‘We support an evidence based drugs policy’, say Cannabis Campaigners 

‘We support an evidence based drugs policy’

Following the sacking of and resignation of members ofthe Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), the Legalise Cannabis Alliance (LCA) has challenged the way in which the Government formulates its policy on drugs.

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Professor Nutt was sacked by the Home Secretary last Friday, following the Professor's statement that cannabis is safer than alcohol or tobacco.

Alun Buffry from the LCA said: “We have thought that the scientific basis for drugs policy is preferential to one based on (often-misguided) public or political opinion. PETITION to: Re-instate Professor Nutt

“Having studied many reports over the years I concur that cannabis is remarkably safe for the very vast majority of users, compared with the risks from alcohol or long term risks from tobacco.

“The Government's refusal to accept the advice of its scientific advisory committee – for the first time ever by any Government – and its continued use of law enforcement to press its moral case on society have exposed prohibition as unjustifiable.

“The sacking of Professor Nutt is a blatant move to prevent Government scientists and advisers from speaking against Government policy, even when it is wrong. In short, it is more akin to tyranny than democracy.”

“But the debate on whether cannabis should be in class B or C distracts from the real questions: why should users be punished if they hurt nobody, and why should the production and supply be limited to criminal hands?

Ingo Wagenknecht , an advisor to the LCA on ecological and environ-political matters, said: ”The Government's ignorance of scientific facts has lead to a scientist showing corporate responsibility for public health policy.

“They could not stand up for it any longer and the Government insistence on failure as the only option for Britain, where at least 1 in 25 people have tried cannabis and/ or is still using it, has now taken its toll on their only scientific committee. “

Legalise Cannabis Alliance Press Release
 November 2 2009

PETITION to: Re-instate Professor Nutt

The LCA was formed as a political party in 1999, in order to bring the cannabis debate into politics in Britain; we fought in over 80 elections – local and parliamentary. On November 11th 2006 LCA voted to de-register as a political party, and continue to campaign as a pressure group. We now wish to bring to the public consciousness the possible benefits of cannabis in our society.

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Professor David Nutt The psychopharmacology of depression, addiction, insomnia and other disorders , Psychopharmacology Unit, Bristol Imperial College, London

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Research

David Nutt heads the Psychopharmacology Unit in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. The Unit integrates basic and clinical research to both study normal brain function, and to determine how it differs in psychiatric disorders such as clinical depression.

He also works at Imperial College London. For further information please refer to the Imperial College website.

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