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UK - Cannabis use soared by a quarter after Class C downgrade, study finds

E

edgarshade

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Aug 31, 2010
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Telegraph

By Sam Marsden
12:01AM BST 05 Apr 2013

With reader comments

Labour’s decision to downgrade the classification of cannabis to Class C led to a 25 per cent increase in use of the drug and a sharp increase in crime, research has found. People from poor and troubled backgrounds were most affected by the temporary change in the law, which saw the maximum penalty for possessing the substance reduced from five to two years. Both violent and non-violent crime rose as a result of the move, with particular spikes in cases of assault, stealing and vehicle theft. There were also surges in anti-social behaviour and the likelihood of users themselves becoming victims of crime. However, the Government’s temporary reclassification of cannabis from Class B to Class C did not increase the consumption of hard drugs such as cocaine and heroin, according to the study.

Academics Nils Braakmann and Simon Jones, from Newcastle University, looked at the effects of the policy of downgrading the drug, which lasted from January 2004 to January 2009.
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More...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/...rter-after-Class-C-downgrade-study-finds.html

From the Daily Mail...
The price of going soft on cannabis: Labour's experiment 'pushed up hard drug use and crime'
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PUBLISHED: 00:27, 5 April 2013

With reader comments

Labour's liberalisation of the cannabis laws was a disaster that pushed up drug use and crime and doubled the number of drug victims in hospital beds, two major research studies said yesterday. They found that after police were told to go easy on cannabis smokers, there were increases in assaults, theft and car theft, burglaries, vandalism and anti-social behaviour. The chance that a young person who had never smoked cannabis would try the drug went up by a quarter after it became unlikely they would get more than a warning if caught by police, one project found.
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Mary Brett, of Cannabis Skunk Sense, said: ‘There is no surprise about these findings. We know there are direct links between cannabis and psychosis. Now we have powerful evidence that decriminalisation had disastrous effects. People who push for liberalisation are just not bothered to read the literature.’

Dismissing the reports, Mr Blunkett said: ‘This is a perverse piece of research. Cannabis use has gone down in every age group and every part of the country both after reclassification downwards and since reclassification back to Category B.’
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More: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...rs-experiment-pushed-hard-drug-use-crime.html
 
This seems kind of counterintuitive to me. Have they offered any explanation for how this effect supposedly took place? Seems more likely that someone is twisting the research to their own ends, imo.
 
The articles are just propaganda.
Statistics can be manipulated easily, and what the Daily Mail says really means nothing at all.
 
the Government’s temporary reclassification of cannabis from Class B to Class C did not increase the consumption of hard drugs such as cocaine and heroin, according to the study. yet in the next bit we get The price of going soft on cannabis: Labour's experiment 'pushed up hard drug use and crime' typical daily fail
 
slimvictor said:
The articles are just propaganda.
Statistics can be manipulated easily, and what the Daily Mail says really means nothing at all.
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Oh, I didn't realize it was another DM article.

Seriously, can we just ban Daily Mail articles? Or create one thread/subforum and dump them all there? Posting whatever backwards freakout they're having over drugs this week really doesn't add much to DITM.
 
Crankinit said:
Oh, I didn't realize it was another DM article.

Seriously, can we just ban Daily Mail articles? Or create one thread/subforum and dump them all there? Posting whatever backwards freakout they're having over drugs this week really doesn't add much to DITM.
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The DM is not just some gossip blog with a small readership. It's the most popular online newspaper in the world. More people read it than read the New York Times.

Moreover, it voices the viewpoint of the dominant class. A viewpoint that we need to change either by reason or by force. I think the DM helps us sharpen our swords and our wits, and helps us remain vigilant.

The Revolution was effected before the War commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations…. This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people, was the real American Revolution
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John Adams
 
The same story was also in the Telegraph and I heard it on BBC Radio London, though haven't seen it on the BBC website yet.

The research is clearly suspect.

One good reason for posting DM, and other hysterical stories, is that we get to have fun putting the record straight in the reader comments sections. It seems most DM readers think the research is crap even when offered a chance to blame the Labour party for something. Normally they wouldn't pass on an opportunity to trash the Labour or LibDem parties.
 
23536 said:
The DM is not just some gossip blog with a small readership. It's the most popular online newspaper in the world. More people read it than read the New York Times.

Moreover, it voices the viewpoint of the dominant class. A viewpoint that we need to change either by reason or by force. I think the DM helps us sharpen our swords and our wits, and helps us remain vigilant.



John Adams
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Maybe label the DM threads as such then? I'm sure I'm not the only one here who doesn't have much faith in humanity left to lose :p
 
Crankinit said:
Oh, I didn't realize it was another DM article.

Seriously, can we just ban Daily Mail articles? Or create one thread/subforum and dump them all there? Posting whatever backwards freakout they're having over drugs this week really doesn't add much to DITM.
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Agreed. These articles are just scare tactic and moral panic bullcrap.
 
Causation vs correlation?

I'd like to see the stats of what happened when it went up to class B..

I'd bet my left nut cannabis usage didn't change.
 
rickolasnice said:
I'd bet my left nut cannabis usage didn't change.
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Because everyone was hooked on this dangerously addictive substance and couldn't stop taking it even though the law told them it was slightly worse to take it.
 
I gotta say that I think it is important to include Daily Fail articles here in DiTM.
My thinking is that they represent one extreme of propaganda and trying to appeal to the masses, and I like to see how they are trying to do things.
I believe that we need to refine our approach, since the unconstitutionality and immorality of the drug war is insufficient, by itself, to make politicians stop it.
We need to be proactive in framing the argument the way we want to see it - not as one of morality, but as one of individual liberty as well as social and personal health.
We need to consider our approach deeply, and researching the enemy's brainwashing techniques can only help us counter them.


Looking back above, I see that Numbers agreed with me (before I even said it)
The DM is not just some gossip blog with a small readership. It's the most popular online newspaper in the world. More people read it than read the New York Times.

Moreover, it voices the viewpoint of the dominant class. A viewpoint that we need to change either by reason or by force. I think the DM helps us sharpen our swords and our wits, and helps us remain vigilant.
Click to expand...
 
The study went from 2004 to 2009. This increase in crime and violence couldn't have had anything to do with the economy crashing during that time period, could it?
 
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