Regular Users of the Drug Found to Have Lower Levels of Insulin After Fasting, Research Shows Smoking cannabis may prevent the development of diabetes, one of the most rapidly rising chronic disorders in the world. If the link is proved, it could lead to the development of treatments based on the active ingredient of cannabis, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), without its intoxicating effects. Researchers have found that regular users of the drug had lower levels of the hormone insulin after fasting - a signal that they are protected against diabetes. They also had reduced insulin resistance. Cannabis is widely smoked in the United States with over 17 million current users of whom more than four million smoke it on a daily basis. In the UK latest figures show 2.3 million people used cannabis in the last year, but the numbers have declined in the last decade. [continues 378 words]
Decision to Sack Top Drugs Scientist Threatens to Tear Apart Council Established in 1971 The future of the Government's scientific advisory council on illegal drugs hung in the balance last night as further resignations were threatened. After four days of increasingly acrimonious exchanges between the Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, and the scientific establishment following the sacking of Professor David Nutt, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs which Professor Nutt chaired until Friday, broke its collective silence for the first time. [continues 617 words]
It is 40 years since cannabis unleashed the "flower power" revolution of the 1960s, encouraging a generation in Europe and the US to "make love not war". Young people at the time hoped their legacy would be world peace. Instead, it has turned out to be a world of fuzzy dope-heads. In the intervening decades, the drug whose intoxicating effects have been known for 4,000 years has been increasingly adopted by adolescents and young adults across the globe. Today, an estimated one in 25 adults of working age - 166 million people around the world - has used cannabis to get high, either in ignorance or defiance of its damaging effects on health. Now, the extraordinary popularity of the drug is posing a significant public health challenge, doctors say. [continues 397 words]
It might be termed the hallucinogenic way of death. Psychoactive drugs such as "magic mushrooms" could be used to enhance the experience of dying, according to an expert in medical ethics. Robin Mackenzie, director of medical law and ethics at the University of Kent, is to call today for people to be given more choice over how they die at a workshop in London organised by Exit International, an Australian organisation advocating voluntary euthanasia. Studies are underway into the effect of drugs including ecstasy and psilocybin in terminal cancer patients to ease the process of dying and encourage closer family bonding in the final hours. But there is widespread resistance to the use of psychedelic drugs. [continues 221 words]
Gordon Brown has made his position on cannabis crystal clear but, if the reports are right, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs is not minded to take the hint. Nor should it. This is a political row fuelled by the Prime Minister's anxiety to pacify Middle England. There is a widespread, but mistaken, belief that the country is in the grip of an epidemic of cannabis-induced psychosis. This is based on the conviction that the cannabis sold on the streets is a lot stronger than it was a generation ago and is tipping some people into schizophrenia. [continues 364 words]
WHAT IS THE TRUTH ABOUT SKUNK, AND HAVE THE DANGERS BEEN OVERSTATED? Why are we asking this now? Yesterday, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs began reviewing scientific evidence on the classification of cannabis, amid widespread fears that Britain is in the grip of an epidemic of cannabis-induced psychosis. This view is based on the belief that cannabis sold on the streets is stronger than it was a generation ago and is tipping vulnerable people into mental illness, including schizophrenia. [continues 1107 words]
In a week in which Gordon Brown signalled a toughening of the law on cannabis and Labour MPs queued up to confess to smoking dope in their youth - a dozen cabinet ministers at the last count - there has been a widespread assumption bandied about that the country is in the grip of an epidemic of cannabis-induced psychosis. But there is no evidence that cannabis poses a greater threat to health today than it did 30 years ago, and reports that stronger forms of the drug, called skunk, have 25 times the potency are wildly exaggerated. The joint, symbol of peace and love in the 1960s, has become a totem of degenerate Britain - increasingly linked with mental breakdown and axe-wielding maniacs. [continues 444 words]
A teenage clubber who collapsed in Britain after taking a dance drug marketed as a "safe" alternative to Ecstasy was lucky to survive, doctors say. But manufacturers of the drugs claim 20 million pills have been consumed in New Zealand with no deaths or significant harm. The 18-year-old girl took benzyl-piperazine, or BZP, at a London nightclub last May. Shortly after swallowing five tablets, she collapsed and suffered a seizure lasting 10 minutes. Hospital doctors said her pupils were dilated, her heart was racing at 156 beats a minute and her body temperature and blood pressure had plummeted. They gave her a heavy dose of tranquillisers to calm her pulse. After 12 hours under observation she made a full recovery and was discharged. [continues 372 words]
More than a third of people claim to have taken illegal drugs during their lifetime, and 10 per cent say they have done so in the last year. Efforts to restrict drug use have failed to curb high rates of consumption in the UK. Though use of heroin and crack cocaine is comparable to other countries, use of recreational drugs is higher. Britain had a relatively liberal approach to drugs in the 1960s, with heroin prescribed to addicts. The 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act introduced "ABC" classification: Class A drugs such as heroin carry the highest penalties, with lesser penalties for class B and C drugs. [continues 169 words]
LONDON - A universal mystical experience with life-changing effects can be produced by the hallucinogen contained in magic mushrooms, scientists claimed yesterday. Forty years after Timothy Leary, the apostle of drug-induced mysticism, urged his 1960s hippie followers to "tune in, turn on, and drop out", researchers at Johns Hopkins University in the US have for the first time demonstrated that mystical experiences can be produced safely in the laboratory. They say that there is no difference between drug-induced mystical experiences and the spontaneous religious ones that believers have reported for centuries. They are "descriptively identical". [continues 585 words]
The liberalisation of drug laws in Zurich has led to a massive fall in the number of new heroin users, according to a study published on Friday. Now Britain, which has the highest number of drug deaths in Europe, is being urged to follow suit, writes Jeremy Laurance Drugs charities called on Saturday for Britain to abandon its tough approach to heroin use after research showed one European city has cut the number of new addicts by transforming the image of heroin into a "loser drug". [continues 696 words]
The Liberalisation Of Drug Laws In Zurich Has Led To A Massive Fall In The Number Of New Heroin Users, According To A Study Published Yesterday. Now Britain, Which Has The Highest Number Of Drug Deaths In Europe, Is Being Urged To Follow Suit Drugs charities called yesterday for Britain to abandon its tough approach to heroin use after research showed one European city had cut the number of new addicts by transforming the image of heroin into a "loser drug". [continues 1602 words]
There are a few people in this province getting a little high on hemp these days. But it's for all the right reasons. After a somewhat shaky start, there is an industry growing around this not-worth-smoking cousin to the marijuana plant. Some are even comparing it to where canola was in its development 50 years ago: infancy, with poorly understood agronomy, underdeveloped markets and few varieties. Of course, there are some differences. Producers must have a licence from Health Canada to grow hemp and that requires undergoing a police check. They must provide global positioning system co-ordinates of their field, which makes it relatively simple for the RCMP to determine the difference between a hemp field and a grow op. And just for good measure, they can't grow it near schools or other places where young people hang out. [continues 721 words]
It is the world's oldest euphoric drug, long viewed by any liberal worth their salt as a victim of unfair drug laws. The notion that a spliff is a safer, sweeter means of relaxing than a beer has over the years spread way beyond its traditional student constituency to every corner of society in Britain. But two years after the British government listened to these voices and the law was relaxed, its safety is under question as never before. A report to be published within the next few weeks is expected to confirm what some psychiatrists have been warning for years. [continues 1293 words]
After Hype-And-Bust Cycle, Crop Looks Like It Might Be Here To Stay THERE are a few people in this province getting a little high on hemp these days. But it's for all the right reasons. After a somewhat shaky start, there is an industry growing around this not-worth-smoking cousin to the marijuana plant. Some are even comparing it to where canola was in its development 50 years ago: in its infancy, with poorly understood agronomy, underdeveloped markets and few varieties. [continues 793 words]
Two years after the law was relaxed, the nation's favourite recreational drug is to be reclassified. They say it is linked to psychosis, but can the odd spliff be that dangerous? Jeremy Laurance reports It is the world's oldest euphoric drug, long viewed by any liberal worth their salt as a victim of unfair drug laws. The notion that a spliff is a safer, sweeter means of relaxing than a pint has over the years spread way beyond its traditional student constituency to every corner of society. But two years after the Government listened to these voices and the law was relaxed, its safety is under question as never before. A report to be published within the next few weeks is expected to confirm what some psychiatrists have been warning for years. That cannabis, reputedly taken by Queen Victoria to banish her period pains, may be driving its users - many of them children - insane. [continues 2342 words]
Cannabis-based drugs could be used to relieve the pain of arthritis sufferers. The world's most popular recreational drug after tobacco and alcohol has already been shown to have a role in the treatment of multiple sclerosis. Other studies suggest it may help treat gut disorders such as Crohn's disease and could even be used as an appetite suppressant. Researchers said yesterday that the latest study to examine its effect in rheumatoid arthritis found it significantly reduced pain and suppressed the disease. The finding raises hopes for 600,000 sufferers in the UK. [continues 297 words]
Cannabis, the third most popular recreational drug after alcohol and tobacco, yesterday won an unlikely accolade from scientists who said that it could boost brain power. Experiments on rats given a potent cannabinoid have shown the drug stimulates the growth of new brain cells. Canadian researchers found that the drug caused neurons to regenerate in the hippocampus, an area that controls mood and emotions, after one month of treatment. Its effect was similar to that of the antidepressant drug Prozac, which also stimulates nerve growth in the hippocampus. The rats were less anxious and more willing to eat in a novel environment that would normally make them fearful. [continues 301 words]
Cannabis, the third most popular recreational drug after alcohol and tobacco, yesterday won an unlikely accolade from scientists who said that it could boost brain power. Experiments on rats given a potent cannabinoid have shown the drug stimulates the growth of new brain cells. Canadian researchers found that the drug caused neurons to regenerate in the hippocampus, an area that controls mood and emotions, after one month of treatment. Its effect was similar to that of the antidepressant drug Prozac, which also stimulates nerve growth in the hippocampus. The rats were less anxious and more willing to eat in a novel environment that would normally make them fearful. [continues 705 words]
Half of regular smokers of cannabis who are psychologically vulnerable to its effects may end up needing treatment for psychosis, scientists said yesterday. Up to 10 per cent of the adult population, almost four million people, has a tendency to paranoid thoughts or grandiose ideas and may be tipped into psychotic delusions by the effects of the drug, they said. A four-year study of 2,437 people aged 14 to 24 found that of those who smoked cannabis regularly and had a pre-existing risk of psychosis, 50 per cent developed psychotic symptoms over the period. This was twice the rate among those who did not use cannabis and more than three times higher than among those who were neither vulnerable nor took the drug. [continues 500 words]
