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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Environmental Consultation Document
Don Barnard Document
Friday 27 Nov 1998 Response to Braintree District Council's Quality of Life consultation document, with particular reference to environmental, economic, medical and law and order issues Introduction THE Quality of Life (QOL) document specifically asks of the Braintree district's residents: "What are the most important local issues to you?" It asks what has been left out and if anyone has any answers to the challenges we face. I believe the most relevant issue not included in QOL is the Government's attitude to legalisation of the cannabis plant. This is a local issue, as I hope to demonstrate below. Cannabis sativa hemp, were we allowed to grow it free of restrictions, would help us improve our environment and our local economy. Below I want to give some background - a potted history? - and then suggest some ways to proceed. PART A Finding answers today - the challenge of sustainability HUMAN beings, like all living creatures, have a survival instinct. Unlike most creatures, however, we can exert a great deal of control over our own destiny. When dinosaurs became extinct, it was not due to any action of their own but because they were victims of climatic changes. Now our own industries are causing environmental and climatic changes which may in turn lead to our own extinction. But unlike the dinosaurs, we have a chance to avoid this impending peril. We tend to view the problems of ozone destruction, global warming, and the accumulation of toxic chemicals in water, soil and atmosphere as comparatively remote issues. We find it hard to visualise the extent to which ecological breakdown will affect our lives on a day-to-day basis. We are blinded by our complacent acceptance of dangerously outmoded beliefs and values. What we fail to acknowledge is that all our present environmental problems have one thing in common: our demand for energy to make our energy-consuming goods, by any means possible. We do not take the long- term view. But it has not always been like this. Until comparatively recently, people recycled almost everything and wasted as little as possible. Most goods were made with natural, organic materials that automatically recycled safely into the soil. Today, the industrial revolution has led to a level of consumerism unparalleled in human history - a throwaway society with a hidden price tag - the cumulative devastation of the environment. In a sustainable future, we need to see local production meeting local needs. At present, we are over-dependent on national and international trade, and from an environmental point of view, this poses us many problems. Pollution from transportation BY producing raw materials for industry locally we reduce the need for transportation of goods around the world. This transportation on which we currently depend involves heavy consumption of fossil fuels, non-renewable resources which have been shown to contribute greatly to the greenhouse effect, and are believed to harm the health of humans, other animals, and plants alike. The petrochemical age as a whole has seen an increasing dependence on international trade, encouraging a continuing trend away from self- sufficiency. Loss of economic accountability LOSS of economic accountability is another pernicious effect of reliance on international trade. Imported goods are often produced using social and environmental practices which would be illegal in the UK. Take the cotton industry. Although cotton is grown in only three per cent of the world's fields, between 11 and 15 per cent of the world's pesticides are used on them. In the CIS, The Aral Sea has shrunk to half its former size - largely because many of its feeder rivers have had much of their water diverted to irrigate cotton crops. As a result, the climate and ecology of the region has been irrevocably altered and the local fishing industry has been decimated. There are even suggestions from doctors in the region that increased rates of cancer in the region are due to what has been dubbed "pesticide Aids." In effect, consumers buying cotton clothing in the UK are unwittingly condoning these practices and keeping those that perpetrate them in business - because economic accountability has been lost. The average buyer of cotton products in the UK is simply unaware of the environmental costs associated with them. Another example: if asked to choose a paper or plastic bag, we are faced with an environmental dilemma: paper from trees that were cut down, or plastic bags made from fossil fuels and chemicals. With a third alternative available - hemp hurd paper or hemp blend papers - one could choose a biodegradable, durable paper from an annually renewable source. But at present cannabis prohibition renders this scenario impossible. Lost economic accountability is a bleak scenario, replicated countless times across the global economy. How do we get the message home? Every time we take a bite of food or a drink of water we suffer from the associated environmental damage, and every time we indulge in these activities we contribute to them. Nearly every one of us every day contribute to destruction of our environment. Summary THE answer to our problems is clear: we must reduce our volume of waste (all too often merely excess packaging), return to using biodegradable raw materials that can be recycled or safely discarded, produce energy in an environmentally-friendly manner, and make use of any waste which we cannot help but generate. Consumers must be made aware of the damage and impact their every day purchases have on the environment both local and worldwide. I believe that people are interested in building a secure future; they just don't know how to go about doing it. Most are so engrossed in the chores of everyday life that to them environment issues have almost become abstract. They are simply not aware how their everyday life is inflicting harm on the environment and their community. As the UN has discovered, enforcing human rights globally is far from easy. The most practical way to improve economic accountability and to promote sustainability is to increase local production of consumed goods. PART B History of hemp - origins of use HISTORICAL evidence of hemp use dates back as far as 8000BC. From 1000BC to 1883AD (almost 3,000 years) hemp was the planet's largest agricultural crop, and produced the majority of the earth's fibre, fabric, lighting, oil, paper, and medicine. It was also a primary source of essential oils, food and protein for humans and animals. Cannabis probably originated in southern Asia, but it was widely cultivated in England until production costs in British-controlled India priced local growers out of the market. As the name suggests, Hampshire was once a traditional area of hemp- growing. Some Historical Uses TEXTILES AND FABRIC THE British Empire was founded on hemp. Ninety per cent of all ships' sails and virtually all the rigging, nets, rope, flags, shrouds and sealant was made from cannabis. It was also the material from which sailors' clothes, shoes and stitching was made from. During the reign of George III, it was actually compulsory to grow hemp in England. In the USA up to 1820, 80 per cent of all textiles and fabrics for clothes, linen, rugs, drapes, quilts, sheets, towels and nappies were hemp-based. Levi jeans were originally made from hemp. The magazine Popular Mechanics in 1938 stated: "Hemp is the standard fibre of the world. It has great tensile strength and durability. It is used to produce more than 5,000 textile products, ranging from rope to fine lace, and the woody 'hurds' remaining after the fibre has been removed contain more than 77 per cent cellulose, and can be used to produce more than 25,000 products ranging from dynamite to cellophane." PAPER UNTIL 1883, between 75-90 per cent of paper was made from cannabis fibre: books, maps, bibles, paper money, stocks, bonds, and newspapers were all made from hemp. The American constitution was written on cannabis hemp paper. The Chinese used hemp for paper from the 1st century AD, and Europeans have been using it for the same purpose since the 15th century. Hemp paper outlasted papyrus by a factor of between 50 and 100 times and was easier and cheaper to manufacture. Nowadays, hemp paper is still the raw material for banknotes, because it is more durable than tree-based paper. LIGHTING OIL UNTIL the early 1800s lighting oil made from hemp seed was the most widely-used worldwide, and until the 1870s it was second only to whale oil. Later it was eclipsed by new petroleum-based fuels like kerosene. FOOD OILS AND PROTEIN HEMP seed is one of the most nutritious sources of protein available to humanity. For centuries hemp seed was an element of the basic diet of much of the world's population, and this was true right up until the early years of this century. PAINTS AND VARNISHES HEMP canvas was the raw material used by most of the great masters, including Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Gainsborough. Oil paintings on hemp canvases have remained in good condition for hundreds of years. Paints and varnishes were also produced using hemp oil for thousands of years. In 1937, testimony to the American Congress from the National Institute of Oilseed Producers tells us that 58,000 tonnes of hemp seed was consumed for this use alone each year. What happened to hemp? UNTIL 1879 cannabis hemp was the most-cultivated non-food crop on earth and its fibre was the most-traded commodity. Hemp production and growing then went into decline due to the replacement of sail by steam power and also the lack of an efficient hemp-processing machine, making hemp expensive on world markets. Cheaper, though inferior fibres like jute, sisal and manila hemp were produced by exploiting peasant labour in India and the Philippines. At the same time, the invention of the cotton gin brought more and more cotton onto the market. Hemp's decline was halted in 1930 when an efficient processor, known as a decorticator, was developed and it quickly became apparent that the cannabis plant would again become a prominent crop in agriculture and commerce. Why didn't this happen? By the end of the 1930s the multinational pharmaceutical and petrochemical giant, DuPont, was gearing up to release its new wonderfibre, Nylon. DuPont had invested many millions of dollars into its development, and with hemp suddenly poised to make a comeback, it became the new synthetic fabric's main rival. DuPont's banker Andrew Mellon - the head of Mellon bank and of the US Treasury - was a close relative of Harry Anslinger, head of the FBI 1930-62. Mr Anslinger turned his notoriously puritanical attention to dope smoking at the end of the Prohibition era. Both had an ally in Randolph Hearst's media chain, the main consumer of woodpulp which had been chemically-treated using DuPont's products, and the owners of the forests from whence the woodpulp originated. The media chain began a campaign of disinformation against cannabis hemp, which they renamed marijuana, then a little-known Mexican slang term. Playing on racism and xenophobia, Hearst and Anslinger protected Mellon's and DuPont's interests, spreading lies and fear about the smoking of cannabis by "negroes, Mexicans and entertainers." It wasn't long before the media as a whole jumped on the bandwagon and almost overnight, marijuana became "the assassin of youth" and "a demon drug" capable of inducing "reefer madness" in the most passive middle- class white youth. As a result, in 1938 the US Congress passed the Marijuana Transfer Tax Act, quite unaware that what they were banning was hemp, a plant they had been trading profitably for centuries. Since then, cannabis has been smoked by disenfranchised youth as a symbol of rebelliousness, creating a multi-million pound illegal black market. PART C A solution to our environmental problems - potential uses of locally- grown cannabis hemp (nb: This is by no means a comprehensive list, just some of the more immediately obvious applications). AGRICULTURE LOCALLY-grown and processed hemp can be extremely useful as different parts of a single crop can be used for different products. Its pulp can be used for paper and its long fibres for cloth. Its woody core can form the raw constituents of particle board and other building materials, and its seeds can be pressed to extract oils for food, plastics, cosmetics and fuels. Fibre crops such as hemp, being low in lignin and high in cellulose, lend themselves well to small-scale processing, and new machinery makes cultivation on any scale a viable economic option. Hemp is a very beneficial crop. It can be grown over and over again on the same piece of ground with no adverse effect on the soil. Because most of its nitrogen content lies in the unharvested part of the plant, it remains in the soil if the waste is used as a self- fertiliser. Any crop will alternate with hemp, and its vigorous and thick growth destroys weeds without the use of expensive herbicides. It is naturally resistant to many plant diseases and is unaffected by a wide range of insects, so the need for insecticides is reduced. PAPER PRODUCTION HIGH-quality paper can be made from cannabis pulp, and the material is perfect for recycling, and can be used over and over again with little deterioration in quality. As a source for paper-making, hemp can be grown and harvested in three to six months compared to 30 to 40 years for plantation trees. It can produce twice to four times the fibre of wood chipping and requires less chemical treatment in pulp form. US Department of Agriculture research has documented that hemp can produce four times more paper than forests. Hemp paper can be processed without chlorine, so deadly dioxins are not produced. At present, the UK and in fact the European Union as a whole has to import a very large proportion of its fibre and paper. Currently just five per cent of the UK's annual paper supply comes from recycled sources. Using cannabis pulp as a paper source there is scope to increase this figure massively. There is an obvious market and opportunity for local production, especially given that new EU directives require a significant reduction in fields used for food cultivation. CLOTHING A DEMAND for sustainably-produced textiles is helping fuel a revival in hemp crops. Hemp is ideal for high-quality clothing because the fibres which make up the plant are longer and therefore stronger than those found in any other crop, including those in flax, cotton and even silk. Cannabis can produce more than three times the fibre of cotton without the need for intensive chemical treatment, and the crop requires half the amount of water that cotton needs to grow. BUILDING MATERIALS, HOUSING AND PVC ONE acre of hemp produces as much as four times the amount of cellulose fibre as an acre of trees. As such it is the perfect substitute for trees used to produce pressed board, particle board and concrete formwork. These uses gobble up tropical rainforests at an alarming and unsustainable rate. The superior strength, flexibility and economy of hemp composite building materials compared to wood fibre is well proven. Recent developments in France have led to the rediscovery of Isochanvre, a building material made from hemp hurd mixed with lime. This actually petrifies into a mineral state and lasts for centuries. Archaeologists have found a bridge in the South of France dating back to the Merovignon period (500-751) constructed using this process. When used a carpet backing, hemp provides a strong rot-resistant material which is a perfect substitute for toxic or allergenic synthetic materials. Hemp can also be used as the raw material for PVC plumbing pipes, replacing petrochemical raw materials currently used. Future houses may be totally built, plumbed and furnished with the world's number one renewable resource: hemp. In the 1930s there was a lot of research done on alternative materials which could be used in car construction. Hillman produced models in this country; in the USA, Henry Ford made a car from hemp, sisal, and plastic emanating from wheat straw. There is a great photo of him attacking the boot of the Hemp Ford with a sledgehammer! The car withstood the pounding and remained dent-free. FOOD HEMP seed can be pressed for its highly nutritious vegetable oil, which contains the highest amount of natural fatty acids found anywhere in the plant kingdom. The essential oils are needed by our immune system and help lower blood pressure and clear arteries of cholesterol. The byproduct of pressing the oil is a high protein seed cake which can be ground and baked into bread, cakes or pies. Hemp seed is a complete single food source for human nutrition. Hemp does not produce as much protein as soya, but hemp seed protein is of a higher quality. Agriculture considerations make hemp the food crop of the future. In addition to the fact that hemp is easy to grow, it also resists UV-B light, a harmful kind of sun radiation blocked by the ozone layer. Soya beans have a low resistance to UV-B light. If the ozone layer were to deplete by around 16% in line with some predictions, soya production would fall by 25-30%. NUTRITION CANNABIS hemp seeds contain the highest Essential Fatty Acids of any known plant. The oil of the seed contains only 8% saturated fats, one of the lowest figures of any oil. No other plant source provides complete protein in such an easily digestible form or contains the oils essential to life in as perfect ratio to maintain health. Because of various political factors, starving people in today's underdeveloped countries are not taking advantage of this crop. In some countries, government officials class cannabis hemp as a drug and pull up the crop. In others, it is because the farmers are busy growing cocoa and poppies to produce cocaine for drug lords. This is a truly sad state of affairs! Summary THE case for using cannabis hemp as a widespread commercial crop is being re-evaluated by farmers, Governments and businesses alike. I urge you to look at the issues again yourselves. Widespread cannabis cultivation and processing can improve the environment, boost rural jobs, rejuvenate the agricultural sector and create jobs and wealth in our local economy. Hemp offers us a way to produce the raw materials for paper, clothing, fuel and much else besides in an ecologically sound manner. Due to the related problems of soil-degradation, toxic chemical build-up and increased emissions of greenhouse gases, several countries around the world are rediscovering hemp as an advantageous crop for the production of paper, chemical-free clothing and many other products. We see our future in terms of an integrated regional fibre production industry reviving the traditional link between the paper and textiles, helping the environment, and creating many other new businesses - and new jobs - besides. The "green" nature of hemp products make them easily marketable to an increasingly environmentally-conscious consumer. Worldwide demand for hemp greatly exceeds supply. By making consumers aware of hemp products and their advantages we can all encourage growth in this reborn industry. The main losers would be the destructive and inefficient woodchip, textile, pharmaceutical and petrochemical industries - the main polluters of our planet on whom we currently depend. The winners would be our farmers and the tens of thousands of people employed in a flourishing and revived hemp industry - not to mention the world's wildlife. Non-wood fibre products could and should be used to provide a boost to our rural sector, generate employment and help our balance of payments problem, billions of pounds of which is accounted for by paper alone each year. Cannabis agriculture will assist in improving the quality of our soil and help us to reduce the accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere, one of the main causes of the greenhouse effect. The profits from local hemp production would be returned to a rejuvenated local economy, less vulnerable to the vagaries of the global market, and able to play its part in reducing pressure on the world's environment. Cannabis hemp is again being grown in Hampshire, Essex, and other parts of Britain under licence, but current law prohibits the free cultivation of the plant. It is time for contemporary society as a whole to rediscover the truth about cannabis, its history and its potential to lead us out of the petrochemical age. PART D Cannabis for fuel OUR ever-growing energy and pollution crises are probably the most serious and challenging man-made dangers we have ever faced. We all have an active role to play in finding solutions. We must cut back on pollution from energy production, which means either an unlikely decrease in energy consumed or a serious change in the resources presently used. The Government is looking at some renewable sources of energy, including solar power, wind and wave power. These methods of energy production have already been proven elsewhere, are non-polluting, would create jobs, and if pursued properly would probably cost no more than our power production methods, and perhaps less. All the above have a part to play but they cannot completely solve our energy crisis on their own. I believe more serious attention should be given to the use of biomass as an energy source. At present cannabis is illegal to grow without a licence. If we genuinely want to find ecologically-friendly answers, this has to change. Biomass UP to 90 per cent of the fossil fuels we use today could and should be replaced by biomass fuels. Using a process called pyrolisis, plant material can be converted into methanol. In order to produce energy most efficiently from biomass it is necessary to select a plant which grows quickly and easily. Cannabis is such a plant. Of all suitable biomass species, cannabis is the most prolific: it is a low-moisture content, woody plant which can be grown in virtually all climatic conditions. Hemp is an ideal example of a plant which can be converted into methane, methanol or petrol at a fraction of the cost of coal, oil or nuclear energy. Methanol can be refined into gasoline, kerosene-paraffin jet fuel and other fuel-oils, as well as other substances including paints and varnishes. Byproducts of the biomass process can be used in tars, asphalt and charcoal. When all these substances are burned, they produce carbon dioxide and water, and none of the pollutants of petroleum-based fuels. Summary PRIOR to and during WW2, tens of thousands of vehicles were run on methanol/petrol mixes produced in exactly the way described above. Methanol is still used today in racing cars and dragsters. Techniques have now been developed to convert methanol into a high- octane, lead-free petrol usable by today's cars without modification. Using cannabis biomass fuel for both vehicle propulsion and energy production would stop carbon monoxide pollution and sulphur-based smog (biomass fuels don't contain sulphur) and would help reverse the greenhouse effect to a significant degree. PART E Cannabis for medicine FOR at least 3,000 years, humanity has used extracts of various parts of the cannabis plant as treatments for various ailments. Some of the earliest archaeological finds in China have included cannabis products. Queen Victoria's use of cannabis to ease her menstrual cramps and PMT is common knowledge and indicative of the use of cannabis as medicine in the English-speaking world at that time. In our century cannabis has been shown to be useful as a medicine for many disorders and symptoms, and proposed a treatment for thousands more. Cannabis and its derivatives have appeared in almost every known book of medicine written to date. In most of these it accorded the status of a panacea - a cure-all substance. More recent studies of its medicinal properties have called it a "salugen" - an entirely non-harmful and health-promoting substance. Today, the therapeutic use of cannabis is beginning to undergo a renaissance. There is a wealth of evidence that for certain patients afflicted with multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, cerebal palsy, Aids and various other terminal illnesses, cannabis can provide a unique palliative. It is already used to some extent for those needing treatment of glaucomas (to reduce intra-ocular pressure), skin disorders, nausea associated with chemotherapy. It is used for appetite stimulation for HIV/Aids sufferers and those with eating disorders, and to treat those suffering from epilepsy, tumours, infections, depression, migraines, stress, rheumatism, and arthritis. Cannabis can be used in palliative care, and its derivatives can be used as an organic and highly effective disinfectant. Yet these are only a tiny proportion of its potential medicinal uses, and medically-proscribed cannabis for treatment is anything but readily available. Despite its many uses doctors are largely forced by prohibition to use synthetic analogues of the active substances found in cannabis hemp as opposed to using the drug in its natural form. Part of the problem is the insistence of the authorities to classify cannabis hemp as a new substance - despite the fact that cannabis has been thoroughly and enthusiastically tested by several hundred million volunteers across more than 3,000 years, making it a more tested product than any pharmaceutical substance now on the market. Summary CANNABIS is currently prohibited because the Government believes it to be a harmful substance. But this conclusion appears to fly in the face of most empirical evidence. It is becoming increasingly clear that cannabis, rather than being harmful, is in fact solely health-promoting - and it is therefore immoral for the Government to deny its use to ill people. We should lobby the Government to change its views and support cheaper and more environmentally-friendly options. Cannabis hemp in its natural form is not patentable, and therefore not profitable. Why should any medical company do the research needed to get cannabis approved as a safe medicine when there is no pay-off ? State-driven and -funded research is the only practical solution. In the end it would be cheaper for the NHS to use cannabis in its natural form than to continue to enhance the profits of multinational pharmaceutical companies. Taking cannabis - a natural substance - is an act we have decided to ban as a recreational activity. We have subsequently discovered - or rediscovered - that when used in certain forms cannabis has beneficial effects on people suffering from many diseases, both incurable and treatable. Even if we support the ban on its use as a recreational activity, what is the moral argument against using cannabis to benefit the sick? Where is the sense or justification of a policy which bans the use of a substance which is medically of benefit to people? PART F Law and order: costs of prohibiting cannabis and arguments for change Introduction AT present, cannabis is classified as a dangerous drug, under the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs 1961, on which the UK Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 is based. Cannabis was first made illegal in the UK and in many other countries in 1928, because of its misrepresentation as a narcotic, i.e. a harmful drug. But cannabis is not harmful. We believe classifying cannabis as a narcotic is wrong, and Article 3 of the UN Single Convention should be exercised to allow the schedule to be amended. Costs of cannabis prohibition WE are fast approaching a stage where consumption of cannabis has increased to such an extent and costs of prohibition are so high, that the Government will be forced to consider relegalisation. In spite of the current ban there is no doubt that cannabis is being consumed on a substantial scale, and the illegal cannabis market has succeeded to a remarkable extent in maintaining the supply of a commodity for which there is a rapidly increasing demand. In 1982, 20,356 people were convicted under the Misuse of Drugs Act; 17,447 of those convictions were for offences relating to cannabis use. By 1985, this figure cannabis-related offences accounted for 21,337 of the 26,958 convictions. At this point, the government of the day was prompted to begin its Tackling Drugs Together initiative, marking a massive increase in expenditure on drug offence detection and prosecution (and relatively little extra on rehabilitation programmes). In spite of this, by 1992 41,353 of the 48,927 drug convictions were cannabis-related and by 1995 (the last available figures), 76,700 of the 93,631 drug offences recorded involved cannabis. It is difficult to see how cannabis use could have spread much faster even if it had not been a prohibited substance. Future Concerns URINE TESTING IF current prohibition policies continue, the next spectre on the horizon is that of urine testing. This has already begun in the USA. In 1987 Nancy Reagan recommended that no corporation be permitted to do business with the Federal Government without having a urine purity policy in place to show their loyalty. Today most companies in the USA routinely conduct random drug testing and fire staff and reject job applicants based solely on chemical analysis of urine. Literally millions of random drugs test have been taken from employees. The implication is that everyone "knows" that cannabis users are bad employees. Unfortunately someone forgot to tell the millions of hard working cannabis smokers that. A study of urine testing by City University of New York's medical school concluded that urine testing is a costly procedure which says nothing about the individual's work ability, competence or impairment. In the case of cannabis urine tests cannot even prove how recently the substance may have been used or indeed if it has. This form of drug testing has turned out to be to be a method for surveillance, not as a tool of safety. In the UK hundreds of thousands of pounds are already spent - some would say wasted - testing employees, drivers, soldiers and prisoners every year. In 1996/97 , there were 57,700 urine samples test in prisons. Of these some 24% tested positive. It has been estimated 500 years have been added on to prisoners' sentences as a result of random urine testing, at an average cost of 24,000pounds per prisoner. Many UK companies are already insisting on urine and hair test for drug and alcohol use. DRUG REHABILITATION PROGRAMMES TODAY many people caught with cannabis are encouraged to take drug rehabilitation programs in lieu of prison time. This treatment option may reduce actual prison costs but does not substantially reduce trial and other pre-sentencing costs. But people who break the cannabis laws are neither physically dependent nor psychologically sick - if they are, cannabis has not made them that way. Most simply refuse to conform to a law which they hold to be unjust. Those who wish to stop using cannabis only need willpower - medical research has shown that cannabis is not addictive. Forcing cannabis offenders into rehabilitation programs means the system wastes resources trying to "cure" people who have no need or real desire to be cured and probably resent the whole process. At the same time, overcrowding will mean centres will be forced to turn away cocaine or heroin addicts and alcoholics, and other truly addicted offenders who desperately need help. Such a policy not only makes drug treatment less efficient, it may well increase crime committed by genuine drug addicts who cannot get treatment! The effects of the war on drugs SUCCESSIVE governments have enacted more and more punitive and costly drug control measures. What has been the result of these policies? UN agencies estimate the annual revenue generated by the illegal drugs industry at $400 billion, or the equivalent to roughly eight per cent of total international trade per annum. This black market industry has empowered organised crime, corrupted governments at all levels, eroded internal security, stimulated violence, and distorted both economic markets and moral values. These are the consequences not of drug use per se, but of decades of drug war policies. The war on drugs has impeded public health efforts to stem the spread of HIV, hepatitis and other infectious diseases. Human rights have been violated, and prison has been inundated with tens of thousand of drug law violators. Scarce public money better spent on health, education and economic development has been squandered on ever-more expensive interdiction efforts. In all these respects the consequences of drug prohibition replicate - and often exceed - those of the failed alcohol prohibition in the 1920s America. Alcohol prohibition in the USA reminds us, too, of the health costs of drugs prohibition. Today street drugs like heroin and speed are adulterated with poisonous substances and assorted pills and capsules containing everything from antihistamines to rat poison. Practically every illicit drug purchased at retail level contains adulterants, many of which are far more dangerous than the drug itself. More and more money is being spent year on year arresting, prosecuting and incarcerating drug-law violators. This has led to choked courts and prisons, taxpayers' money being diverted from worthier ends such as education and health care. It has also required law enforcement resources to be diverted from investigating other crimes. Consider the costs of all the violence and assaults carried out by criminal dealers on each other, against the police, witnesses and bystanders. Consider, too, the tremendous economic and social problems generated by the illegality of the drug market; temptations so overwhelming that it is foolish and unrealistic to expect all children to resist them. Summary WHAT is listed above is just a brief guide to some of the costs of our current prohibition policies. One cannot help wondering how much longer can we foot the bills for all this! We need to initiate a truly open dialogue regarding the future of drug control policies - one in which fear, prejudice, and punitive prohibition yield to common sense and practicality. Of course it is a good thing to want to protect vulnerable people from the consequences of drug abuse. But - as is becoming increasingly clear - prohibition is neither an effective nor a desirable way of doing this. Drugs laws are being widely flouted every day by thousands or even millions of people. When it comes to drugs, the law is an ass. We cannot afford for the law to be brought into disrepute. It is time to re-evaluate our policies, and think again. If there is a single message that we seek to drive home, it is that drug prohibition, rather than drug use, is responsible for much of what is identified today as the ''drug problem''. Realistic proposals to reduce drug-related crime, disease and even death have been abandoned in favour of unworkable policies aiming to create an unattainable goal - a drug-free society. Persisting in our current policies will only result in more drug abuse, a larger black market, more profits and power for criminals, and more disease and suffering. All too often those who call for an open debate, rigorous analysis of current policies, and serious consideration of the alternatives are accused of surrendering. But the true surrender is when fear and inertia combine to shut off debate, suppress critical analysis, and dismiss all other options. PART G Drawing the logical conclusions: a brief summary of the benefits of relegalising the cannabis hemp plant MILLIONS of pounds of taxpayers' money will be freed up, making the cash available to upgrade other state services, like education, sanitation, health care, transportation, clean air, water, and more. WASTED time spent unnecessarily on chasing ,arresting and criminalising cannabis users would be saved, giving police more time and resources to concentrate on other crime. Cannabis arrests and convictions currently account for 80% of all drugs convictions; legalisation would slash Government expenditure at a stroke. THE black market supplying cannabis would be wiped out (large-scale industrial production would easily undercut criminals' prices), removing a massive source of funding for criminals. THE esteem of the law would be restored: a judicial system which tolerates use of proven harmful substances like tobacco and alcohol, but which prohibits other substances which at worst are only as harmful, and more probably beneficial, commands little respect. Even where a substance is provably harmful, a law which makes a criminal activity out of an action practised by a significant part of the population serves only to drive a large proportion of a society underground -as with Prohibition in the USA. REVENUE from a cannabis tax (akin to the taxes imposed on alcohol and tobacco) would provide significant funding for other state services. PRISON overcrowding would be reduced, and pressure on the overburdened criminal justice system would be lessened. Legal aid costs would be reduced and fewer court appearances would be needed from police, and a whole menagerie of administrators, legal experts and witnesses. CANNABIS users would be removed from the health risks and dangers associated with the often-adulterated illegal supply. It would decriminalise a substantial part of the population, allowing them to be honest about their lifestyle and pastimes with friends, families, employers, doctors etc. THE local economy would be rejuvenated, providing a boost to our rural sector, and generating employment. Cannabis agriculture would assist in improving the quality of our soil and help us to reduce the accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere, one of the main causes of the greenhouse effect, and playing a part in reducing pressure on the world's environment. ILL people for whom cannabis is an effective but presently illegal remedy would see their quality of life improved by the re-introduction of cannabis as medicine, rather than being forced to resort to alternative (and often more dangerous) synthetic medications currently used. Final thoughts IN open societies prohibitions which do not have the overwhelming consent of the people are almost impossible to police, and can end up corrupting the system that is there to enforce them. Cannabis hemp, grown free of restriction, is one way to an economical sustainable future. I believe that the laws which prohibit cannabis have created many social problems, and unnecessarily deny access to a uniquely-useful natural resource. I am extremely concerned by the failure of our current democratic institutions to concern themselves with putting this wrong to rights. While the legitimacy of prohibition of cannabis and its enforcement are highly suspect, the case for re-legalisation is quite clear. I believe the prohibition of cannabis is money-motivated, not in the public interest, an unwarranted repression of natural resources and, essentially, a crime against humanity. We cannot allow present problems of pollution and energy to continue simply because of a mistaken belief that the use of cannabis for recreation or therapy must be stopped at all costs, or is in any way dangerous to health. This is clearly contrary to the evidence. Cannabis reforms offer major savings to the taxpayer and release funds for other social programs to tackle real drug misuse and help those who need help. I invite a healthy democratic debate in the confidence that it will demonstrate the cannabis hemp plant is so much more than a recreational substance, and that there are many long-term social, ecological and economic benefits which can be reaped by using cannabis hemp again. I hope that the debate will help strip away all the misconceptions about cannabis which have been foisted on society for over the past few generations and allow us to take a fresh look at the potential of this valuable plant. My personal position on legalising cannabis is best explained by the statement: "A person should not be criminalised and/or locked up for growing and consuming the fruit of the cannabis plant/herb, and our society should not be prevented from using such a valuable and ecologically-friendly resource." This is not as controversial a stance as you might think. In all my time in campaigning for a change in the laws on cannabis, I have met very few people who thought a person should be arrested for simple possession of cannabis for personal use or indeed growing a few plants for their own use, medicinally or otherwise. As for the environmental side, it seems tragically few people are sufficiently informed to make what eventually becomes an obvious judgement. I hope those who read this document can keep an open mind. However, I accept whatever happens there will always be those who believe that hemp can save the world and those who are passionately against its use for any purpose. But there does come moments when a particular combination of circumstances calls for deeper investigation of all the factors involved. We seem to have reached one of those moments! Hopefully I have given you a better understanding of the cannabis plant and the controversy surrounding it. I can only hope that you will open some of the doors I have merely knocked on, to increase your knowledge, and encourage open, honest, and informed debate. Don Barnard, 25 Aetheric Road, Braintree, Essex CM7 2NE November 27, 1998 PART H Further reading, appendices and acknowledgements IF you have struggled through this far, well done! If you wish to look into this issue in more detail - and there is plenty more to know - see below. Appendix 1: The CLCIA THE Campaign to Legalise Cannabis International Association (CLCIA) makes no distinction between any of the many uses of cannabis hemp. We wish to relay information on all aspects of this uniquely-useful plant. We are not stereotypical "spaced-out hippies" struggling for the freedom to smoke dope. We are convinced the cannabis hemp issue is a massive political and economic issue which affects everyone. We come from all walks of life, and hold all manner of personal beliefs, from extreme right to the extreme left, atheist to devout christian; our members include farmers, industrialists, doctors, politicians, parents, patients, doctors and nurses to name but a few. We are not unbiased! We believe the cannabis hemp plant should be re- legalised immediately for all its varied uses. Cannabis hemp is probably the most useful plant on the planet. Certainly it was one of first ever crops to be cultivated - its use is well-documented in many of our most ancient cultures. Prohibition of cannabis is a relatively recent phenomenon, was entirely misguided, and has been an economic, agricultural, industrial, social and environmental disaster. The CLCIA has been at the forefront of the drive to create a level playing field where hemp can compete with other marketed natural resources and synthetics. We are calling on the Government to reform the law and promote domestic and global production of hemp as an environmentally-friendly source of raw materials for industry, medicine and recreation. We, too, are deeply concerned about the threat that drugs pose to our children our fellow citizens and our society. We believe that the global war on drugs is now causing more harm than drug abuse/misuse itself. Once we look beyond the emotional bias attached to cannabis, it is clear that it is not a drug but simply an agricultural product with tremendous demand. We are actively campaigning for the full legalisation of cannabis and the release of all prisoners convicted of cannabis-only offences. We want cannabis to be returned to its status prior to any form of prohibition: CANNABIS USE SHOULD BE A MATTER OF PERSONAL CHOICE, NOT OF LAW! Address: The CLCIA, 54c Peacock Street, Norwich, NR3 1TB Website: http://www.paston.co.uk/users/webbooks/index.html E-mail: webbbook@paston.co.uk Appendix 2: Pertinent facts What is the present UK budget for tackling drugs? OVERALL Government expenditure on tackling drugs misuse across the UK for 1993/94 was estimated at 526 million pounds. A later figure is not available, and the components of the 1993/94 estimate are not given. Current unofficial estimates suggest this figure has now risen to a billion pounds-plus per annum on domestic control, and probably the same amount again on international control. How much does it cost to take a cannabis offender to court? FIGURES for cannabis costs are not available. However, in England and Wales in 1995, the average cost of a prosecution for a summary offence (a less serious offence tried at a magistrates court) was 200-300 pounds, and the cost for an indictable offence (a serious crime heard in a crown court) was 2,000 - 3,000 pounds. How many people are now in prison for cannabis offences in the UK? IN June 1995, there were 1,450 people in England and Wales in jail for cannabis-related offences - about one third of the total number people in prison for drug offences. How many deaths are associated with drug use each year? IN Britain, 95 per cent of drug-associated deaths are due to tobacco and alcohol. There are no reported deaths attributed to cannabis. UK deaths from drugs in 1990 (a typical sample): Tobacco 110,000; Alcohol 30,000 (not including road traffic accidents); Morphine 91; Methadone 84; Heroin 62; Barbiturates 7; Anti- Depressants 4; Cocaine 4; Pethadine 3; MDMA (Ecstasy) 3; Amphetamines 2; LSD 0; Psyocibin ( Magic Mushrooms) 0; Cannabis 0. Appendix 3: Does the Dutch policy of decriminalisation work? VARIOUS experts estimate that there are about 25,000 drug addicts in the Netherlands. This is the equivalent to only 0.16 % of the population. This estimate is reliable, because in Holland care agencies manage to maintain contact with a relatively high proportion of addicts. Below is a quick comparison of the number of drug addicts under Dutch drug policy compared with other European countries: Number ( millions) per 1000 Addicts population population Netherlands 25,000 15.1 1.6 Germany 100,000-120,000 79.8 1.3-1.5 Belgium 7,500 10.0 1.8 Luxembourg 2,000 0.4 5.0 France 135,000-150,000 57.0 2.4-2.6 UK 150,000 57.6 2.6 from: DUTCH DRUG POLICY, 1995 This document can be found on the following websites: http://www.minvws.nl/drugnota/o/index.html http://www.frw.uva.nl/acd/isg /drugs/library/JB/JBUS.html Appendix 4: Technical information about hemp seed analysis (Source: Hemp Union) ESSENTIAL Fatty Acid profile of a typical hemp seed: Alpha Linolenic (Omega 3) 19%, Linoleic Acid (Omega 6) 50%, Gamma Linolenic Acid 1.6% Nutritional analysis of a typical hemp seed: Protein 22.55%, Carbohydrates 35.8%, Oil 30%. Calories 503 per 100g. Dietary Fibre 35.1% (3%soluble). Carotine 7.63 International units/gram. Vitamin E 30mg/g, Vitamin C 14 mg/g, Vitamin B1 9mg/g, B2 11mg/g, B3 25 mg/g, B6 3mg/g Appendix 5: Pot-shots FROM: Green World, Autumn 1996: Drugs and the Green Party: "AS the existing drug laws continue to exacerbate the problems, the need to find a real solution grows, and increasingly people are considering our ideas. As has happened with transport, global warming, ozone, etc., the day will come when our common-sense approach to drugs will also be accepted... "Prohibition fails on every count. To achieve a change we need to mobilise the huge constituency of people who are routinely disobeying these archaic and repressive laws forcing the politicians to listen." FROM: European Community Committee of Enquiry on Drug Trafficking 1991: "DRUG addiction and drug misuse should be treated as a subject of health and welfare and not as one of police and justice. Possession of illicit drugs in small quantities for personal use should not be considered as a criminal offence." FROM: Marijuana; The Forbidden Medicine, Lester Grinspoon, 1993: "WHEN I began to study marijuana in 1967, I had no doubt it was a very harmful drug....By the time I completed the research....I had become convinced that cannabis was considerably less harmful than tobacco and alcohol." FROM: Report by the Expert Group to the Advisory Council on Misuse of Drugs, 1981: "THE review recommended some changes, the effect of which would be to remove the penalty of imprisonment on summary conviction for the unlawful possession of cannabis." FROM: 95th (1992) Congress Agriculture Public Witness Panel Testimony: William C. Burrows, Senior Staff Scientist, John Deere & Co: "WE consider that biomass will be used as an energy source in the future. Machinery is currently in production and available to processors to handle the growing and harvesting of biomass for energy... "Maybe I should emphasise that a little more because it is easy to pass over this in the testimony. We think the technology, the machinery for using this material is here now. It can be bought in the market place." Appendix 6: Further reading Documents and sources THE REPORT: CANNABIS: THE FACTS, HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE LAW; THE REPORT OF THE FCDA EUROPE By K.E.A. d'Oudney & J.R. d'Oudney. A textbook exposition on cannabis prohibition in the context of criminology, ecology, economics, history, law, medicine, politics and sociology. ISBN: 0 9524421 16. The Family Council on Drug Awareness is an educational organisation originating in the USA with numerous branches. The FCDA Europe is its autonomous associate. THE GREAT BOOK OF HEMP By Rowan Robinson. A guide to the environmental, commercial and medicinal uses of the world's most extraordinary plant. THE EMPEROR WEARS NO CLOTHES By Jack Herer. Eye-opening information about cannabis hemp for everyone interested in ecology, the environment, politics and history. Fully documented and researched. FATS THAT HEAL, FATS THAT KILL By Udo Erasmus. The most up-to-date and complete guide to fats, oils, cholestrol and their effects on human health. Includes current research on common and less well-known oils - including hemp-seed oil and its therapeutic potential. HEMP, THE LIFELINE TO THE FUTURE By Chris Conrad. Information on how cannabis hemp can provide 50,000 commercial products - food, clothing, shelter, paper, plastics, fuel and medicines and more - and help reduce pollution and repair our planet. GREEN GOLD: THE TREE OF LIFE: MARIJUANA IN MAGIC AND RELIGION By Chris Bennett, Lynn Osburn & Judy Osburn. Documents the history of religious use of cannabis. HEMP TODAY By Ed Rosenthal. A collection of reports from research scientists and authorities on the hemp plant, and its uses worldwide. Also includes detailed discussions on hemp for fuel, the economics of relegalisation, and other topics. MARIJUANA: THE FORBIDDEN MEDICINE By Lester Grinspoon M.D. and James B. Bakalar. Evidence of cannabis hemp's therapeutic value, containing first-hand accounts of how cannabis has offered relief from a variety of physical disorders. MARIJUANA MYTHS, MARIJUANA FACTS By Lynn Zimmer and John P. Morgan. Chapters address cannabis's physical and psychological effects, its addictive potential, its impact on driving, and its use as a medicine. HEMP HORIZONS: THE COMEBACK OF THE WORLD'S MOST PROMISING PLANT By John W Roulac. Includes information on how 29 countries (including Britain) already use hemp, as well as companies including Adidas, Giorgio Armani, Ford, Mercedes and BMW. Organisations and contacts HEMPTECH The industrial hemp information network, including information on how tobacco farmers are lobbying to switch from the tobacco leaf to the hemp stalk - a non drug crop. Website: http://www.hemptech.com THE LINDESMITH CENTRE Publishers of "Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts - A Review of the Scientific Evidence" by Lynn Zimmer Ph.D. and John P. Morgan MD. The centre houses one of the world's largest collections of information on drugs and drug policy in its library and information centre. Some of the documents are available on the centre's web site, which also provides the latest news from the centre and links other relevant sites. Address: The Lindesmith Centre, 400 West 59th Street, New York 10019 USA E-mail address: lindesmith@sorosny.org Website: http://www.lindsmith.org THE ALLIANCE FOR CANNABIS THERAPEUTICS The aim of ACT is to encourage more research into the therapeutic value of cannabis, with a view to giving access to it for patients via medical prescription. It does not encourage people to break the law, and does not campaign for the general legalisation of cannabis. Many doctors support the campaign - in a 1994 BMA survey, 74 % of doctors said they thought cannabis should be available on medical prescription. ACT took a delegation of doctors, patients, and politicians to the Department of Health in October 1994. This group can take the most credit for persuading the House of Lords to investigate the medicinal uses of the plant, which led to its recent and much-publicised support for legislation allowing doctors to prescribe cannabis. Fax: 0113 2371000 HEMP UNION Hemp Union is a company committed to environmentally-sound practices and products, and the total re-introduction of hemp products for the future benefit of everyone. Address: Hemp Union Ltd, 24 Anlaby Road, Hull HU1 2PA Website: http://www.karoo.net/hempunion NEW EARTH The manufacturers of hemp seed food bars and a hemp seed-based sports energy bar. New Earth provides a free information service which includes nutritional analysis on hemp seeds. Its web site contains pictures of hemp seed farming and various hemp seed recipes. Address: New Earth, PO BOX 204, Barnet, London EN5 1EP Website: http://www.hemp.co.uk BIOMASS FARMER & USER The journal for those who produce and market solar energy, BF&U is published by Macpherson Associates six times a year. It reports industry news, research progress, and developments on legislation, and provides commentary. It provides a forum in which readers can express their views in print. Individuals and bodies such as British Biogen, ETSU, the European Commission and Government departments disseminate ideas and views via the journal. SILSOE RESEACH INSTITUTE The SRI is part of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and works in close collaboration with other BBSRC Institutes. It is leading research into developing practical, cost-effective methods of processing alternate crops including straw, linseed, hemp, nettles and hollyhocks to help make using natural, renewable materials a viable option. Address: David Bruce, Silsoe Research Institute,Wrest Park, Silsoe, Bedford MK45 4HS Tel: 01525 860000 Fax: 01525 860156 E-mail: sri.p@bbsrc.ac.uk Website: http://www.sri.bbsrc.ac.uk HEMP INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION HIA is an industry trade association dedicated to the support and promotion of hemp. Its select membership includes the world's leading hemp businesses. The aims of the HIA are: to represent the interests of the hemp industries; to encourage research and development of new hemp products; to educate consumers about the exceptional attributes of hemp products; to facilitate the exchange of information and technology between hemp farmers, processors, manufacturers of hemp products, distributors and retailers; to maintain and defend the integrity of hemp products; and finally to advocate and support socially-responsible and environmentally-sound business practices. Address: PO Box 1080, Occidental, CA 95465 Tel: 1-500-HIA-HEMP E-mail address: info{@thehia.org Website: http://thehia.org THE BIOREGIONAL DEVELOPMENT GROUP A UK environmental organisation looking at the revival of traditional, sustainable industry through the introduction of appropriate-scale technology. It has been exploring the potential for non-wood fibres for papermaking for a number of years, and has produced several reports on the potential of annual fibre crops such as hemp, flax and straw. Backed by the World Wildlife Fund and the Government's Local Projects Fund, the group has already begun research on use of cannabis hemp for agriculture and industry, with special emphasis on hemp's potential for paper and textile production. Its report "Bioregional Fibres" explores the potential for a sustainable regional paper and textile industry based on hemp and flax. On 26th March 1997 the group introduced its mini-mill project at Kew Gardens to the representatives of eight paper mills, the paper federation and other interested parties including Government departments. This group differs from many other pressure groups as it is market-led and has had some notable successes including the regeneration of the British charcoal industry. Address: Bioregional Development Group, Sutton Ecology Centre, Honeywood Walk, Carshalton, Surrey SM5 3NX
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