tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28543539.post7539388040710698888..comments2023-09-20T11:15:28.673+01:00Comments on Transform Drug Policy Foundation Blog: 'Iconoclasts' on Radio 4: Drugs can be good for you.janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15263261726046054614noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28543539.post-51723704173302699522008-11-01T18:34:00.000+00:002008-11-01T18:34:00.000+00:00I don't wish the terrible trauma associated with c...I don't wish the terrible trauma associated with cancer on anyone. I'm tempted to wish it upon those that oppose the use of medical marijuana so that they get a taste of the suffering they're insisting others live with. Marinol, THC, is just one of the MANY pharmacologically active compounds in marijuana. The other cannabinoids have been scientifically proven to help many diseases and conditions.<BR/><BR/>Not why I'm writing though. I have treatment resistant depression. I have used many different prescription medicines trying to overcome it. Only effexor and suboxone helped. Unfortunately, like many drugs, I built up a tolerance to effexor that forced me to increase the dose through the years, and when I stopped, it was the most terrible drug I've EVER encountered. I've been addicted to opiates and cocaine, and stopping them was nothing like stopping the effexor. It took over a year to get anywhere near back to normal, and two years later, I'm not the same. <BR/><BR/>Yes, drugs can be good for you. What I DO wish is that people like Scott Burns of the ONDCP, who stated after hearing that the only thing that helped some people was pot - "they should try crack cocaine. I've heard that'll really make 'em feel good" - anyway, what I DO wish is that people like him who just hate pot, there are many, would spend just one week feeling the INCREDIBLE dysphoria and other blah feelings I have to deal with almost daily. It's sorta like having the flu without the fever and other physical symptoms. Just the severe fatigue, amotivation, and the mental suffering that often accompany the flu.<BR/><BR/>One might wonder if they made it through all the above, what is this persons point? You see there was another medication/herb that helped and had few side effects and no tolerance. It was marijuana. One of these years I predict that science will find that some people have cannabinoid deficiencies. <BR/><BR/>Can't have that evil weed though. So many ignorant and intolerant moral-dictating sadists. <BR/><BR/>Drugs CAN be good for you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28543539.post-19634549134597086402008-10-31T17:16:00.000+00:002008-10-31T17:16:00.000+00:00It's a pity Sue isn't as rich as Dawkins. I though...It's a pity Sue isn't as rich as Dawkins. I thought her performance was all but faultless on Iconoclasts. <BR/><BR/>Prohibitionists are forced to argue that legal drugs do so much harm we mustn't adopt harm reduction (decriminalisation) policies for illegal ones. Do they realise just how threadbare that argument is or are they simply being dishonest ? <BR/><BR/>However, at least the BBC didn't subject us to the Peter Hitchens argument : the War on Drugs isn't working, because we're not punishing users severely enough.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28543539.post-59623151764150120042008-10-30T15:06:00.000+00:002008-10-30T15:06:00.000+00:00anon - I think thi sis cross post, but anyway....I...anon - I think thi sis cross post, but anyway....I live and work in London and followed the bus poster story as it unfolded. It benefited from the guardian column, and went viral online with Dawkins endorsement. <BR/><BR/>I like the idea very much but we dont immediately have access to either of those marketing tools, so would have to think about how to take it forward. I also remain to be convinced about the impact of a one off conventional poster advertising beyond it creating secondary media interest.Steve Rolleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11487781869462634203noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28543539.post-10199944143142390602008-10-30T14:55:00.000+00:002008-10-30T14:55:00.000+00:00Steve, maybe because Bristol does not get that muc...Steve, maybe because Bristol does not get that much London regional news, you have gabbed the wrong end of the stick...<BR/><BR/>The same sort of poster campaign as run by the British Humanist Association et al should not drain your existing budget! That would be the beauty of it. People donated, not in response to the adverts but in order that the adverts could be produced and seen. <BR/><BR/>Psychologically speaking, people are more inclined to donate to something that promises immediate impact than to long term, low key projects. This is possibly why it took off so dramatically and ended up being reported in most of the dailies.<BR/><BR/>The only real problem is getting the ball rolling <BR/>Here is how Ariane Sherine pulled it off. <A HREF="http://www.humanism.org.uk/site/cms/contentviewarticle.asp?article=2492" REL="nofollow">http://www.humanism.org.uk/site/cms/contentviewarticle.asp?article=2492</A><BR/><BR/><BR/>Here is the original article where she was hoping for just <B> 4,680</B> atheists to respond.<A HREF="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/20/transport.religion" REL="nofollow">http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/20/transport.religion</A><BR/><BR/><BR/>The Guardian has a sort of intellectual, independently minded, beards and sandals readership, so<BR/>how many of its readers do you think are fed up with the war on drugs? The right article about the 'war on drugs' at the right time, might just do the trick.<BR/> <BR/>If such a campaign also brings more people to your site, then more people might also find your donate button for the foundation. Two birds with one stone, you might say (no pun intended).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28543539.post-12109876286270234222008-10-30T14:05:00.000+00:002008-10-30T14:05:00.000+00:00I listened to this a little while after it was on....I listened to this a little while after it was on. I must say I was incredibly dissapointed to hear Sarah Graham infer that alcohol and tobacco kill so many people because they are legal. Truly shameful twisting of facts.Svenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07532115095880260136noreply@blogger.com