{"id":16817,"date":"2023-10-24T17:48:12","date_gmt":"2023-10-24T17:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/?p=16817"},"modified":"2024-02-13T20:38:15","modified_gmt":"2024-02-13T20:38:15","slug":"written-evidence-from-cannabis-skunk-sense-to-the-health-and-social-care-committee-h-of-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/2023\/10\/written-evidence-from-cannabis-skunk-sense-to-the-health-and-social-care-committee-h-of-c\/","title":{"rendered":"Written evidence From Cannabis Skunk Sense to The Health and Social Care Committee (H of C):"},"content":{"rendered":"

DRP0013<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>1.Aims\u00a0<\/strong>Cannabis\u00a0Skunk Sense\u00a0(also known as\u00a0CanSS\u00a0Ltd)\u00a0provides straight-forward facts and research-based advice on cannabis. We raise awareness of the continued and growing dangers to children, teenagers and their families of cannabis use.<\/span><\/p>\n

2.We provide educational materials and information for community groups, schools, colleges and universities; and guidance to wide range of professions, Parliament and the\u00a0general public\u00a0– with a strong message of\u00a0prevention\u00a0not harm reduction.<\/span><\/p>\n

3.The Inquiry document says: \u2018Government’s stated intention in its\u00a02017 drug strategy<\/a>\u00a0is to reduce all illicit and other harmful drug use\u2026\u2026.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

4.Missing from this Inquiry document is the following 2017 Strategy statement: \u2018preventing people \u2013 particularly young people \u2013 from becoming drug users in the first place\u2019. Prevention should be first and foremost in any statement as well as in the minds of us all. FRANK was mentioned just once in this strategy; \u2018develop our Talk to FRANK service so that it remains a trusted and credible source of information and advice for young people and concerned others\u2019. This claim will be challenged in this report.<\/span><\/p>\n

5.If prevention (pre-event) were to be successful, there would be little need for a policy of reducing harmful use.\u00a0Unfortunately, for fifteen or sixteen years now, prevention has taken a back seat.<\/span><\/p>\n

6.In 1995 Prime Minister John Major\u2019s government produced \u2018Tackling Drugs Together\u2019 saying, \u2018The new programme strengthens our efforts to reduce the demand for illegal drugs through prevention, education and treatment\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

7.Objectives included: \u2018to discourage young people from taking drugs\u2019 and to ensure that schools offer effective programmes of drug education, giving pupils the facts, warning them of risks, and helping them to develop the skills and attitudes to resist drug use \u2013 all good common sense.<\/span><\/p>\n

8.On harm reduction, the government said, \u2018The\u00a0ultimate goal\u00a0is to ensure people do not take drugs in the first place, but if they do, they should be helped to become and remain drug-free. Abstinence is the\u00a0ultimate goal\u00a0and harm reduction should be a means to that end, not an end in itself\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

9.In 1998 the Second National Plan for 2001-2, \u2018Tackling Drugs to Build a Better Britain\u2019 was published. Although prevention was\u00a0still the aim, the phrase \u2018informed choice\u2019 appeared, the downhill slide from prevention had started.<\/span><\/p>\n

10.The` Updated Strategy in 2002 contained the first high-profile mention of \u2018Harm Minimisation (Reduction)\u2019. David Blunkett in the Foreword said, \u2018Prevention,\u00a0education, harm minimisation, treatment and effective policing are our most powerful tools in dealing with drugs\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some bizarre statements appeared, e.g.: \u2018To reduce the proportion of people under 25 reporting use of illegal drugs in the last month\u00a0and previous year substantially\u2019.\u00a0Is\u00a0 infrequent\u00a0use of drugs acceptable?<\/span><\/p>\n

In October 2002 at a European Drugs Conference, Ashford, Kent, Bob Ainsworth, drugs spokesman for the Labour government, said that harm reduction was being moved to the centre of\u00a0their strategy. Prevention was abandoned, \u2018informed choice\u2019 and \u2018harm reduction\u2019 ruled.<\/span><\/p>\n

The official government website for information on drugs is FRANK set up in 2003. It continued with the harm reduction policy of the Labour Government.<\/span><\/p>\n

From the beginning, FRANK was heavily criticised.\u00a0The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), founded by Iain Duncan-Smith MP in 2004, consistently criticised FRANK for being ill-informed, ineffective, inappropriate and shamefully inadequate, whilst citing a survey conducted by national treatment provider Addaction who found that only one in ten children would call the FRANK helpline to talk about drugs. Quite recently, when asked about sources where they had obtained helpful information about alcohol or smoking cigarettes, young people put FRANK at the bottom.<\/span><\/p>\n

The CSJ recommended that FRANK be scrapped, and an effective replacement programme developed to inform young people about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse based on prevention rather than harm reduction.<\/span><\/p>\n

The IHRA (International Harm Reduction Alliance) gives the following definition of harm reduction:<\/span><\/p>\n

Harm reduction refers to policies, programmes and practices that aim to minimise negative health, social and legal impacts associated with drug use, drug policies and\u00a0drug laws. Harm reduction is grounded in justice and human rights – it focuses on positive change and on working with people without judgement, coercion, discrimination, or requiring that they stop using drugs as a precondition of support.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The use of Harm reduction instead of Prevention is tantamount to condoning drug use \u2013 a criminal activity. The legitimate place for harm reduction is with \u2018known users\u2019 on a one to one basis as part of a treatment programme to wean them off completely and attain abstinence in a safer manner than abrupt stoppage which can be very dangerous. One example of this is to inhale the fumes of heroin rather than injection, thus avoiding blood-borne diseases such as AIDS, hepatitis and septicaemia.<\/span><\/p>\n

An opioid substitute drug for\u00a0heroin addiction, methadone has the advantage of being taken orally and only once\/day. As the dosage is reduced, abstinence will be attained more safely. However, methadone users are often \u2018parked\u2019 for months on this highly addictive drug without proper supervision or monitoring. In 2008 in Edinburgh, more addicts died of methadone than heroin.<\/span><\/p>\n

Harm reduction is a green light. If children are encouraged to use drugs by being given tips on how to use them more safely, many will do it. The son of a friend told\u00a0his mother. \u2018It\u2019s OK we go on to the FRANK website and find out how to take skunk safely by cutting our use and inhaling less deeply\u2019. He is now psychotic!<\/span><\/p>\n

Prevention works. Between 1997 and 1991 America saw drug use numbers plummet from 23 to 14 million, cocaine and cannabis use halved, daily cannabis use dropped by 75%.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2005, Jonathan\u00a0Akwue\u00a0of In-Volve\u00a0writing in Drink and Drugs News, criticised the campaign for lacking authenticity; its ill-judged attempts at humour which try to engage with youth\u00a0culture; and diluting the truth to accommodate more socially acceptable messages.<\/span><\/p>\n

The conservatives regained power under David Cameron. FRANK did not change.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2005, Mr\u00a0Iain Duncan Smith<\/a>\u00a0again criticised FRANK, saying “Drugs education programmes, such as Talk to FRANK, have failed on prevention and intervention, instead progressively focussing on\u00a0harm reduction<\/a>\u00a0and risk minimisation, which can be counter-productive\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2011 it was announced FRANK would be re-launched and the team commissioned \u2018A Summary of Health Harms\u00a0of Drugs\u2019 from The John Moore\u2019s University Liverpool, a hotbed of harm reduction. A psychiatrist from The FRANK Team was involved. Their section on cannabis is totally inadequate, out of date, no recognition of deaths, brain shrinkage, violence, homicides, suicides, the huge increase of strength of THC etc.\u00a0Professor Sir Robin Murray\u2019s research on mental illness (2009) and the discovery that CBD is virtually absent from skunk are of vital importance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many worrying papers have been written since, especially\u00a0about brain development, all of which are ignored.\u00a0\u00a0CanSS\u00a0met with the FRANK team prior to their re-launch in 2011 where it was agreed that the cannabis section would, with their assistance, be re-written. All but two very small points were ignored, one about driving after taking alcohol with cannabis and the effect on exam results. The harm reduction advice about cannabis was removed at the request of\u00a0CanSS.<\/span><\/p>\n

Scientific evidence detailing FRANK\u2019s inaccuracies was given to the Government by\u00a0CanSS\u00a0and other\u00a0drug experts over the years – all of it ignored. Complaints and oral evidence were submitted to the HASC in April and September 2012 and the Education Select Committee in 2014. Government drugs spokesmen have also been contacted with concerns about FRANK.<\/span><\/p>\n

As the official government source of information on drugs for the UK public, the FRANK site must be regularly updated and contain the many new accurate findings from current scientific research. The public is owed a duty of care and protection from the\u00a0harm of drugs, especially cannabis, the most commonly used.<\/span><\/p>\n

The following list contains some of the glaring omissions and vital details from the FRANK website:<\/span><\/p>\n

Deaths from cancers except lung, road fatalities, heart attacks\/strokes, violent crime, homicides, suicides. Tobacco doesn\u2019t cause immediate deaths either.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alcohol with cannabis can be fatal. An alcohol overdose can be avoided by vomiting but cannabis suppresses the vomiting reflex.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cases of severe poisoning in the USA in toddlers are increasing, mostly due to \u2018edibles\u2019 left within reach. Accidental ingestion by children should be highlighted.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hyperemesis (violent vomiting) is on the increase.<\/span><\/p>\n

Abnormally high levels of dopamine in the brain cause psychosis (the first paper on this was written in 1845) and schizophrenia, especially in those with genetic vulnerabilities, causing violence, homicides and suicides. Skunk-induced schizophrenia costs the country around \u00a32 billion\/year to treat.<\/span><\/p>\n

Young people should understand how THC damps down the activities of the whole brain by suppressing the chemical messages for several weeks. It is fat soluble and remains in the cells. Messages to the hippocampus (learning and memory) fail to reach its cells, some die, causing permanent brain damage. IQ points are lost. Few children using cannabis even occasionally will achieve their full potential.<\/span><\/p>\n

Serotonin is depleted, causing depression and suicides. The huge increase in the strength of THC in cannabis due to the prevalence of skunk (anything from 16% to over\u00a020%) and the almost total lack of CBD is ignored as is the gateway theory, medical cannabis, passive smoking and lower bone mineral density, bronchitis, emphysema and COPD.<\/span><\/p>\n

They need to be taught that there is reduced ability to process information, self-criticise\u00a0and think logically. Users lack attention and concentration, can\u2019t find words, plan or achieve routines, have fixed opinions, whilst constantly feeling lonely and misunderstood. They should know of the risk of miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies.<\/span><\/p>\n

Amazingly, the fact THC damages our DNA is virtually unknown among the public. In the 1990s, scientists found new cells being made in the adult body (white blood, sperm and\u00a0foetal\u00a0cells), suffered premature \u2018apoptosis\u2019 (programmed cell death) so were\u00a0fewer in number. Impotence, infertility and suppressed immune systems were reported.\u00a0 This is important.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2016 an Australian paper discovered THC badly interferes with cell division i.e. where chromosomes replicate to form new cells. They fail to segregate properly causing numerous mutations as chromosomes shatter and randomly rejoin.\u00a0 Many cells die (about 50% of fertilized eggs (zygotes). Any affected developing foetus will suffer damage. Resultant foetal defects include gastroschisis (babies born with intestines outside the body), now rising in areas of legalisation, anencephaly (absence of brain parts) and shortened limbs (boys are about 4 inches shorter). Oncogenes (cancer-causing) can be switched on. Bladder, testicle and childhood cancers like neuroblastoma have all been reported. The DNA in mitochondria (energy producers in cells) can also be damaged.<\/span><\/p>\n

Parliament controls the drug laws, so why are the police able to decide for themselves how to deal with cannabis possession?<\/span><\/p>\n

Proof of the liberalisation of the law on cannabis possession appeared in the new Police Crime Harm Index in April 2016, where it appeared 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0bottom of the list of priorities. In the following November it fell to the bottom. Class \u2018A\u2019 drug possession was immediately above. Possession has clearly become a very low priority. In 2015,\u00a0Durham Police decided they would no longer prosecute those smoking the drug and growing it \u2018for their own use\u2019. Instead, officers will issue a warning or a caution. Then Durham Chief Constable Mike\u00a0Barton announced that his force will stop prosecuting all drug addicts from December 2017 and plans to use police money to give free heroin to addicts to inject themselves twice a day in a supervised \u2018shooting gallery\u2019.\u00a0 This surely constitutes dealing. The police can it seems, alter and \u2018soften\u2019 laws at will.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Several weeks ago, I happened to check the FRANK website. Quietly, stealthily and without fanfare, a new version had appeared – completely changed. Absent were the patronising videos, games and jokes. Left were\u00a0A to Z of Drugs, News, Help and Advice (e.g. local harm reduction information) and Contact.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is poor grammar, i.e. \u2018are\u2019 instead of \u2018is\u2019 and \u2018effect\u2019 where it should be \u2018affect\u2019. Mistakes like these do not enhance its credibility.<\/span><\/p>\n

The drug information is still inadequate with scant essential detail, little explanation and still out of date. This is especially true of cannabis. THC can stay in the brain for many weeks \u2013\u00a0still sending out its damping-down signals.<\/span><\/p>\n

What shocked me\u00a0though were the following:<\/span><\/p>\n

Our organisation recently received an email about a call to FRANK requesting advice. A friend, a user who also encouraged others to use as well, had lied in a court case where her drug use was a significant factor. He contacted\u00a0FRANK about her disregard for the law for a substance that was illegal. The advisor raised his voice whilst stating the friend has the right to do what she wants in her own home and mocked him about calling the police. He was shocked and upset by the response.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ecstasy – Physical health risks<\/span><\/p>\n