19 th July.

19/07/2007
07:37
Plan B was working yesterday; I was in bed for 3.30.
Woken up by telephone. 8.30.
Mother saying op had been cancelled yet again and could we go and see him at 10.
My head was in bits, I didn’t know if it was 8.30 in the morning or night.
She informed me it was nighttime and apologised for waking me up.
I stopped up for a couple of hours and returned to bed to awaken this fine morning.

Not a bad kip, took my mind off everything.
Hazy blue sky and weak sun.
I’ve had a look at the front garden and conditions are right to dig up remainder of grass, may get it done before hospital visit, will see.

Talking of grass, I see the government is once again set to fanny about with Cannabis.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6904547.stm
How come every piece of news regarding cannabis strays off the mark to mention hard drugs, yet doesn’t mention the findings that cannabis is less harmful than alcohol.
They talk of stronger strains, good quality skunk, i.e. Sensi has been around for decades. The majority of street cannabis is still of poor quality because it has been mixed so much, often with harmful ingredients.

Cannabis use is so wide spread and the dealer network so well established that any change in classification will not make one iota of difference.
The cost of many street deals has risen over the past few years, but Gordon will be aware from his experiment in raising prices for cigarettes, increasing prices doesn’t result in fewer people smoking, in fact I seem to recall seeing figures that the smoking of normal cigarettes still appears to be rising.

The Americans have thrown billions of dollars at trying to stamp out Cannabis use, to no avail.
I’m surmising that people who smoke cigs and Cannabis will be choosing to stick to their poison and shun the pubs and clubs in favour of smoking at home, with or without cheap supplies of alcohol from the supermarket.

Cannabis use is similar to the prohibition years; he will never make any inroads into its use.

The pubs and clubs are no longer safe places to enjoy a drink, the young ones who prefer to spend huge amounts of money on drink to get legless have taken over from the social drinker of the past.
The idea of spending £60 or more on alcohol on a single session is totally alien to me, also unaffordable to most people.
We therefore choose to spend perhaps a tenner on a deal and have a quiet time behind closed doors.
True we contribute nothing in the way of taxes to the treasury, but we do not become a burden on the local A+E departments of our hospitals.

Since the relaxation of the drinking laws, any authorities have seen an increase in alcohol related admissions.
The government says it is concerned for the welfare of the younger generation,
If this is true then tackle the growing problem of youngsters abusing alcohol.
Too many parents allow their children to drink, yet punish cannabis use.
In other cases many youngsters see their parents habitually getting drunk and follow in their footsteps.

The main problem with youngsters today is drinking and anti social behaviour, the two go together.
Raise the age for drinking to 21, after all we follow the lead of the Americans in everything else.
We talk about the growing problem of obesity in our children yet supply high streets full of junk food outlets.
Children are often found to be drunk in possession of bottles of booze.
Have the bottles stamped thus providing evidence of the supply and prosecute heavily the off licences who are undoubtedly selling, knowingly to these children.

It is a crime to be drunk, not just drunk and disorderly but simply drunk.
Lets see more prosecutions.

Possession of Cannabis should be penalised in public; most sensible smokers use cannabis behind closed doors lets keep it that way.

When oh when will the government focus on the health issue, cannabis can be used in many conditions, spend the money on researching the medicinal properties and lets have a medicine more effective than aspirin on the list of prescription drugs.

As for hard drugs, keep them a separate issue.
For years they tried to say cannabis was a gateway drug, no it isn’t.
They say it has links with mental health, no it hasn’t. The person would probably go on to exhibit mental problems with or without using the drug.

Cannabis has its own built in safety device, if one smokes the stronger strains it simply means less is ingested before the smoker becomes stoned, if too much is smoked then the smoker will go to sleep.
Unlike alcohol which can result in death if too much is consumed.

Alcohol consumption is a problem and it is getting worse, the effects of drinking can be seen every day and night in our hospitals.

I also hate the way the media reports of youngsters claiming Cannabis use has set them on the road to ruin, they’ve only had a few sessions on it and claim it has done all sorts of fucking things to them.
Heavy cannabis use would cost approximately £100 per week; these kids are struggling to afford a bottle of vodka on the weekend so they have little chance of being able to get their mitts on sufficient cannabis to pose a problem

Cannabis use and misinformation go hand in hand as far as the government is concerned.

I see an ever growing section of society which is choosing to forsake the social drinking in favour of homemade entertainment.
We have the technology to allow us to remain at home, watch films, listen to music, surf the Internet.
There’s no need to go to the pub, put up with shabby service and surroundings, run the risk of personal injury from being attacked by drunken louts.
The majority of sensible smokers will remain indoors, preferring the safety and comfort of their own homes.
This trend will grow, possibly more rapidly than the government would ever imagine.

The major problem with cannabis is the use of tobacco to release the ingredients.
If more research was funded to manufacture a tablet harnessing the pain killing benefits of the drug, I’m sure some of the backstreet chemists would come up with tablet form of the mood enhancing properties, rendering smoking as a poor option.
The use of vaporisers may lead a lot of smokers away from the dependence on tobacco.
Because lets not forget that in terms of dependency there are few chemicals more potent the Nicotine itself.

We have alcohol; a major cause of concern, poses problems in all walks of life, puts strain on the hospital services, and causes much grief in society.
We have Nicotine, a very addictive substance which causes serious health problems, and once again puts strain on the N.H.S. services.
Yet both of the above are legal and socially acceptable.

The cannabis smoker has remained in the background, alienated, bad pressed for decades.
There are millions of users yet few deaths which can be directly linked to its use.
The drug undoubtedly has medicinal value in certain cases yet its powers hasn’t been accepted and used by the medical fraternity because of its status as being illegal.
Making the drug legal or illegal, changing its ranking, reclassifying it will not make any difference to its use.
Cannabis will always be in supply and users will always continue to choose it over alcohol or indeed the many other drug options.

True the price of street cannabis has risen over the last few years but no way as much as the price hikes of alcohol, therefore it will remain a viable alternative, and as such will continue to grow in popularity regardless of what the fannies in office decide to do.

Drinking is the problem which faces the country not cannabis smoking.
Nicotine addiction is costing the taxpayer millions, putting tremendous strain on our health services, not cannabis smoking.

The licensing trade will soon begin to notice the effects of the no smoking ban,
They know full well the trade will fall, expected to reduce by millions of pints each year.
Not all the pubs can be turned into eating-places.

I for one would rather see a youngster sat on a park bench with glassy eyes then laid in a pool of vomit choking to death.
I would rather see the more mature smokers return to the old time get togethers in someone’s’ home listening to music or being creative with a computer or taking advantage of the vast range of in house entertainment available, simply chilling.
The culture and technology of today will no doubt drive people to remain indoors where they feel safe and Cannabis is the perfect accompaniment for any activities, therefore its use is set to increase.

The drug trade is a huge business, many small countries rely upon its continuation, and therefore the supply will never be stopped.
Criminals will always see it as the easy option to making money thus ensuring whatever controls are set in motion will be bypassed.
The similarity between attempted curtailment and the battle against alcohol use by prohibition is becoming more pertinent.
It is a battle which cannot be won by any power.

Random drug testing is not the answer because of the very nature of the drug, it remains in the blood stream for a lot longer than certain class A drugs and alcohol and therefore is unusable by anyone who fears for their jobs.
At the same time testing could be seen as making certain sections opt for the higher-class drugs knowing they can escape detection.

We have been told that smuggled tobacco can be three or four times as harmful to a smoker because of the ingredients, the same goes for cannabis, the more the government tries to squeeze the trade the more dealers will adulterate the deals with harmful packing materials.

If the government wants anyone to take any notice of any plans they have they will have to treat cannabis on its own merits and stop mentioning it as a way of introducing control on harder drugs.

I will choose home-grown anytime over solid because I have more knowledge of what is in the deal, i.e. there is less likelihood of harmful packing materials being used to bulk it up.
We are all aware that there are stronger strains available but that simply menas we use less, no brainer.

We are all aware that there are stronger strains available but that simply means we use less, no brainer.
While today's pot is stronger than that of a few decades ago (from about three percent up to around 10 percent in rare high-grade pot),
The increase is hardly dramatic.
According to a report from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), "studies indicate that marijuana smokers distinguish between high and low potency marijuana and moderate their use accordingly,
Just as an alcohol consumer would drink fewer ounces of (high potency) bourbon than they would of (low potency) beer."
It also should be pointed out that not one single fatal marijuana overdose has been recorded in human history.
And the stronger the pot, the less you have to smoke to get the desired effect.

Marijuana use clearly reduces short-term memory recall, decreases cognitive reaction time, and makes people, well, stoned.
Meaning, don't get baked before class or else you won't learn much.
But no evidence of pot use inducing brain damage was presented,
Because no conclusive scientific evidence actually exists.

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=267461

Been in to see the old man, he’s all psyched up, doped up, and gowned ready for an op about three.
I hope he gets it today!
He’s bricking it but trying not to show.
Hopefully tomorrow he will have had his op, done his time in I.C. and be back on the ward.
I’ll have done nearly 1,000 miles driving to visit him by the time he gets out.

From 20 July, firearms officers will be able to use tasers if they face severe violence or threats and need to use force to protect the public, themselves, or the suspect.
Tasers will also be available to police in specialist units, including tactical support teams and drugs squads.

In October last year, Brian Loan, 47, of County Durham, died after being shot by a Taser, but a post mortem examination found that he died of natural causes.
Yeah!
What’s it like to be tasered?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6661617.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/6906437.stm
Not a nice way to end a long life. 94-year-old woman burnt.


We may live in one of the depressed areas but some trades are prospering.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tees/6906224.stm
Police discover heroin with a street value of £1m and £100,000 in cash after raiding a house on Teesside.