UK Drug Advisor Fired After Marijuana Comments

[ohayoco]

There are different kinds of support. It's always nice to hear, that you don't only have the backing of a major newspaper but "common folks".

Maybe he'd like to be emailed, maybe he would consider it spam as he has enough support already, I don't know. More to the point, this guy was a government advisor, and he might be a prohibitionist. Just because he is honest about the harms drugs cause, does this mean that he is against them being illegal? Would he be a friend to the Nexus? I don't know, maybe he is, maybe he isn't. Even if he isn't a prohibitionist, he has just fallen out with the government so I imagine he could be being monitored by M15 or someone like that, so I'd suggest creating a new web email especially to be safe if you want to contact him.

Remember that UK advisor who whistleblew over the grounds for the Iraq war, then was found hung in a field? I wonder if that really was suicide. Maybe it was, but it seems more likely to have been murder to me, or at least suicide due to government harrassment. I am in no doubt that dissenters are spied on. The police lie routinely (manslaughter of bystander at G20, Menenzes shooting, etc), and the government raided an opposition MPs office recently which was unprecedented, and they let the Lockerbie bomber free just because they want Libya's oil, and they let that mass murderer General Pinochet escape justice by refusing Spain's extradition request. This government is corrupt, so resist but be careful to stay off their radar. Maybe I'm overcautious, but better to be safe than sorry!

he actually resigned instead of being sacked, but I am more likely to believe that he was forced to resign

He was forced to resign, the Guardian article says so. This is standard policy in UK politics. I expect it's to do with saving face, or maybe you get less money if you're fired.

It will be interesting to see if the other advisors resign in protest, as the article suggested. I really hope they do, so that the storm continues. I don't want the government to get away with this. Or maybe they need to stay to undermine whatever crony the government replace him with?

 

[soulfood]

BBC News - Second drugs adviser quits post

news.bbc.co.uk

There's the next one. BBC are a pretty pro governemnt news channel so read with a pinch of salt.

 

[jacetea]

Fired for telling true facts? How dare he!

 

[ohayoco]

There's the next one. BBC are a pretty pro governemnt news channel so read with a pinch of salt.

Yep, the BBC are paid by the government via the TV licencing fee (which is another injustice in itself).

If you want to email someone, email Gordon Brown (from an anonymous email) and tell him what you think of his actions. Oh, you can't, because he turned his email off in 2008!

 

['Coatl]

so I'd suggest creating a new web email especially to be safe if you want to contact him.

OMG how paranoid can you be?

I just emailed him and he seemed to really apperciate it!

 

['Coatl]

mods where did my first post go? was it deleted or not approved?

I posted in this thread before but it didnt show up!

 

[ohayoco]

[quote='Coatl]

so I'd suggest creating a new web email especially to be safe if you want to contact him.

OMG how paranoid can you be?

I just emailed him and he seemed to really apperciate it!
[/quote]
I'm glad his secretary appreciated it! He does seem like a nice guy on film. He wants drugs to be classified according to actual harm, so alcohol would be fifth most damaging and smoking ninth, with ecstacy, weed and LSD lower down the scale than both. I love that. Acid acknowledged as safer than smoking and drinking!

My advice was not paranoid, it was just cautious. The people who are in prison for possession of drugs right now were not cautious. Everything I said about the government isn't even in question- it's all fact. I don't mind what you do. But honestly, Coatl, you're asking for a busting, posting your email all over the place and giving internet strangers your address all the time when offering trades.

By the way, two advisors have resigned so far after his firing, and more resignations are threatened. It's a real storm. Go scientists!

 

[d*l*b]

David Nutt’s 2009 Eve Saville lecture is now online at the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, worth a stare:

Estimating drug harms: a risky business?

...

MP: You can’t compare harms from a legal activity with an illegal one.
Professor Nutt: Why not?
MP: Because one’s illegal.
Professor Nutt: Why is it illegal?
MP: Because it’s harmful.
Professor Nutt: Don’t we need to compare harms to determine if it should be illegal?
MP: You can’t compare harms from a legal activity with an illegal one.

repeats

...

 

[soulfood]

David Nutt’s 2009 Eve Saville lecture is now online at the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, worth a stare:

Estimating drug harms: a risky business?

Cheers for posting that. It's a very good read and above all thoroughly honest.... no wonder the guy got sacked.

 

[ohayoco]

Estimating drug harms: a risky business?[/url

Yes, thanks that's really interesting.

I've just read the first couple of pages- if anyone does decide to contact him, do please tell him that psylocybin and LSD do actually have medical uses, because he says they haven't.

Psilocybin & LSD were used for psychology as I read in 'Acid Dreams', and more recently low dose LSD has been studied as a pain reliever for terminally ill cancer patients.

 

[soulfood]

Wasn't there also evidence of LSD and psilocybin being showed to help manage cluster headaches?

 

['Coatl]

Coatl, you're asking for a busting, posting your email all over the place and giving internet strangers your address all the time when offering trades.

Ya why do you think that is?

Because I don't do anything illegal.

I'm not worried about it.

 

[cellux]

Brilliant article in the Daily Mail:

A.N. WILSON: Yes, scientists do much good. But a country run by these arrogant gods of certainty would truly be hell on earth

The row between the Government and its scientific advisers blazes on like an out-of-control forest fire.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Especially recommended to burnt.

 

[soulfood]

Brilliant article in the Daily Mail:

A.N. WILSON: Yes, scientists do much good. But a country run by these arrogant gods of certainty would truly be hell on earth

The row between the Government and its scientific advisers blazes on like an out-of-control forest fire.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Especially recommended to burnt.

Fuck this piece of shit paper and all who write for them. Seriously I'm not an angry person, but this paper is the worst thing in the world of media as far as I'm concerned.

*spit*

AAAARRGGGHHH!!!!!

I feel better now

For the record I skimmed through that artical and its a whole lot of BS in a desperate attempt to make the right man look wrong.

I piss on these people from the greatest height.

 

[cellux]

For me it boils down to this: when deciding whether to legalize cannabis or not, politicians should of course take into account scientific evidence, but it would be irresponsible to base the decision on scientific evidence alone.

 

[soulfood]

He's not talking about legalisation though. At no point in his report the the concept even mentioned. He was talking about more suitable punishments. Up to 14 years for dealing cannabis and 5 for posession is rediculous. I could mug someone at knife point and get away with less.

 

[ohayoco]

[quote='Coatl]Because I don't do anything illegal.[/quote]
I didn't realise that growing peyote and other mescaline-containing plants for consumption was legal in the USA! You should do that then!

Brilliant article in the Daily Mail:

A.N. WILSON: Yes, scientists do much good. But a country run by these arrogant gods of certainty would truly be hell on earth

Wow. That's scary. 1984 mind control of the gullible masses.

 

[ohayoco]

He's not talking about legalisation though. At no point in his report the the concept even mentioned. He was talking about more suitable punishments. Up to 14 years for dealing cannabis and 5 for posession is rediculous. I could mug someone at knife point and get away with less.

Yep, they only give people a few years for rape, manslaughter even. Smoking a joint is obviously more harmful than rape and death!

 

[Touche Guevara]

For me it boils down to this: when deciding whether to legalize cannabis or not, politicians should of course take into account scientific evidence, but it would be irresponsible to base the decision on scientific evidence alone.

Only if you don't consider social sciences to be science.

 

[d*l*b]

The Daily Mail article is great, if only for the resounding condemnation of its content by commenters. At a rough guess >95% of the commenters disagree with the frankly insane ramblings of AN 'Troll' Wilson.

I wonder what percentage of the commenters are regular Mail readers though...