Pubdate: Wed, 20 Nov 2013
Source: Wicklow People (Ireland)
Copyright: 2013 Wicklowpeople.ie
Contact:  http://www.wicklowpeople.ie/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4964

CONCERNED CANNABIS CONSUMER RESPONDS TO COUNCILLOR'S COMMENTS

Dear Editor, I am writing in response to the specious comments made 
by Cllr. Peter Dempsey in your newspaper dated November 6, 2013 and 
his call for parents to complain about the proposals made in Leinster 
House by Deputy Luke Flanagan. As a concerned cannabis consumer 
myself, I find Cllr. Dempsey's view regarding cannabis to be nothing 
short of archaic, truth void and they belie his lack of knowledge 
regarding the true threats facing Irish society.

The basic premise of his argument is 'cannabis automatically leads 
people onto heroin' and given that this view is not supported by any 
medical or anecdotal evidence, I would like to ask Cllr. Dempsey how 
he came to form such opinions. If his claims regarding the number of 
people in Arklow's cemeteries who 'started out on cannabis' are based 
on fact, I would be happy to stand corrected should he choose to 
furnish us with the source of his information.

Also, if cannabis is so pernicious, can the councillor please explain 
how alcoholism and tobacco related diseases are Ireland's biggest 
killers, yet, nobody in the history of the State has ever died of a 
'cannabis overdose' or had a 'cannabis related illness' recorded as 
their cause of death?

The real truth is that medical studies over the last few decades have 
revealed to us that smoking cannabis is far less harmful than either 
smoking cigarettes or drinking alcohol are, yet both of these can be 
bought legally for personal consumption and both are taxed by our Government.

On the contrary, the benefits of cannabis are now well documented. 
For example, the US State of California has issued licences to people 
with painful illnesses, such as cancer and multiple sclerosis, that 
allows them to use cannabis that has been prescribed by their doctors 
and they can have their prescriptions filled in state regulated dispensaries.

Switzerland also allows for a similar use of cannabis by sick people. 
Not a single person in either country went on to become a heroin 
addict so it is plain that the Swiss and Californian authorities are 
not engaged in creating terminally ill heroin addicts, nor covert 
euthanasia 'a la cannabis'. So, it is clear that cannabis has valid 
medical uses. Just as drinking fruit juice does not automatically 
lead to drinking wine, smoking cannabis does not automatically lead 
to injecting heroin.

With regard to cannabis as a recreational drug, it does not harm 
recreational users when used sensibly i.e. when it is not abused. 
Spain allows its citizens to grow a small number of cannabis plants 
for personal use. Portugal has decriminalised cannabis, citing their 
belief that cannabis is a 'personal health' problem and not a 
'criminal justice' problem, yet neither country has reported a 
corresponding rise in the numbers of young people dying or becoming 
heroin addicts.

It has been legal to buy cannabis in Amsterdam for centuries and they 
are one of the few debt free countries in Europe or maybe there is 
something to be said for 'going to pot' as the councillor so 
facetiously puts it.

Arklow itself has been scourged by hard drugs such as heroin, yet I 
do not see the councillor asking for every car and truck that enters 
Arklow to be searched by sniffer dogs. Every weekend, alcohol paints 
a mural of the previous night's antics in vomit, blood, half eaten 
fast food and discarded wrappings but I do not see him asking for the 
closure of pubs or the banning of nightclubs.

How many more defendants will utter the lines 'I'm sorry yer honour, 
I had drink taken' before the councillor feels morally outraged 
enough to speak out or picket a public house.

Every weekend the A&E departments are strained by victims of drunken 
fights and falls, alcohol poisoned teenagers and drink drivers but 
the councillor's silence on this is deafening. One wonders where his 
local or moral compass is pointed.

I am calling for an end to this ill informed pontificating and parish 
pump propaganda because one wonders who the councillor's next soft 
target for attack will be when he has finished with the evil cannabis users.

Perhaps it will be those 'chocoholics' who, weekend after weekend, 
apologise to gardai for their drunken behaviour when in custody, or 
maybe those awful 'telly addicts' who are always hanging around the 
methadone clinic, getting fresh needles for their next 'fix' of 
Coronation Street.

Cllr. Dempsey should do some basic fact checking before he makes any 
future remarks or demands.

Regards, Name witheld
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom