Pubdate: Sun, 11 Aug 2013
Source: South China Morning Post (China)
Copyright: 2013 South China Morning Post Publishers Limited.
Contact:  http://www.scmp.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/416
Author: Christy Choi
Page: 4

CANNABIS DEBATE NOT CUT AND DRIED

Hong Kong's ' happening' crowd may not see why it should be banned
from smoking a joint, but the city's drug boss sees things another
way

On a quiet beach, as night deepens, a group of campers kick back,
relax ... and commit a crime that could cost them a HK$ 1million fine
and seven years in prison. The campers are no Bill and Ted-style
loveable losers. The Hollywood archetype of the stoner doesn't fit
this group of Hong Kong twenty- and thirty-somethings. They move in a
world full of fellow high- achievers and respectable contributors to
society: teachers, bankers, lawyers, doctors, insurance salesmen,
mothers, jewellery designers, who all like to toke.

They are the children of a society that preaches abstinence to all
drugs  except alcohol of course. The ones who were told how drugs
would ruin their lives, guilt-tripped about how drug problems could
pull a family apart.

Knowing about the effects of drugs like ketamine, heroin and cocaine
are enough to put most of them off, but the same does not hold true
for cannabis.

Hong Kong law remains firm on cannabis, but a growing number of
jurisdictions are going easier on the drug  from US states such as
Colorado to nations including Uruguay  legalising the weed, even if
only for "medicinal" purposes.

Nine US states and the capital Washington DC, have legalised the
medical use of marijuana, while five more have legislation in the works.

Colorado and Washington state have fully legalised the growing and
consumption of the weed.

And an expanding body of research backs the view that, while by no
means safe, marijuana should not be classed in the same category as
harder drugs such as heroin and cocaine.

But legalisation of marijuana, let alone decriminalisation, is not on
the cards in Hong Kong, where possession and consumption is illegal.

"A dangerous drug is a dangerous drug. We have a zero-tolerance
policy," says Commissioner for Narcotics Erika Hui Lam Yin- ming.

Regardless, "Andrew", a 25year-old who works in the media industry,
says: "For me, it's like my Friday night beer. I prefer it so much
more than drinking."

Andrew started smoking when he was 15. He says he doesn't drink and is
against using hard drugs.

"Weed does a lot less harm than alcohol, is a lot less antisocial, and
it's healthier than going on a binge every Friday," he says. It's also
easier on his wallet. "While you can spend HK$ 500 in a night on
alcohol, HK$ 500 of weed might last me a month."

In 2010, the British medical journal the Lancet published a study on
how harmful 20 different substances, from alcohol to cannabis to
heroin, were to users and to people around them in the UK. The study
put alcohol at the top of the list, followed by heroin, crack cocaine.
Several others including tobacco, came in above cannabis.

The scientific journal Nature published a review in January that said
old research that had shown a link between long-term cannabis
consumption and decreasing IQ among users no longer held water.

Other studies in the United States, some carried out by the US
National Institute of Health, showed the medical benefits of marijuana
for patients with multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, nausea, vomiting,
and for cancer patients who need to gain weight. Others show that the
addictiveness of cannabis is less than that of tobacco and alcohol.

There have been no deaths by cannabis overdose recorded in the US;
most deaths related to the drug are accidents in the vein of drink-
driving. And states that allowed the use of cannabis in the 1970s saw
no major surge in consumption. The view of the Hong Kong government is
simple. Drug use in Hong Kong is down, so if the system isn't broken,
why fix it?

The latest government survey of secondary school students shows that
only 1- 2 per cent have tried cannabis. The figure is closer to 20 per
cent and 30 per cent in Europe and America, Hui says.

"We've succeeded in containing the problem. I don't see why we should
be giving up the progress we've had... I think it would be
irresponsible," she says.

"These places that have decriminalised the consumption of marijuana
have their own problems."

She cites the Netherlands, which sees tourists causing trouble after
coming to the country to get their hands on marijuana at coffee shops.
The Dutch last year banned the sale of marijuana to tourists in border
towns, where residents complained that drug tourism attracted crime
and unwelcome visitors.

The law was overturned countrywide in November, but lawmakers said
individual cities could decide whether or not they would sell to tourists.

Hui says the Security Bureau's stable of narcotics experts still
believes marijuana to be addictive, and it's potency as a gateway drug
  after which users move on to harder substances  should not be
underestimated. And there are clear health hazards.

As for the medical use of marijuana, she says it is up to the medical
practitioners to decide.

"It's still too early. Let's wait and see what happens to these places
that have legalised," she adds.

But voices of dissent have long been heard from within the city's
corridors of power. As long ago as 1994, justices Neil Kaplan and
Gerard Godfrey said they supported the decriminalisation of cannabis,
saying drug laws were failing to curb drug use.

"Cannabis use is now so widespread that [ keeping it illegal] makes
people think the law is an ass," Kaplan told the South China Morning
Post.

He said decriminalisation would take the profit motive away from
criminals and the government could regulate the trade, and separate
users from criminal elements.

Almost 20 years later, Andrew agrees. He says it would make sense to
regulate cannabis in the same way as alcohol and tobacco, as it is not
entirely without its hazards.

"There are some people who do it really regularly and there's some
sort of mental addiction," he says. "But it's a minority, maybe around
5 per cent." Researchers seem to agree. "It is true cannabis has some
abuse potential, but its profile more closely resembles drugs in
Schedule III ( where codeine and dronabinol are listed)," researchers
for the US National Institutes of Health wrote in a recent paper.

"I agree... that chronic use of cannabis correlates with mood changes
and low motivation, especially when started in adolescence. In
individuals with psychosis, it may trigger or worsen their symptoms,"
said David Nathan, a clinical associate professor at Robert Wood
Johnson Medical School wrote in an op-ed for CNN in January. But
Nathan supports legalised marijuana use by adults.

"Those who believe cannabis to be a gateway to opioids and other
highly dangerous drugs fail to appreciate that the illegal purchase of
marijuana exposes consumers to dealers who push the hard stuff. Given
marijuana's popularity in this country, the consumption of more
dangerous drugs could actually decrease if pot were purchased at a
liquor store rather than on the street corner where heroin and crack
are sold."

In Hong Kong, cannabis use has traditionally been associated with
expatriates and, in particular, international school pupils. But the
drug has grown in popularity among locals, with arrests for cannabis-
related offences now split 50/ 50 between locals and expats.

And while the lengthy jail sentences remain on the statute books, the
focus for users is on education rather than punishment, according to
Hui.

"We should be focusing on those who sell, not those who take drugs,"
she says.

Last year 237 people were arrested for cannabis-related offences,
while in 2008 the number was 523. The Central Registry of Drug Abuse
reported 6,482 cases of psychotropic drug abuse last year, down from
7,670 in 2011.

The registry compiles statistics from public hospitals, NGOs the
police and other sources, but does not claim to provide a complete
picture of drug abuse in the city.
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