Canvassing for Opinion - Blairs Brain on Cannabis

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Swiss study has some surprises on marijuana use
2007-11-06 13:12:00
A study of more than 5,000 youngsters in Switzerland has found those who smoked marijuana do as well or better in some areas as those who don't, researchers said on Monday.CHICAGO, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Swiss study has some surprises on marijuana use, 05 Nov 2007But the same was not true for those who used both tobacco and marijuana, who tended to be heavier users of the drug, said the report from Dr. J.C. Suris and colleagues at the University of Lausanne.The study did not confirm the hypothesis that those who abstained from marijuana and tobacco functioned better overall, the authors said.In fact, those who used only marijuana were "more socially driven ... significantly more likely to practice sports and they have a better relationship with their peers" than abstainers, it said."Moreover, even though they are more likely to skip class, they have the same level of good grades; and although they have a worse relationship with their parents, they are not more likely to be depressed" th...
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Sexual abuse precursor to other risky behavours?
2007-11-06 03:51:00
"Study links cannabis smoking and sexual abuse in teenagers"   Is this the same as 'sexual abuse precursor to other behavours'?    It certainly reads like the latter would be a more accurate heading. /Blair     A new study has found that a third of frequent cannabis users at New Zealand high schools have been sexually abused. The author, Annabel Prescott, told an addictions conference in Auckland yesterday that sexual abuse was the only key "risk factor" that showed up in a statistical analysis of all factors associated with heavy cannabis use in the Youth 2000 survey of 9570 students at 114 New Zealand high schools.   5:00AM Tuesday November 06, 2007By Simon Collins  NZHerald   The analysis found that heavy cannabis users were also more likely to be violent, get involved in fights, ride in cars being driven dangerously, have unprotected sex, be clinically depressed and attempt suicide.  ...
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Binge drinking 'damages brains' while Cannabis does, um, I forgot?
2007-11-05 11:06:00
Binge drinking 'damages brains', so how does one isolate or protect against [any] cannabis harm against this background? say the MildGreens."the projections were frightening",Gerard Vaughan, ALAC chief executivesnip snip snip... (audio)Arbias (Acquired Brain Injury Service) chief executive Sonia Burton, whose Australian organisation treats people with alcohol-related brain damage - said 785,000 New Zealanders were at risk because of the sheer amount of alcohol they were drinking."It's critical New Zealand wakes up to an issue that will become a major crisis in the next 20 years, with health services being swamped with people with alcohol-related brain damage," she said.Based on statistics collated by the Alcohol Advisory Council (Alac), the group estimates at least 80,000 New Zealanders could already have undiagnosed alcohol-related brain damage.Based on 2004 estimates, it is believed alcohol costs New Zealand $1.17 billion in lost productivity each year.Alcohol is linked to 70 p...
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Cognitive functioning enhanced by cannabis use in schizophrenia
2007-11-03 01:27:00
MedWire News: Cannabis use by patients with schizophrenia is associated with enhanced cognitive functioning, with both frequency and recency of use linked to better neuropsychological performance, conclude Australian researchers. 1 November 2007[snip]"Logistic regression analysis revealed that more patients with lifetime cannabis abuse/dependence performed better on the psychomotor speed component than those without lifetime abuse/dependence. Frequency and recency of cannabis use were associated with better performance, particularly on the attention/processing speed and executive function domains. While acknowledging the issues around cannabis use in schizophrenia patients, the team concludes in the journal Schizo phrenia Research: 'In essence, the findings of this study suggest that cannabinoids, via their agonistic effects on cannabinoid receptors in the forebrain, may have a potentially useful role in the treatment of high-order cognitive processes known to be impaired in schizo...
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FADE AntiDrug Quackery Exposed
2007-11-02 10:20:00
Linguistic analyis of websites designed to expose medical quackery rates MildGreens.Blogspot up there with the British Medical Journal [BMJ]. However a test of the anti-drug foundation FADE site finds some revealing insight....Web site titled ' FADE Homepage Alcohol & Drug Info Methamphetamine (P) 'This web site is heavily laden with loosely defined terms and possibly pseudoscientific language. It is heavily using scientific jargon and may be doing this to bamboozle. However, it shows some possibility of critical thinking - but proceed with care. It also looks like this site is trying to sell stuff. Buyer Beware!Check out the Quackometer yourself... or test your favorite pseudoscience site! Blair Andersonhttp://mildgreens.blogspot.com
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Community is urged to (conditionally) engage on drug issue
2007-11-02 03:19:00
Community is urged to engage on drug issue(extract)"It's about how we voice our concern and work out why people do not see what a problem cannabis is in our community."(the MildGreens can tell you why people don't see what a problem cannabis is in your community.... just ask?)"Mr Bell is right to say we need to get the issue back on the table ? we need to have a really good debate around how people feel about cannabis and we need for it to start pretty much immediately."We need people like Meng Foon(1), Nona Aston(2), a few doctors, community leaders with a few clues to all join in and be vocal about the issue so people understand that the debate is coming from within our community. We can make a thousand programmes but, unless there is discussion from within the community about what is needed and how it is accessed, it's of limited use." (and we all know what the Health Select Committee said about impediments to health promotion... or are you all stupid? This 'we care more than...
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Drug classification beset by confusion [UK]
2007-11-01 19:58:00
[ 01/11/2007- The Guardian ] In looking at the reclassification of cannabis in 2004 you claim "Ministers are coy about the success of their policy" in reducing use (Leaders, October 29). Let us be careful about spurious associations. In fact, cannabis use among school children was broadly stable according to a 2001-03 English school survey and has since declined. For adults, according to the British Crime Survey, cannabis use peaked in 2002-03 and has subsequently declined. The classification of a drug has little bearing on its prevalence, as the figures demonstrate. There is no evidence here or internationally that the particular classification of a controlled drug acts as a deterrent to use.Economic, social and cultural factors, along with availability, are the stronger influences. (the decline commenced prior to the Class B -> C UK reclassification, but may be in part a response to London Met. Det Chief Super, Eddie Ellison's 'Policing management' call to deal with cannab...
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Renewed call for conditional debate on cannabis
2007-10-31 23:09:00
The New Zealand Drug Foundation hopes to reignite the debate over legalising cannabis and has the backing of other (selected) health sector experts.  Foundation head Ross Bell says politicians had to take cannabis out of the too-hard basket and revisit the discussion.  "no decision about us, without us". Health Sector Advocate (not consulted) and MildGreen, Blair Anderson said today that contempory society has become 'distrustful of politico-speak surrounding drugs' and suggests that the way to move the debate forward is to foster unfettered participatory democracy and bring the stakeholders, inparticular the youth demograph onside. Anderson envisages that a MildGreen 'Social Ecology' approach can and will enable local governance 'libertarian municipalities' to respond to local needs. It begins here... "Rules 'proscribed' by central governance will strive to mediocrotity, decend to infan...
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Antisocial behaviour in kids key to alcohol trouble in teens [MRC]
2007-10-31 12:39:00
Antisocial behaviour in kids key to alcohol trouble in teens 30 October 2007 It is not levels of underage drinking, but early signs of antisocial behaviour that best predict future alcohol-related trouble and continued alcohol use by young people. This conclusion is drawn from a study led by Robert Young of the Medical Research Council Social and Public Health Sciences Unit in Glasgow. Published in the Journal Alcohol and Alcoholism, the study reveals that the strongest predictor of alcohol-related trouble among 15 year-olds is a history of antisocial behaviour rather than their actual drinking habits. Over a period of four years lead researcher Young and colleagues worked with more than 2,000 school pupils between the ages of 11 and 15 to examine the relationship between under-age drinking, antisocial behaviour and alcohol-related trouble. The pupils completed regular surveys that asked about their alcohol consumption and behaviour. Robert Young said: "This re...
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Causation, Correlation, Nicotine, Alcohol & Pot.
2007-10-28 22:01:00
Teenagers who smoke are five times more likely to drink and 13 times more likely to use marijuana than those who are not smokers, says a US report issued today.The report by Columbia University's National Centre on Addiction and Substance Abuse presented further evidence linking youth smoking to other substance abuse and spotlighted research on how nicotine affects the adolescent brain."Teenage smoking can signal the fire of alcohol and drug abuse or mental illness like depression and anxiety," Joseph Califano, who heads the centre and is a former US health secretary, said in a telephone interview.The report analysed surveys conducted by the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and other data on youth smokers. Most smokers begin smoking before age 18.Smokers aged 12 to 17 were more likely drink alcohol than nonsmokers - 59 per cent compared to 11 per cent, the report found. Those who become regular smokers by age 12 are more than three times more likely to r...
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Who is looking in Blairs Brain?
2007-10-28 05:49:00
Looks like there is just Me! Keep a tab 'location based' concerns with MapLoco now enabled right down at the bottom of this blog.
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Police Draw Weapons on 14yr old Boy on way to party.
2007-10-28 04:14:00
Police draw weapons on man in fancy dressTV3 News - Auckland,New ZealandNeighbour Blair Anderson, who had just returned from an anti-terror rally says he saw the incident unfolding and approached to find out how old the boy was.See all stories on this topic There was of course, a little more to this story... firstly, there was no fancy dress, it was a track suit. Here's how I described it elsewhere.Just thought you might like to know that the 'militarised' Police did another "Glock" point and ask later to an under 18yr old. The offficer had this man in his sights - aimed at the centre of his chest. It happened right outside my house [50 Wainoni Road,CHCH] just after 7:30pm, 26thOct]. The young man was terror'ified. The Police refused to allow an adult observer/advocate (it is a youth right) while the lad detained. I was under duress of arrest for asking his age. [I had volunteered after first determining the lad was under 18yrs.] The senior Officer's response was haughty and di...
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Newspaper Wars
2007-10-26 10:14:00
Some 'strong opinion' on the vested interest in keeping politics of failure quiet...The New Zealand Herald features a lot of crime stories because crime is the "number one driver of trafficker to the Herald website, the company tells me. Website traffic also means eyeballs exposed to ads, which generate revenue. Crime, police and court stories are also cheap to get, occur frequently (more than daily) and are inherently exciting, shocking and are talked about.http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL07 10/S00398.htm--Blair Anderson ?(?¿?)?Social Ecologist 'at large'http://mildgreens.blogspot.com/http ://blairformayor.blogspot.com/http://blai r4mayor.com/ph (643) 389 4065 cell 027 265 7219
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Reintegration, not DisCRIMination, the Core Issue.
2007-10-25 21:20:00
7. Treatment has been a major feature of the past few years. There has been a significant expansion, a fall in waiting times and the quality has improved in many areas. But it is services and support such as housing, training and employment that make a vital difference. These are so fundamental they should not be called wraparound services, but core services. People should not be excluded from housing, education or employment because they have had problems with drugs. This means that we need to start dealing with the stigma and discrimination people who managed or are trying to sort out their substance use face . Which is why DrugScope is asking the Government to learn lessons from the Mental Health and Learning Disability fields about reintegration. http://www.drugscope.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/ 2E6EF551-B307-4991-8670-6366577C8125/0/dr ugscoperesponse.pdf So what's with the lock them up 'Anderton' protocol currently in fashion? /Blair   Blair Anderson  ?(?¿?...
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Cannabis not dangerous for young people
2007-10-25 20:03:00
AMSTERDAM - Smoking cannabis does not affect the brains of young people. Cannabis not dangerous for young people / 17 October 2007This emerges from research into the effects of cannabis on the brain of young people carried out by neuro-psychologist Gerry Jager. At the Utrecht University Medical Centre De Jager examined forty teenagers, half of whom smoked cannabis regularly while the other half did not. Jager conducted memory and concentration tests and examined MRI scans.The test results of the cannabis smoking youths were as good as those of the other group. "The things happening in the not yet fully developed brain of cannabis-smoking youths are similar to what happens in the brain of adults,"Jager said. She would advise young people who are suffering from a combination of problems not to use cannabis. But she sees no harm for the large group of young people who occasionally smoke a joint. "In ten years' time they will be established citizens and won?t smoke cannabis any more."A...
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Re: Mental illness rate soars among users of 'skunk' cannabis
2007-10-23 06:34:00
Twaddle, your re-inventing 'social nihilism' demonstrating a poor understanding both of what motivates us, and dare I say it, yourself. I am a political nihilist in the true sophist tradition. I'll take that 'and proud' to do so.   That said, your truly deluded if you think I am a committed OR addicted Pot smoker. Such is the way of prejudice, you use the belief 'i might be one of those' to justify that I must be one of those yet even you couldn't tell one if you fell over one.   They whom consume and enjoy are indistinguishable from non-pot smokers by no more than they enjoy pot. Whereas those who think pot smokers should all be in jail are indeed delusional and dangerous; not so much because I (and  many others) believe you could ever be effective in achieving that goal, but that ON EVIDENCE better men than you have tried and failed to put all the pot smokers in jail.   The USA has spent over a hundred billion...
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Bad Drunk Driving Laws & False Evidence
2007-10-22 01:06:00
DUI Marijuana: Does Marijuana Impair Driving ? The U.S. Department of Transportation conducted research with a fully interactive simulator on the effects of alcohol and marijuana, alone and in combination, on driver-controlled behavior and performance. Although alcohol was found consistently and significantly to cause impairment, marijuana had only an occasional effect. Also, there was little evidence of interaction between alcohol and marijuana. Accidents and speeding tickets reliably increased with alcohol, but no marijuana or combined alcohol-marijuana influence was noted. "The Effects of Alcohol on Driver-Controlled Behavior in a Driving Simulator, Phase I", DOT-HS-806-414. A more recent report entitled "Marijuana and Actual Performance", DOT-HS-808-078, noted that "THC is not a profoundly impairing drug?.It apparently affects controlled information processing in a variety of laboratory tests, but not to the extent which is beyond the individual's ability to control when he is m...
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Drugs strategy debate 'is a sham'
2007-10-21 14:59:00
"'Prohibition's failure is now widely understood and acknowledged among key stakeholders in the debate... the political benefits of pursuing prohibition are now waning and the political costs of its continuation are becoming unsustainable."other highlights that have high relevence to the current New Zealand drug policy 'situation' / Blair current policy is fuelling a crime epidemic.drug prohibition has allowed organised crime to control the market and criminalised millions of users, putting a huge strain on the justice system.half of all property crime is linked to fundraising to buy illegal drugs.police claim that drug markets are the main driver of the UK's burgeoning gun culture.Home Office survey, commissioned in 2000, which showed the social and economic costs ... were costs to the victims of drug-related crime.the consultation process has been a sham designed to stifle debate on drugs policyDrugs strategy debate 'is a sham' Special reports Guardian Unlimited:
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MP's, Experts Condemn Drug Treatment Programme
2007-10-20 14:04:00
MPs and drug experts today criticised the government's drug treatment programme for failing to get almost any users clean.   (Lets not kid ourselves that Kiwi Drug Czar JimA has some secret weapon, the data for New Zealand is not substantially any different to the UK experience. And the spending on drug rehab in prison, evidence of policy failure in of itself, is 'coercive care' that strips self will quicker than 'giving in to a higher power'. Such absolutism's are nothing more than a grift for treatment providers who trot out the odd success as proof of the good work they are doing in exchange for OUR money stolen from us. Are we all stupid? Are we collectively in the same dream believing it good value for money attempting to repair the impossible?   /Blair ) Only 9% (5,532) of 61,000 users who left treatment in England last year were free of drugs, according to the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System. A s...
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Drugs prohibition is 'unworkable and immoral' says Chief Constable
2007-10-17 01:02:00
The Chief Constable of North Wales Police Richard Brunstrom, recommends in a report published today, that his Police Authority officially support his call for the legalisation and regulation of drugs, as part of their submission to the drug strategy consultation being conducted by the [UK] Government. He also recommends that they affiliate to Transform Drug Policy Foundation [Founder, top cop Eddie Ellison who visted NZ see LEAP TOUR] The Authority meets on Monday 15 October to discuss the recommendations. Danny Kushlick, Transform Director said:"We are absolutely delighted at Mr Brunstrom's paper. The Chief Constable has displayed great leadership and imagination in very publicly calling for a drug policy that replaces the evident failings of prohibition with a legal system of regulation and control for potentially dangerous drugs". "Mr Brunstrom's call is less surprising when you consider that prohibition, and the illegal markets it creates, is the single largest cause of crime ...
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Photo licenses 10 years on
2007-10-16 13:29:00
After 10 years of use as a de facto ID card, the New Zealand government has just published draft guidelines requiring that they are no longer accepted by government agencies as a 'strong' form of identification. What lesson does this offer for the future of ID cards? Putting aside the matter of principle, lets just look at the practical experience of having a government issued card that most of the population uses as a form of identification. My big fear with the introduction of photo-licenses was that the simple fact they were widely carried would mean that all and sundry would start asking for a level of evidence of identity that was out of all proportion to the risk evolved in the transaction: for example, registering with the local video store. Wide scale, dispersed ID records increase the chances of fraud, simply because they are held in multiple locations. And the more widely a form of ID becomes accepted, the more attractive it is to fraudsters. The New Zealand Departme...
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Russell Brown sells 'Anti Violence' campaign?
2007-10-08 12:49:00
From: Kevin O'ConnellI am not sure that Russell Brown has done much for his credibility by being the first guy lining up earnestly on the family commission's new tv commercials preaching (along with people like radio personality Phil Gifford and half a dozen other ordinary Kiwis) that 'family violence is not ok'?the target audience is alienated by government and its do-gooder sycophants and agencies. Russell, how much did they pay you and do you really believe the campaign (telling people to tell on their neighbours) is going to work? ( narc'ing up / blair)Also you are lining up with government's feeble and scientifically invalid 'separate issue' mentality where NZ social problems are all separate and can be alleviated by funding the various community programmes and government agencies and early intervention initiatives. (which co-incidently is good for the economy, but i digress...)Labour seem to genuinely believe or are at least implying that family violence has nothing to...
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Random drug tests for policemen
2007-10-04 10:55:00
Hampshire police officers in critical posts are to be tested for drugs and alcohol use.(very topical on top of the New Zealand Politicians debating "lets test anyone for everything" and to hell with the consequences, it must be the right thing to do, "because we're to stupid to think of a reason why not". Like the good officer on the right [below] said, "if it wasn't for alcohol and drugs, I wouldn't have a job" /Blair )Officers who use firearms, drive at high speeds, and work with drugs are among the first to face the random tests, starting in October. 'This does not imply lack of trust in anyone,' Det Supt Colin Smith said, explaining it was part of a new substance misuse policy for all forces. Officers with positive tests will face disciplinary action.Higher standards'The policy aims to ensure that Hampshire Constabulary is as free as possible from risk, that it is a safe place to work and promotes public confidence in policing,' he said. 'It aims to deter people from...
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Hemp, it confuses kids - a Smithsonian Boondogle
2007-10-02 07:39:00
One of my most enjoyable activities in drug outreach is talking to civic groups about the manner in which we educate our children (and adults) about drugs. It is always easier to begin at the beginning. New Zealand has a unique history insofar as in it's European discovery 'by hempen canvas and tow', mirrored the importance of fibre to Polynesian navigators and traders. Hemp assets and supplies thereof were regarded as 'strategic munitions' crucial to the expansion of trade within, and defence of, the British Empire. If one reads Joseph Banks' diary's so to 'for Science and Discovery'. Hemp shaped European/North African Politics and Nationalism (WWI & WWII), as a result of Napoleon's failed attempt to sack Moscow (on behalf of the America's) to stop Russia from supplying munitions grade hemp to Gt. Britain's fleet (USA's National Anthem, The Star Spangled Banner, was written by Francis Scott Key, September 1814, during the War of 1812 with England. see hempen flag!...
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Caffeine withdrawal = Psychiatric disorder
2007-10-02 01:05:00
(WebMD) Researchers are saying that caffeine withdrawal should now be classified as a psychiatric disorder. A new study that analyzes some 170 years' worth of research concludes that caffeine withdrawal is very real ? producing enough physical symptoms and a disruption in daily life to classify it as a psychiatric disorder. Researchers are suggesting that caffeine withdrawal should be included in the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Diso rders (DSM), considered the bible of mental disorders. "I don't think this means anyone should be worried," says study researcher Roland Griffiths, PhD, professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. "What it means is that the phenomenon of caffeine withdrawal is real and that when people don't get their usual dose, they can suffer a range of withdrawal symptoms." His research, published in the October issue of Psychopharmacology, analyzes 66 previous studies on the effects of caffeine ...
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Crime stats ?business as usual? for prohibition beneficiaries
2007-10-01 06:44:00
Press release: Mild Greens, 1 October 2007Crime stats 'business as usual' for prohibition beneficiariesContrary to popular myth, 'crime does pay', says Christchurch Mayoral candidate, Blair Anderson ( blair4mayor.com) ? and it provides a considerable number of comfortable middle class salaries in NZ  'sadly at the expense of genuine community wellbeing and safety'.Mr Anderson says the 6000 or so NZ police are primary beneficiaries of crime in New Zealand (fat salaries and perks). 'Alongside courts, corrections, judiciary, lawyers, prison builders, and politicians, police have a dangerous interest in maintaining an unacceptable level of crime, instead of genuinely defusing the violence, black marketing, mistrust and alienation in NZ.' 'That fact that official crime statistics just released for the year show a small downward fluctuation is neither here nor there', says Mr Anderson, 'and police and government deserve no credit whatsoever, because th...
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Archbishop of Canterbury appoints new climate change adviser
2007-09-26 10:19:00
[Lambeth Palace] The Archbishop of Cant erbury , Dr. Rowan Williams, has appointed Paula Clifford on a six-month secondment from Christian Aid to help further the Church of England's quest for sustainable solutions to climate change, following on from the launch of the Church's " Shrinking the Footprint" initiative. [ Episcopal Life Online - WORLD REPORT   September 19, 2007] Clifford has been at Christian Aid for nine years and has traveled extensively in the developing world, seeing the effects of climate change first hand. She recently published a paper titled "All creation groaning: a theological approach to climate change." "I am delighted that the Archbishop and the Church of England are showing their deep concern for the effects of climate change on the world's poorest people in this way," she said. "I am very much looking forward to working with them in highlighting the wider issues of poverty and injustice and ...
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Dr Bob Melamede on forward looking communities
2007-09-26 00:13:00
http://the3lb.com/2007/09/24/seattle-hemp fest-07/   CHCH Sister City HempFest = 150,000 people, 300 stalls at nearly 500 dollars each for the two days. Self organising, and the exceptional community spirit....   I remember going home one year at 1 AM on Saturday night, the ground covered in litter. It had all been picked up the next morning by an army of street kids. On Monday and Tuesday we might find people helping clean up the park who haven't even been to the event . They see what we're doing and they just pitch in. "Nobody is paid. Some of the bands get a travel allowance but it isn't exactly princely. Lots of core members put in hundreds of dollars of their own money to make it happen. And the miracle is, each year it comes off and we leave the park as clean as we found it." The Hempfest's goals are explicitly political. Vivian McPeak, a prime mover since 1991, quotes Gandhi: "'First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win....
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What is this woman doing in Parliament?
2007-09-25 01:28:00
What is this woman doing in Parliament ? at thestandard.org.nz Blair Anderson Sep 25th, 2007 at 12:25 pm If ACT wereon the climate case they woudl be taking a more precautioanry principled, constitutional and (proprty) rights basde approach, namely 'contraction and convergence' (C&C, see http://gci.org.uk ). But Heather, like the rest of NZ was duped with a consulatation proces that was gravely flawed. All views were not at the table. THe stake hold intersts in NZ's CC agenda (yes, out comes the conspiracy's) can be likened to that of big pharma, big sugar, big tobacco and big oil. We can ignore the evidence at our collective peril and steer ourselves ourselves into the unmanagable outcomes or we can turn the ship arround albeit slowely and save our collective arses. The primary stakeholders in business as usual must be challenged. There is nothing inconsistent in ACT principles with this strategy. It is the only game in town. /Blair
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What Price Democracy, the Acid test?
2007-09-22 01:40:00
As voter open today's mail I declare and I promise a style in leadership 'fresh each day' for it appears Christchurch is not seeking a doctor of history's dead people nor a "this was your life, Christchurch". Christchurch needs a professor of future, a man of living vision, a breath of fresh air, Vote "Mayor Blair"read more | digg story
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