Prevention is better than cure.

With this pandemic virus about, we hear and read a lot about preventative medicine (vaccine) and preventative measures (stay at home, wash hands, social distancing, face masks, PPE, even stay alert).

So, whether we have a vaccine or not, whether or not we would take one, it is clear that prevention is better than cure, especially as there is no cure.

Preventative medicines and preventative measures are good.  Prevention is better than cure.

There is one unpleasant thing is the lives of the vast majority of people and that is stress.

Stress causes our human system to become excessively acidic.

An acid system can and does cause all sort of problems and ailments. From digestive problems such as acidosis to gastric ulcers. From arthritis to cancers. From skin problems to wrinkles!

Then of course there are social problems, such as domestic violence which has increased during these periods of stay at home and isolation, lack or real social interaction and boredom; before and after this we saw and probably will see again, violence on the streets and in our pubs - fuelled by alcohol but caused by stress. Everything from absenteeism at work to suicide and premature death, starts with stress.

So we search for cures for stress when maybe we should be searching for prevention.

There are options available - recreation, sports, relaxing in the sun, yoga and meditation - and maybe they work for some - but stress is more common, still, than Covid 19, and of course the worry of Covid 19 causes even more stress.

So what if there were plants and foods that we could consume to relieve stress, and even better, if we could grow our own. One would think that a government that was concerned with our health would encourage it, especially if the scientific evidence concludes that for the very vast majority of people it is remarkably safe!

But instead, for decades now, the have banned it, threatening to arrest, criminalise, fine and even imprison people for growing or possessing it at home for their own use, with considerably harsher penalties threatened upon those that supply others, whether for profit or not; unless of course it is big industry owned by politicians or their spouses, such as shareholders in businesses such as British Sugar Corporation and GW Pharmaceuticals, that want control over such a profitable plant.

By now most that read this know which plant I am talking about as it is hardly new.

Cannabis of course. One of the most beneficial, efficacious, safe and easy to grow plants of earth, that not only eases stress when consumed but is also a valuable and ecologically friendly source of fibre for everything from building to clothing, from paper to plywood, also a safe and pollution-free source of biofuels for homes, cars and even planes.

So why is the production and supply limited to these big companies in the UK? Why does the Government continue to deny or ignore these beneficial uses?

Certainly it is not to protect us.

on the rescheduling of cannabinoids in the UK

Recently the press has widely reported that medicinal cannabis is to be rescheduled to allow specialised doctors to prescribe pharmaceutical-grade cannabis products and extracts to a limited number of patients that have tried all other available treatments and pills for their illnesses.

The UK Government recently announced this decision.

Although this move may lead to the availability of pharmaceutical cannabis products for some, it itself does nothing to address the lack of justice in the treatment of other victimless cannabis consumers.

Let all adults be allowed to grow cannabis for themselves, families and friends: let carers grow it for their craes; let private cannabis clubs be allowed to grow for members and allow consumption in clubs as well as in private houses. Let doctors prescribe cannabonoids and pharmaceutical products for those that need and choose them over the natural plant. Protect cannabis consumers in the same ways as the law protects those that choose to drink alcohol. Ultimately license shops with consumer protection laws applied and tax their profits.
 
Looking at that as my ideal, and I believe the ideal of many others, this rescheduling is a small step in the right direction, but the problem is that it really puts cannabis into the hands of the pharmaceutical companies and profiteers and I don't think does much for the campaign for recognition and protection of our individual rights or equal justice for all.
 
My fear is that it will put back that campaign for justice: just as people say that doctors prescribe opiates but that does not mean people can make their own, people may say: "if you need medicinal cannabis, go see your doctor"; the doctor may or may not send the patient to a specialist, and they will only prescribe it for certain ailments after all other medications have failed (last resort), a very limited number of patientes, bless them, will get it ... and everyone else is in the same position as now and maybe having to disclose their private information on their state of health or illness in court in mitigation, same as now.

BUT of course I am happy for those loads of people that will benefit although not so pleased that one of them is the prime minister's husband's bank account.


UK: Insider Trading? Theresa May’s Husband Set To Profit From New Cannabis Medicine After Government Relaxes Ban

Natasha in child welfare, Researching Reform
Researching Reform

Monday 02 Jul 2018

GW Pharmaceuticals, a company whose largest investor is UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s husband, Philip May, has received FDA approval for Epidiolex, a new cannabis derived drug to treat childhood epilepsy. The announcement comes just days after the Home Office relaxed the UK’s strictly controlled ban on the medication for two children suffering from related conditions.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid issued a licence for a batch of cannabis oil, which is illegal in the UK, to treat Billy Caldwell, who suffers from violent epileptic seizures. Shortly after the move, Alfie Dingley was also granted a license for the oil, to treat his epilepsy. Alfie had previously been denied the medication.

The Home Office licenses were issued in the middle of June, with FDA approval of GW’s new medicine being announced on the 25th June, in a GW press release aimed at London and California. The approval for Epidiolex would have been given before the 25th.

FDA approval means that the drug can be purchased within the 30 current states in the US which allow medical marijuana once the chemical compound within the medication gets its classification status. California was the first state to allow the consumption of cannabis for medicinal purposes, which it did in 1996. It also has the largest maximum limit for possession in the US.

GW’s move to include London in the press release is not an accident. Epidiolex is under review by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and a decision on whether to recommend approval is likely to be made at the start of 2019. The UK government is also preparing a consultation on the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes.

The timeline for the cannabis medication’s production and approval raises serious questions about whether the government has been involved in insider dealing, which is illegal in the UK:

2016 – Theresa May wins the general election
May’s husband owns the majority share in the world’s largest producer of cannabis, GW Pharmaceuticals
2017 – Victoria Atkins Becomes Parliamentary Under Secretary – despite almost no government experience
Atkins’ husband owns British Sugar – The company that produces the main ingredient GW uses for its cannabis medication
2018 – Atkins Is Promoted To Home Office Minister
June 2018 – The Home Office seize cannabis medication from a child at the airport, and then return it after the press are alerted to the story
16 June 2018 – The Home Office starts to make exceptions for children who need cannabis oil to treat epilepsy
25 June 2018 – GW Pharmaceuticals announces the FDA has approved cannabis medication it has made, to treat childhood epilepsy
The cannabis medication is now being reviewed by a European body, whilst the government considers making cannabis medication legal in the UK.
Early 2019 – GW Pharmaceuticals finds out if their cannabis medication has been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA)

Researching Reform wrote about GW Pharmaceuticals last month, when it was revealed that several husbands of senior government officials, including Theresa May and Home Office Minister Victoria Atkins, had substantial interests in GW, whose chairman is a conservative party donor. Disgraced Family Court psychiatrist George Hibbert is also an investor in the pharmaceutical company.

Very many thanks to Janie Doe for sharing the press release with us.

https://researchingreform.net/2018/07/02/pharma-company-majority-owned-by-uk-pms-husband-announces-new-cannabis-medication-days-after-home-office-relaxes-ban/

The law, cannabis, medicines and our Rights -get the debate on track

Almost all the debate I am seeing is about whether cannabis helps people or drives them psychotic or makes them ill, or both, which are medical issues. Little mention of my or your human rights, which I never asked for but was "given". The law is not actually about drugs or plants or medicines, it is about what some people can or cannot do with them - possession, production, supply.

If we have a right to a private life then that must include the right to grow or possess or even share with willing people, unless it threatens PUBLIC health, public order, or the rights of others.

Issues such as whether somebody else is cured of illness or has their pains or tremors eased, or suffers from psychosis or even dies of cancer, has nothing whatsoever to do with possession, production or sharing in PRIVATE. What difference it makes to driving or singing skills, is not the issue when it comes to private life.

Limits or otherwise on strength, claims that childrenmay  use cannabis or that some people later take drugs, is not the issue when it comes to Private Life.

Billy Caldwell, Alfie and other children, in fact, don't get me wrong, but their survival has nothing to do with what we do in our private lives.

I say that because the law targets our private lives; people get busted in their homes even though they pose no threat or do no harm

IT SEEMS TO ME obvious that those that get benefit from the cannabis plant or its products that are otherwise inhumanely suffering or risking life itself, should be protected by the Government, not punished by it, and should have that medication available in a pure and safe form.

But that is a health issue, Of course they have the right to live a healthy life. Yet it is a different issue, and many of the politicians are talking about allowing pharmaceutical grade cannabis or its products including oils, on prescription. Well we know how much is already being grown ready for that profitable situation to become acceptable to the public, after the years of lies, by GW Pharmaceuticals and British Sugar and who owns shared in those?

When somebody says that cannabis use heals or harms, saves lives or ruins them, leads to drug use or not, whether safer than aspirin or alcohol or sugar - I have to ask

WHO SHOULD WE ARREST?

Those that cannabis consumption helps or those that cannabis harms?

Those that later take drugs or those that do not?

Those that eat sugar or those that do not?

Those that harm others, or those that do not?

Arrest the cannabis medical growers??

How would you react if somebody came up to you in the street

shaking a collection tin and asking for a donation to help pay for the arrest and prosecution of sick and injured adults for growing a plant for their own beneficial use?

They would be armed with a list of ailments that it is claimed that cannabis helps - people to be targetted.

They would explain that there was no issue with them having harmed or put at risk other people.

There is no other (illegal to possess) drugs involved, and no supply to others.

They would be armed with the latest estimated costs of arrest and or courts, a breakdown of the total annual cost.

They would explain that since cannabis is against the law and police are becoming increasingly lenient or turning a blind eye to small growers as they have far more serious issues to deal with and are themselves underfunded, it is essential that people pay more money to finance more arrests and prosecutions above the billions in taxes.

They would explain that home grown cannabis used in those ways is a serious treat to the profits of the big phamaceutical companies that provide the present day prescription drugs that many growers are saying they have replaced with herbal cannabis.

Decisions on issuing licenses for safe cultivation of cannabis is a breach of Human Rights law by the UK Home Office

Under Human Rights law it is not legal to differentiate in the way authority treats people due to their property

- so in acting, for example, on whether or not, under the present Misuse of Drugs Act, they issue a license for the safe cultivation of cannabis, the Home Office  cannot legally treat people differently simply because they have different property and that would presumably include company directors and employees of say GW Pharmaceuticals.

Yet the owners of GW are given license to cultivate large crops of cannabis and extract the active chemicals into alcohol, for sale as a medication (Sativex) and at high price and profits, yet a person that does not have any ownership in the company will not be issued a license. That seems to me another discrepency between how the Home Office acts and Human Rights law.

Question to Norman Baker, Lib Dem MP

Mr Baker, I heard you on BBC Radio Sussex this morning talking about medicinal use of cannabis by a man called Kieron Reeves as it seems to have stopped his epileptic seizures, and  a man Clark French that uses cannabis to ease the symptoms of his MS.

You said that government advisors have said that cannabis has limited medicinal uses - so why is it still scheduled as a drug with no medicinal uses and what uses do you acknowldge?

There are clearly some as GW Pharmaceuticals simply extract ALL the active ingredients from cannabis plants using alcohol to produce their peppermint-flavoured expensive spray called Sativex.

Obviously to produce Sativex a medicine by extracting compounds from a plant said to have such limited medicinal value is either magic, a miracle or some sort of fraud

 - and the punishment of people that grow the plant at home whilst allowing a pharmaceutical company to grow tens of thousands of plants to produce medicine for sale, is unjust and suggests corruption.

Please answer a question put to you on the show - Keiron Reeves says he needs cannabis to cope with his illness and that prescribed medication did not work - should he wait for the law to be changed considering that successive governments have stated they will not change it?

That is a direct question, please answer it - should people in desparate need of cannabis for medical reasons break the law or suffer in silence?

How ought the law deal with such people?

https://www.facebook.com/NormanBakerMP

available for a few days after May 16th  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01ylhhz