“If cannabis causes schizophrenia, how did Sativex (liquid cannabis) get marketing approval, passing every test they've ever had?

There are chemical nasties, but a look at Dr. Donald Tashkin's work shows that while the chemicals are there, they do not develop into the severe lung conditions associated with tobacco. Look it up before spouting false science. At the very least, I appreciate that you've picked up the fact that tobacco is the dangerous part of smoking cannabis - if we could get cannabis users to drop tobacco from their joints, we'd have a much healthier country.

If you want to learn the reality of cannabis, don't talk to Frank or to the stoners/occupiers. Both are inherently biased. Look it up for yourself, use your mind and the internet. A few quick searches on pubmed will give you countless peer-reviewed scientific studies soundly disproving any and all of the inane prohibitionist nonsense all over these comments.”

“or nuketotnes even!! he involved his children as well in illegal practises!”

“agree with nuketones”

“The regular use of cannabis is known to be associated with an increase in the risk of later developing psychotic illnesses including schizophrenia. If you have a family background of mental illness, you may have an increased risk of developing a psychotic illness using cannabis.
Regular users may find they lack motivation in their day-to-day lives, lose interest in things and lose touch with their friends. Also it is reported that frequent use of cannabis may affect the fertility of men and women.
Like tobacco, cannabis has lots of chemical 'nasties'. These can cause lung disease and possibly cancer with long-term or heavy use. Cannabis can also make asthma worse, and cause wheezing in non-asthma sufferers.
Cannabis is often mixed with tobacco and smoked without a filter so the health risks of tobacco have to be taken in to account too.
If you want to learn the reality of cannabis then talk to Frank. Dont to talk to the junkies, stoners, occupiers or smack-heads that flood this thread.”

“sad that you resort to insulting me......old i,m not....a curmudgeon? long words do not make you clever nor wise !!!!
first hand knowledge of how getting started on soft drugs led to three untimely deaths.....i sir have no desire to communicate with you but only to wish that one day the police come to your house on some innocent matter and come across your illeagal stash !!!!”

“Interesting how those who refute are a minority in this story, and of course ill-informed of the truths of hemp and cannabis. History has proven that prohibition doesn't work and the fight against drugs is futile and disproportionate to other pressing issues that break families apart and kill people. Cannabis doesn't kill people, stupidity does. Furthermore, this is entirely related to education; education is where this all starts, not brainwashing. I supposed you'l be telling me next that the Egyptians built the Pyramids...”

“For the benefit of others... Here's some highlights from the research document provided by the Hairy Uncle...

The most commonly known-of elements in Cannabis - THC (Tetra-Hydro-Cannabinol) & CBD (Cannabidiol);

• Analgesic
• Antipruritic
• Neuroprotective / Antioxidant
• 20 times the anti-inflammatory effect of aspirin
• Twice the anti-inflammatory effect of hydrocortisone
• Reduces amyloid plaque build-up
• Sedative
• Anticonvulsant
• Anti-inflammatory
• Antibiotic, potent against MRSA
• TRPV2 agonist of interest in burns
• Inhibits keratinocyte proliferation (utility in psoriasis)
• Promotes bone formation
• Inhibited breast cancer resistance protein. Megadoses might help treat breast tumors.

"Cannabis serves as an effective immunomodulator, antispasmodic and appetite stimulant with a wide margin of safety and freedom of undesirable adverse effects compared with conventional pharmacotherapy".

"CBD will play a key role in extracts designed for medical use. Although deemed "non-psychoactive," CBD reduces anxiety by affecting the serotonin receptors. It also reduces cravings —for heroin, cocaine, food, nicotine and other addictive substances".

"All patients studied had an independent diagnosis of Crohn's disease. Results indicate that these patients found statistically significant improvement of their clinical course and a marked reduction or discontinuation of conventional pharmaceutical therapy associated with the regular use of Cannabis".”

“@Unclehairy - Thanks for providing the link to that information regarding the health benefits of Phytocannabinoids. I watched a documentary a while ago (A Norml Life) that mentioned some of this research, good to read up about it!

I believe these are some of the first real experiments into the benefits and medicinal properties of cannabis?

Glad to hear that you are able to continue with your life using a natural product, rather than getting topped up with chemicals more dangerous than cannabis itself! :)”

“Shipmateron - Making chocolate cake illegal is on par with making cannabis illegal. Both utterly ridiculous.

I could probably find 10 people within 10 mins who are already dementedly passionate about chocolate cake, I would hate to see the kind of full scale mutiny there would be if it was made illegal! ;)”

“@terryhalls - I'm not speaking on behalf of anyone. I am making observations based on the facts.

My saying that the ratings of the "pro" comments on this page reflect the views of the majority is merely an observation, as the majority of people seem to be agreeing with legalisation.
That's not me speaking on the behalf of anyone - it's just a fact.

If providing information and suggesting ideas is preaching, then fine - call me a preacher!

You've made it clear that you won't listen to any reasonable arguments for the legalisation, so I won't bother to continue with this anymore.

Its the groups of old curmudgeons like yourself that stop any real progress and evolution of ideas in our country.”