a large number of ampoules containing a local anaesthetic called Xylotox.

Attached to some of the items were police case numbers from last year and, on one official forensic laboratory bag, the name of a Mitchell's Plain constable. Cape Argus

Elements...

All things nice & other things that go GrooOooVy Doof Doof !

You gotta roll with it!