HI ALEX
Until the end of the last century cannabis, also known
as hemp, had been used throughout the world for
centuries, for a variety of reasons. For ages human
beings in many parts of the globe had used the highly
nutritious cannabis seed as a source of food. In fact
it is still one of the most nutritious seeds on earth.
Various parts of the plant had been used to make most
of the world\'s paper including Bibles, maps and charts,
writing paper etc; also most rope, sails and tents
(the word \'cannabis\' is derived from the Dutch word
\'canvas\', lubricants, paint base and fuel.
Cannabis had been, and still is, regarded as a sacrament
by religions such as Coptic Christians, Hindus, Moslems,
Buddhists and, later, Rastafarians and New Age Churches.
Cannabis had been used as a medicine since the times of
the Ancient Chinese and Egyptians. It is still claimed
to ease the suffering of many millions of people today.
These include those afflicted with Multiple Sclerosis,
AIDS, glaucoma, migraine, epilepsy, asthma, insomnia,
spinal injury, loss of appetite, depression and nausea
particularly associated with chemotherapy on cancer
patients. Cannabis was available as a tincture in the
UK until 1971. Now the natural ameliorative plant is
totally illegal.
Cannabis was an essential crop in many countries for its
various uses. In Britain there are several places named
after the hemp plant: Hempnall, Hampstead Heath etc. In
Wymondham in Norfolk, last century, a prison work house
received a commendation for its profitable cannabis business.
So why was cannabis suddenly prohibited? Read on...
for more information contact:
Legalise Cannabis Alliance (LCA),
P0 Box 198, Norwich, NR2 2DE.
Tel: 01603 442215 www.lca-uk.org
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Cannabis Mis-represented
In 1894 the British and Indian Governments Hemp Drugs Commission ruled out prohibition of cannabis and said that the social use of cannabis was acceptable. They also denied previous claims that cannabis caused insanity. However, the world was changing quickly. Addiction to narcotic opiates
was becoming a serious concern in the Western world, and moves were being made to ban them. On the other hand the cannabis hemp plant was seen as a serious obstacle to the huge profits which could he made from the synthetic
alternatives to cannabis products - chemical drugs, fossil fuels, and chemicals for cotton and wood pulp.
It was not a difficult matter to convince delegates at the 1924 Opiates Conference in Geneva, that cannabis was also a dangerous and addictive \'narcotic\'. This was done by delegates from Egypt, (where hemp threatened the valuable cotton exports) who claimed that some of their people
suffered from \'chronic hashism\' and insanity due to smoking cannabis. The conference set up a special committee to look into cannabis, but before they had time to report a Second Conference decided to include cannabis in the list of
prohibited substances. Britain abstained in the vote. Cannabis became mis-classified as a narcotic drug. Under the conditions of the conference Britain created the Dangerous Drugs Act in 1928, which banned cannabis along
with heroin, opium and cocaine, except for medicinal use. Once the Western world had accepted that cannabis was dangerous and had made it illegal in their countries, the next step was to eradicate hemp completely.
In the USA vast quantities of cannabis were being grown for fibre, as well as being used medicinally, religiously and socially, without problem. However, pharmaceutical companies were patenting new drugs. Petrochemical
companies were preparing to monopolise the fuel supplies and replace natural hemp products by synthetics such as plastics and nylon, as well as take control of the paper industry, and supply vast amounts of chemical fertilisers and pesticides to less sturdy crops such as cotton and
tobacco. There was huge pressure to outlaw cannabis hemp and tycoons such as William Hearst (newspapers and timber), companies such as DuPont, and public servants such as Anslinger, worked together on a campaign which was to
convince the public that smoking \'marijuana\' (a racialist term they used to avoid associating it with the friendly cannabis plant), was likely to cause \'reefer madness\' and lead to rape and murder. Anslinger told of plots by \'ginger haired niggers\' to undermine society by spreading the cannabis \'addiction\'. In the USA the Marijuana Transfer Tax banned cannabis as a crop.
Page 2
This was pushed through the legislative processes quickly and without the knowledge of the American Medical Association which had long recognised cannabis as a medicine. In fact the only people who were able to attempt to oppose the law were the seed companies, which is why cannabis seed remained legal as bird food. Anslinger went on to control the attempts at eradicating hemp until he was eventually sacked by President John Kennedy, who was said to have used cannabis to ease back pains.
However, during the time World War II broke out, American policy had to change in order to produce the necessary fibre for war. \'Reefer Madness\' was rapidly, but temporarily, dropped in favour of a \'Hemp for Victory\'
campaign and farmers were required to grow cannabis. After the war Anslinger continued to publicly campaign that cannabis drove people crazy and made them violent, right up until the Vietnam War when he then blamed cannabis for pacifying American troops.
The world-wide campaign against cannabis continues until the present day. Further International Treaties, such as the UN Single Drugs Convention of 1961, officially denied that cannabis had any therapeutic proprieties and
classified it alongside highly addictive, toxic and dangerous drugs. Further changes in national laws, including, in Britain, the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, increased penalties, withdrew cannabis as a medicine, and banned its cultivation for any reason.
This situation has resulted in the prosecution of millions of people around the world, some of whom are even now serving life sentences and longer for small amounts of cannabis, often solely for medicinal use. These include
William Foster who was sentenced to serve 93 years in Texas recently; he suffers from chronic rheumatoid arthritis. The prohibition of cannabis and the widespread use of the synthetic alternatives is responsible for many of today\'s problems, including the drugs problem, alienation of huge
sections of populations, over-crowding of prisons, pollution, unemployment and increased suffering. Britain alone spends over half a billion pounds a year \'fighting\' drugs, resulting in 83% of arrests being for cannabis
\'offences\' - over 80,000 people - and the problem is getting worse.
In the face of the many testimonies from medical users of illegal cannabis and the huge social and ecological problems caused by, and resulting from, prohibition of cannabis, we need to ask: \"Was the prohibition of cannabis
justified?\" What do the scientists and doctors say? Is cannabis as harmful as was claimed - or have we all been conned by money-- motivated conspirators?
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What The Experts Say
UK ROYAL COMMISSION, WOOTTON REPORT 1966 said: \"there is no evidence that (any) serious dangers are associated with the smoking of cannabis\", and \"cannabis does not lead to heroin addictions\" and that there was no evidence that cannabis caused \"conditions of dependence or psychosis requiring
medical treatment.\"
SCHLUSS
FOLG MIR!!!
