You are
in Activism / British
government on drugs
September
2004
Issued by the Talk to Frank campaign
This
leaflet claims to have quotes from real teenagers that just (by chance
obviously) echo the information and advice offered by Frank.
In
some ways, this leaflet is very good. It gets some important points over
in a clear way without resorting to the usual distortions we've come to
expect, but it's still compromised by the need to support the law and
government drugs policy.
Page
1: The front page
Page
2 I don't really smoke
UKCIA
has long carried the warning that smoking anything is bad for your health
- such as here
where we advise "Smoking anything isn't good for you, smoke contains
a lot of chemicals, tars and oils. As a general rule of thumb, the less
smoke you inhale the better".
But
whereas we support that advice, it is clearly and obviously sensible to
encourage people who are going to smoke to do so in the safest possible
way. With regards to cannabis this should include encouraging users to
smoke without tobacco which not only increases the risks of smoking, but
also adds its own risks of addiction.
This
seems to rubbish the idea of smoking cannabis without tobacco, which seems
a bad idea to us. There is also no advice on using safer smoking methods
such as water pipes or even vapourisers. After all, it's by learning how
to avoid risks that we learn what those risks are.
Also,
UKCIA has heard of a lot of evidence that cannabis relieves the symptoms
of asthma. Although we accept smoking is something to keep to a minimum,
Frank isn't being totally honest - see here.
Page
3: The law
This
is a warning about the dangers posed by the law, not about dangers posed
by cannabis itself. UKCIA has warned for some time that "a conviction
for cannabis possession or dealing can cause you big problems later in
life - far bigger problems than the plant could ever cause". For
the vast majority, that's still true today.
Page
4: I got paranoid:
This
is generally good advice, indeed we have also been saying this for some
time now on our effects
page: "Feelings of paranoia can happen from time to time to anyone
and is usually linked to using cannabis in the wrong sort of place, but
a few people find it dominates their feelings and if this happens, treat
it as a warning - cannabis isn't for you".
If
you are showing the symptoms of mental illness, cannabis might make them
worse.
Page
5: Driving
Good
advice
Page
6: I couldn't remember
"Set
your own boundaries about if or when you use cannabis - and stick to them"
is very good advice and is a world away from the usual "don't do
it". UKCIA endorses this comment totally.
Page
7: I put on weight
This
"munchy" warning is a bit daft really. Cannabis users aren't
any more obese than people at large, indeed by far the biggest cause of
obesity is junk food (often marketed at kids) and couch potato lifestyles.
However, hidden in this is something very interesting: "I hardly
ever smoke now" - which accepts that cannabis use can be managed.
Page
8: I can go up or down:
What
this is trying to say is be careful where you use cannabis. Because of
the type of drug it is, where and when you get stoned is important. As
we point out here
"Make sure the location is good - getting stoned in a threatening
place can also lead to the feelings of paranoia".
But
the most important bit of information is contained in the bit of advice
at the end -
"If
a spliff doesn't smell right, makes you feel funny or you don't know what's
in it, don't smoke it" Frank is really warning about another danger
caused by the law, that of contaminated supplies or possibly even different
drugs being passed off to unsuspecting people. It's not unknown for crack
cocaine to be smoked in joints, a danger caused by the law which Frank
daren't tell you about.
Page
9: Why I stopped
No
problem with this one. Again, giving up isn't that difficult and Frank
is acknowledging that.
Page
10: The last page with contact info.
In
summary, this leaflet isn't bad and gets the governments message over
in a non-threatening way which is mostly believable. But as always, it
doesn't tell the full story and hides the dangers created by the government
supported prohibition. This is a pity and this need to tell half-truths
will always compromise information given out by Frank.
Also,
the refusal to encourage safer (note safer) smoking techniques
is difficult to understand
________________________________________________________________
Notes:
Asthma
Acute
effects of smoked marijuana and oral delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol on specific
airway conductance in asthmatic subjects
Effects
of Smoked Marijuana in Experimentally Induced Asthma
from
the IDMU website
http://www.idmu.co.uk/hol6.htm
6.8
Therapeutic research in the treatment of Asthma
6.8.1 Cannabis and cannabis extracts have a long history in the treatment
of asthma-related complaints, as long ago as 1695, including an enquiry
by the Ohio State Medical Committee in 1860 where oral dosage of one grain
of tincture every three hours produced "almost magical" relief
from asthma symptoms. J. Russell Reynolds personal physician to Queen
Victoria, writing in 1890 stated that "in some cases it relieves
spasmodic asthma", and Mattison, in 1891, reported similar findings.
6.8.2 Modern research has tended to confirm traditional therapeutic use
as an anti-inflammatory and bronchodilator agent. Vachon et al, using
volunteer asthma patients, found that smoke from low-potency material
(1.9% & 0.9% THC) showed highly significant bronchodilator effects,
which did not appear to be dose related, lasting for up to 90 minutes
after administration.
6.8.3
Tashkin et al in double-blind experiments using smoked cannabis with 2%
or 0% THC (0% - placebo - all cannabinoids extracted before administration),
as well as 15mg synthetic THC administered orally, found increases in
specific airway conductance (bronchodilation) with smoked and oral drug
conditions, and concluded that the 0% THC placebo may contain some as
yet unidentified bronchodilator, as there was no broncho-constriction,
which might have been expected in asthmatics following inhalation of particulate
matter. They concluded that THC was effective in relieving exercise-induced
bronchospasm, with the duration of the bronchodilatory action lasting
from 2hr to 4hr after administration. Oral THC produced significant, but
less pronounced, effects. In 1977 the same team used aerosolised THC in
5mg and 20mg doses, producing similar and significant bronchodilation
after all doses, with the lower dose producing fewer physical (tachycardia)
or psychological (high) side effects than the higher dose or smoked marijuana.
The effect was slower in onset but longer in duration than isoproterenol,
a conventional bronchodilator agent. Williams et al also concluded that
THC and salbutamol (ventolin) were equally effective in improving ventilatory
function 1 hour after administration by aerosol, with THC having the longer
duration of action.
6.8.4
Abboud & Sanders found that bronchodilator effects were unreliable
when 10mg oral THC was used, some slight increase in airway conductance
was noted although one patient developed severe bronchoconstriction.
6.8.5
Reviewing the evidence in 1986, Graham concluded that THC is an active
bronchodilator with a different mode of action from the common preparations
such as salbutamol and terbutaline, and active when ingested orally or
by inhalation. Oral use (2mg to 20mg in a sesame oil capsule) was slower
in onset than inhalation, which although not ideal, due to the particulate
matter in smoke, could produce swift relief from symptoms. Higher amounts
- i.e. 50-75mg of THC - showed a dose-related effect. Tests of CBN (600mg)
and CBD (1200mg) showed these cannabinoids not to have bronchodilator
activity. Prolonged administration produced no evidence of clinical tolerance
to any of the actions of THC. Speculated that the action of THC may involve
suppression of the release of endogenous substances causing asthma (e.g.
SRS-A), rather than inhibiting their activity.
Summary:
Whilst
we accept that breathing in smoke will aggrivate asthma, it is also true
that cannabis can make the symptoms less severe. Used without tobacco
and with proper smoking equipment (pipes / water pipes) or vapourizers,
or even if eaten, cannabis can indeed help asthma sufferers.
.
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