Antonio Maria Costa, the head of the UN's Office on Drugs and Crime, reacted sharply Monday to the British Government's decision last year to reclassify cannabis from a Class B drug to Class C (a decision which is likely to be reversed).
For a more thoroughly factual approach to this subject, please see my other diary:
”Different Wars, Different Lies, Same Criminals: The War on Drugs Escalates”
In an implied criticism of Britain's decision to downgrade cannabis, Antonio Maria Costa, the head of the UN's Office on Drugs and Crime, said that countries got the "drug problem they deserved" if they maintained inadequate policies.
"With cannabis-related health damage increasing, it is fundamentally wrong for countries to make cannabis control dependent on which party is in government. The cannabis pandemic, like other challenges to public health, requires consensus, a consistent commitment across the political spectrum and by society at large."
Mr Costa said that cannabis was now "considerably more potent" than a few decades ago. It was "a mistake" to dismiss it as a soft drug.
"Today the harmful characteristics of cannabis are no longer that different from those of other plant-based drugs such as cocaine and heroin," he said.
On Wednesday, a Scandinavian pot smoker reacted sharply to Dr. Maria Costas statement.
"Countries get the drug problem they deserve”?
Someone should strap this gentleman's hands to his ankles and give him a problem he deserves.
"It is fundamentally wrong for countries to make cannabis control dependent on which party is in government."
Does that mean that every country should have a constitutional ban on cannabis, or be subject to a supranational ban?
"The harmful characteristics of cannabis are no longer that different from those of other plant-based drugs such as cocaine and heroin."
You obviously don’t need cannabis to be delirious. I wonder how much Antonio Maria Costa has been paid to suck walrus dick.
Heads of government, make no mistake, putting pot smokers in jail, all the 160+ million of them, is the answer to your drug-related problems.
Meanwhile, there’s this:
Alcohol Statistics
More than 100,000 U.S. deaths are caused by excessive alcohol consumption each year.
Direct and indirect causes of death include drunk driving, cirrhosis of the liver, falls, cancer, and stroke.
At least once a year, the guidelines for low risk drinking are exceeded by an estimated 74% of male drinkers and 72% of female drinkers aged 21 and older.
65% of youth surveyed said that they got the alcohol they drink from family and friends.
Nearly 14 million Americans meet diagnostic criteria for alcohol use disorders.
Youth who drink alcohol are 50 times more likely to use cocaine than those who never drink alcohol.
Among current adult drinkers, more than half say they have a blood relative who is or was an alcoholic or problem drinker.
Across people of all ages, males are four times as likely as females to be heavy drinkers.
More than 18% of Americans experience alcohol abuse or alcohol dependence at some time in their lives.
Traffic crashes are the greatest single cause of death for persons aged 6-33. About 45% of these fatalities are in alcohol-related crashes.
Underage drinking costs the United States more than $58 billion every year -- enough to buy every public school student a state-of-the-art computer.
Alcohol is the most commonly used drug among young people.
Problem drinkers average four times as many days in the hospital as nondrinkers -- mostly because of drinking-related injuries.
Alcohol kills 6 1/2 times more youth than all other illicit drugs combined.
Concerning the past 30 days, 50% of high school seniors report drinking, with 32% report being drunk at least once.
Update:
Holy smokes. This guy is truly insane. I wish I had crashed that symposium. Talk about fear and loathing..
Speech of
Antonio Maria Costa
Director-General, United Nations Office at Vienna
and Executive Director Office on Drugs and Crime
At the
International Symposium on Cannabis
Stockholm, Sweden
7 March 2003
[…]
Cannabis Sativa is a most gentle looking, spontaneously growing plant with several practical applications already known in the ancient world. It contains, however, treacherously addictive substances that have turned the plant into an international problem.
[…]
First and foremost, world public opinion has become much more aware of, and involved in appraising the risks and the consequences of drug abuse, urging governments to place all attendant forms of uncivil behaviour high on the public policy agenda. Indeed, almost universally, public opinion polls have listed the "evil trilogy" - drugs, crime and terrorism - as the most potent threats to society.
A second novel feature is the emerging contrast - at times a very acrimonious contrast indeed - between (i) public opinion's great awareness and overwhelming opposition to any attempt to underestimate the severity of the drug problem, and (ii) the spreading of a permissive culture that stresses the right to choose individual lifestyles (including abuse), and that proselytises differentiation among types of narcotics - as if some among these were less dangerous to health than others. Cannabis, and synthetic drugs like amphetamine-type stimulants, are some of these.
[…]
Fourth, there is a question of logic. The dislike of illegal activities should not lead us into the temptation of legalising them, under the mistaken assumption that they disappear. This reminds of a Hollywood sheriff who, unable to catch thieves, concluded: "if we legalise bank robbery, then there will be no bank robbery". How can we say that drug liberalisation will be a success, if tens of thousand of people will die from it?
[…]
It is not an easy task but we count on your support to be able to make a difference in people's lives, and to be able to say by 2008 that we have achieved our goals.
!!!