MarijuanaNews.com : Two More Stories from The UK That We Couldn’t Make Up: 10,000 Scots Addicted To Dangerous Over-The-Counter Drugs and Bristol Police Drunk and Lewd At “Anti-Drug” Benefit.

Posted June 10, 2002
(MarijuanaNews note: These two stories here illustrate why
cannabis prohibition is collapsing in the UK. First, given the UK’s massive
substance abuse problems, cannabis use – and even abuse – should not even be on
the radar screen. According to the Home Office, there are 178,000 regular crack
users in England and Wales.
See
And Now, How the Narks
Created Crack In the UK. Britain Leads EU In Cocaine Consumption and Is Now
Having A Crack Epidemic. Will They Be Too Busy Busting Coffee Shops To Go After
Crack Houses?

Second, the UK health care system is having serious
problems, but so is the law enforcement system. The second story below is an
absolute farce.)

Excerpt From Scotland On Sunday
June 9, 2002

letters_sos@scotlandonsunday.com

http://www.scotlandonsunday.com/
By Orla Heron

Excerpted from ADDICTED TO LEGAL SUBSTANCES

A rising number of Scots… are addicted to over-the-counter medicines.

For most people, cough medicines and pain-killers provide welcome relief from
a cold or a bout of the flu. For others their use is more than temporary and
they find themselves hooked on the pills and liquids for years.

Once the addiction has taken hold, going without the medicines can lead to a
harrowing array of withdrawal symptoms, including depression, mood swings,
headaches, nausea and constipation. In some cases the
addiction can even kill by causing fatal epileptic seizures.
(MarijuanaNews note: But they are delaying medical
access to cannabis to be sure it is safe!)

The medical consequences of becoming hooked are also significant. While
short-term effects are similar to those suffered during withdrawal, in longer
term addicts these can intensify into Chronic Daily
Headache Syndrome and chronic constipation, or even cause
gastrointestinal disorders and ulcerative colitis.

An estimated 10,000 people in Scotland… are addicted to
over-the-counter medicines (OTCs ).

(MarijuanaNews note: There are only 5 million people in all of Scotland. It
is estimated that there are 30,000 OTC addicts in the UK with a population of 60
million.)

The problem has a low public profile compared to illegal and prescription
drug addictions but that is because most addicts are too embarrassed to
admit their problem.
See
UK Committee Will Endorse
Reclassification – “Decriminalization” By Another Name, But Says Real
“Decriminalization” Would “Send the Wrong Message” Cannabis Equals Valium Is The
Right Message?
and links.

And yet the most recent survey on the problem shows that Scotland is one of
the worst affected areas in the whole of the UK. Only
London was found to have more addicts than Strathclyde, principally due to the
fact that it has a much larger population.

What is unusual about this trend is that, unlike stereotypical ‘junkies’ who
lose their job, family, and even home, OTC addicts are generally well heeled,
middle class people who enjoy positions of prestige in society. Whilst drugs
like heroin and cocaine are taken with full knowledge of the risks entailed, the
majority of people who become dependent on painkillers and cough medicines do so
initially to treat a genuine medical complaint. They end up enjoying the
benefits so much they find they cannot stop.

The social mapping of OTC addicts makes for interesting reading. Two thirds of
sufferers are women, mostly 20- or 30- something housewives whilst men are
generally 20 years older and enjoy executive or professional positions. Having
access to a car would also seem to be a crucial factor since most addicts find
themselves banned from their local pharmacist and have to spend an average of
1,250 UK Pounds a year travelling a total of 4004 miles to get their fix.

David Grieve from Dumfries is an ex-addict, who at his
worst was downing 90 bottles of cough mixture a week.
See the fourth article in

London Times And UK Drug Tsar Follow DEAland Party Line;
UK Drug Use “Worst In Europe”
So Marijuana To Be Lumped With Heroin In Prohibitionist Propaganda For Children;

And Lie About the Dutch, Of Course! — 4 Articles

He set up Over-Count
in 1994 to help fellow sufferers and he has his own theory as to why Scotland
has such a problem. “Part of it could be the Scottish weather,” he said, “which
means that people are more vulnerable to coughs and colds. People take them to
help with pain but because they also make them feel good they keep taking them.
And because the tablets are not on prescription, people don’t realise how
dangerous they can be.”

The most commonly abused substances are those which are based on codeine, which
is an opiate. Some 10% of the medicines are converted to pure morphine in the
brain. Taking eight tablets of certain over-the-counter
pain-killers in one day means ingesting the same amount of morphine as a heroin
addict would absorb from shooting up once a day.

Dr Brian Kidd, a consultant psychiatrist with the Community Alcohol and Drug
Service in Forth Valley treats a number of OTC patients.
He says this form of addiction is in some ways more dangerous than more common
cases of drug abuse.

“The thing that people become addicted to is the codeine in the drugs, but the
problem with pain-killers is that they contain

paracetamol as well. I’m treating someone at the minute who is on 32
pain-killers a day. He is addicted to opiates in the tablets but the paracetamol
is severely damaging his liver in a way that purer opiates wouldn’t.”
(MarijuanaNews note: Paracetamol is known as acetaminophen
in DEAland. Tylenol is the largest selling brand.)
See
Does
Forbes Read Forbes? Tylenol Deaths Exceed Cocaine Overdoses
and

Painkillers Put Millions At Risk Of Ulcers; Hospitalize 76,000 & Kill 7,600
Annually;
One That Doesn’t Kill Is Illegal

Kidd contends that part of the problem lies in society’s attitude to drug
taking. Because of a general aversion to drug addicts, most are loathe to admit
they require similar treatment and few admit themselves to support clinics
without a considerable amount of encouragement. Advisable though it may be to
seek help from any qualified health practitioner, time restrictions and a lack
of understanding on the part of GPs means that a trip to
the local doctor is generally unfruitful. The solution, he says, is in a
better system of public information.

Some drugs groups believe that ambitions to raise public awareness have to be
kicked off by the pharmaceutical industry itself. Over the
last 10 years over 50 substances have been switched from prescription to over
the counter sales and at present not a single chemist medicine carries a warning
of dependency on the packet.

But the Proprietary Association of Great Britain, which
represents UK pharmaceutical manufacturers, claims printing a warning on the box
would be effectively informing and encouraging people to experiment with the
medicines in new ways.

The Committee for the Safety of Medicines says the current regulations on
over-the-counter medicines are sufficient and there is no need to tighten them.

(MarijuanaNews note: Sounds familiar.)
See
Bush Administration
Argues That Freedom of Speech Applies to Pharmaceutical Company Ads , But Not
Conversations Between Doctors and Patients About Medical Cannabis. We Couldn’t
Make This Up!

Meanwhile, Alison Strath, chairwoman of the Royal
Pharmaceutical Society in Scotland, said that even if the figure of 10,000
sufferers in Scotland is accurate, it represents a small proportion of the
population to be classed as a serious problem. “I don’t think it is anywhere
near the scale of alcohol or cigarette addiction in this country. Even the
misuse of controlled drugs such as heroin is a bigger problem.”
See
UK Victims of Tranquilizers Urge That “Far Safer” Medical Cannabis Be Made
Available – IoS “More people died from benzodiazepine usage than from such drugs
as heroin and cocaine.”

She is particularly concerned about the danger of scaring off those who would
use the products in a safe and beneficial manner and argues that most people are
capable of knowing how to take medication safely without becoming addicted. The
need to lighten the burden on GPs and the advantages of self treatment are seen
to outweigh any action in the name of so few. She contends that the current
practice whereby pharmacists are aware of the ‘danger’ medicines and are
encouraged to look out for potential abusers is effective enough to help those
in trouble.

The British Medical Association on the other hand, recognises this to be a real
and worrying problem. The chairman of the BMA’s Scottish council, Dr John
Garner, said he was disappointed with the lack of information that is made
available to both GPs and patients alike.

“Misuse of over-the-counter drugs is becoming more common,” he said. “GPs are
aware that certain drugs can induce dependence and, along with their colleagues
in pharmacy, provide advice to patients regarding managing their medication.
However, we are disappointed in the progress made to date by the government in
providing information to GPs and patients to raise awareness of this problem.”

At the moment relatively few drug support services deal with OTC addicts in
Scotland and many GPs do not have an established method of detection or
treatment.

As with most addictions the dependencies are both physical and psychological and
addicts have to undergo a full detox programme in order to become ‘clean ‘
again. The Over-Count charity offers a three-stage programme which involves
noting down how many drugs you take in one day to become aware of the extent of
the problem, changing your way of life, and gradually weaning yourself off the
medication. Other drugs clinics prescribe the sort of detox programme well known
for the treatment of other drug users.

Abruptly eliminating the drug from the system can be
extremely dangerous. A
Solpadeine

addict for example, could suffer from what is known as “Status Epilepticus”
which is similar to an epileptic fit except that once the fit takes hold, it
gives way immediately to another and another, and can result in death.

For many of course, the best cure lies in prevention. Some people want to see a
system of registration with pharmacists whereby you can only obtain certain
medicines from one single pharmacist who is then able to monitor your
consumption. Others believe that only a tighter regulation on the types of
medicine that are readily available will have any significant effect. Yet others
feel an effective solution would be to withdraw all medicines
from places such as supermarkets and petrol stations.
Copyright: 2002 The Scotsman Publications Ltd.

(MarijuanaNews note: And now for something that is
almost funny.)

June 10, 2002
Excerpted from From The Guardian
letters@guardian.co.uk

http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardian/
By Owen Bowcott
(MarijuanaNews note: So far The Guardian seems to be the
only UK media outlet to report this. Only Monty Python could do justice to
this.)

POLICE SUSPENDED OVER CLAIMS OF LEWD BEHAVIOUR AT DRUG CHARITY BALL

A number of Bristol police have been removed from their posts after allegations
of public drunkenness and lewd behaviour, the deputy chief constable of Avon and
Somerset, Martin Richards, said yesterday.

The officers were attending a charity ball to raise funds
for combating drug abuse and celebrate good community relations.
Organised by Knowle West Against Drugs ( Kwads ), a group founded 10 years ago
by residents in south Bristol alarmed about the increase in drug use, the dinner
dance on May 25 included the presentation of awards for two retiring officers to
thank them for their support.

Neither could be present, but 10 other officers did attend to collect the awards
for their colleagues. A number of business leaders, magistrates and journalists
attended the black tie dinner, which raised more than 6,000 UKPounds for the
organisation.

Mary Smith, the founder of Kwads, said the evening had been successful apart
from the performance of the police. “It was an absolutely fantastic night,” she
said.

“I have got a very good relationship with [officers], but I think they had to
take action about this.”

Despite the evening’s theme of drug awareness, officers
allegedly began drinking heavily.

One guest claimed she had watched a male officer openly groping a woman police
constable who was dancing with her skirt over her head.

“I thought that was bad enough,” said Denise Britt, 48, Kwads’ chairwoman. “But
then I had a complaint that one of the male officers and a WPC had been spotted
using a toilet cubicle together. I can guess what for.

“It was absolutely disgusting what they got up to that evening. They all arrived
late and they’d had a drink but were not that bad at that point. For starters
there was a cold soup and they complained that it was cold, but that’s how it’s
supposed to be.

“As the night wore on, the officers continued to drink and one of the female
officers got on the table but she was so drunk that she fell off.
Some people tried to have a word with the chief
superintendent about the disgusting behaviour of the police. But they seemed to
have no care about what people said. They just dismissed us.

“Not all of the male officers were involved but the five WPCs were all being
groped. I heard they were [later] walking back towards the station and one of
the men and women looked like they were having sex on the street. They’re
supposed to be the professional ones. They have really let us down badly
considering they were there representing the police force.

“How can the officers go out on the streets and arrest
people when the whole community knows what they were up to? They are a laughing
stock.”