Media Awareness Project

UK: Cannabis Less Harmful Than Aspirin, Says Scientist

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1578/a06.html
Newshawk: alunbuffry
Pubdate: Fri, 20 Oct 2000
Source: Independent (UK)
Copyright: 2000 Independent Newspapers (UK) Ltd.
Contact: letters@independent.co.uk
Address: 1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5DL
Website: http://www.independent.co.uk/
From WebBooks http://www.paston.co.uk/users/webbooks/webhome.html
Author: Marie Woolf, Chief Political Correspondent

CANNABIS LESS HARMFUL THAN ASPIRIN, SAYS SCIENTIST

Cannabis is a safer drug than aspirin and can be used
long-term without serious side effects, says a book by a leading
Oxford scientist.

The Science of Marijuana, by Dr Leslie Iversen of
Oxford University's department of pharmacology, found many
"myths" surrounding marijuana use, such as extreme addictiveness, or
links with mental illness or infertility are not supported by science.

He also found cannabis is an inherently "safe drug" which does
not lead to cancer, infertility, brain damage or mental illness.

Legalisation of the drug for medical conditions should
be considered, he says.

Dr Iversen's findings will increase pressure on the Government
to reopen the debate about the decriminalisation of marijuana.

The author, a fellow of the prestigious Royal Society,
found cannabis was far less toxic than other drugs and had
"an impressive record" compared with heroin, cocaine or tobacco and
alcohol.

His study showed that the active element of
cannabis, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which made users high, had a
lot of potential as a safe drug to treat Aids patients and
people suffering severe pain.

He also found "stoned" drivers were less dangerous and able
to co-ordinate than people who were drunk. "By any standards, THC
must be considered a very safe drug both acutely and on long-term
exposure," he writes. "The available animal data are more than
adequate to justify its approval as a human medicine, and indeed
it has been approved by the FDA [American drug authority] for
certain limited therapeutic indications."

The book says "alarming claims about the harmful effects
of long-term exposure to cannabis" should be "put to rest", and there
"is no evidence the drug causes any impairment in fertility or
sexual function in men or women". He says people who stop using
cannabis do not suffer long-term side-effects.

"Cannabis does not cause structural damage to the brains
of animals as some reports had claimed, nor is there evidence of
long-term damage to the human brain or other than slight residual
impairments in cognitive function after drug use is stopped." The
author says many adverse effects of cannabis are related to
smoking the drug.

But cannabis itself did not appear to cause cancer. Compared
with alcohol and cigarettes, which led to more than 100,000 deaths
a year, cannabis had a far better record.

"Tetrahydrocannabinol is a very safe drug," he said. "Despite
the widespread illicit use of cannabis here are very few if any
instances of people dying from an overdose. Even such apparently
innocuous medicines as aspirin and related steroidal
anti-inflammatory compounds are not safe.

"Thousands of people die every year because of the tendency
of these drugs to cause catastrophic gastric bleeding."

Keith Hellawell, the drug tsar, also agrees cannabis use does
not lead to heroin addiction.