UN's Cannabis Crusade

Now the UN is getting on the boat with the evils of marijuana.

NEW strains of highly potent cannabis are as dangerous as heroin and cocaine and the drug can no longer be dismissed as soft and relatively harmless, the United Nations has warned.

In an implied criticism of Britain's decision to downgrade cannabis, the head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Antonio Maria Costa, said countries got the drug problem they deserved if they maintained inadequate policies.

His comments indicated deep unhappiness with the British Government decision to reclassify cannabis from a class B drug to class C. Heroin and cocaine are class A, attracting the toughest penalties.

"Policy reversals leave young people confused as to just how dangerous cannabis is," Mr Costa said.

"With cannabis-related health damage increasing, it is fundamentally wrong for countries to make cannabis control dependent on which party is in government. The cannabis pandemic, like other challenges to public health, requires consensus, a consistent commitment across the political spectrum and by society at large."

Interesting. So the party in power, legally voted in a democratic process, shouldn't be allowed to set the laws? Sounds like another UN agency that is against democracy. I'm certain it would be far better if that brain trust of unelected bureaucrats at Turtle Bay had control of the world. Imagine the UN in charge of the war on drugs. There's a system to give you the creeps.

An interesting warning on those extreme versions of cannabis. I'll remain skeptical as to how wide spread the use is, not to mention just how powerful they are. I'm sure that Costa also believes that there should be harsher penalties for simple possession. Not that there aren't already far too many people in prison for this type of foolish over-reaction.