Out of joint

1:03pm Thursday 22nd November 2007

Comments (1)   Have your say »

YES, cannabis does, like tobacco, contain the carcinogen Benzpyrene. When smoked as a joint, as Aled Jones points out (Readers' Letters, November 19), it is as dangerous as smoking one and a half cigarettes.

However, those who choose to take the drug to relieve the symptoms of diseases such as MS and arthritis can always use a vaporiser, a cream or bake a hash brownie if they prefer.

There is some evidence that asthma sufferers find the active ingredient in cannabis, THC, can give them some relief by acting as a bronchodilator.

The British Lung Foundation does not give details of the scientists who wrote the report Mr Jones quotes, but it does closely resemble the study by the Christian campaigning group the Maranatha Community.

I don't think we should worry too much.

Charles Hunt, Wilton Rise, York.

* Aled Jones writes that "cannabis is the kiss of death for any society".

It's strange, then, since cannabis has been widely used for thousands of years around the globe, that human society not just survived, but thrived until the disaster of prohibition came along.

Since the 1960s, more than one million people in Britain have been given criminal records and punished for cannabis offences - most of whom certainly did no harm to anyone else.

A policy such as prohibition turns one section of society against another, wastes billions of pounds of taxpayers' money and police time, does far more harm than good, and has created many of the problems surrounding cannabis use today.

If cannabis is legalised it will be safer for everyone - irrespective of how safe or dangerous per se is its use.

As for Aled's claim that "cannabis actually contains 50 per cent more cancer-causing carcinogens than tobacco - making it one very mean drug", it's meaningless.

Almost everything we eat contains carcinogens, but that does not mean that the food causes cancer, because the chemicals exist in combination with others. And in any case that would be no reason to punish individual users who do no harm to others.

If there is no victim, then there should be no crime.

Alun Buffry, Woodcock Road, Norwich.

* ALED Jones takes great delight in revealing that cannabis is carcinogenic when smoked.

I don't think anybody would argue that inhaling any smoke in to your lungs was healthy - you don't have to smoke cannabis, it can be eaten. This is sound advice to anyone wishing to reduce any potential harmful effects of smoke.

Cannabis research is being carried out on a number of significant properties it has in reducing cancerous cells. This has been known about for 30 years.

Most of the research suggesting cannabis is carcinogenic has been discredited. Cannabis is generally smoked mixed with tobacco, and maybe Mr Jones would like to explain why the hell he believes people who may be doing this harm to themselves, as indeed millions of tobacco smokers do, should be locked up for two years?

Steve Clements, The Legalise Cannabis Alliance, York.