A Lisburn councillor believes cannabis should be legalised and his call seems to have gained support from many people in the city.

Following the legalisation of marijuana in the United States, NI21 Councillor Johnny McCarthy said now is the time for Northern Ireland to reconsider its current drug laws.

In recent months, a number of defendants have appeared in Lisburn Magistrates Court to face charges of possession of drugs. Some claimed they are using the cannabis for medical reasons, to ease pain and relief symptoms of chronic illnesses and they have been strongly supported by comments on the Star’s Facebook page.

The New South Wales Greens will introduce a bill to parliament calling for a ban on sniffer dog operations across the state, describing the current approach as wasteful, dangerous and ineffective. 

Member for Newtown in Sydney's inner-west Jenny Leong and Greens MP David Shoebridge were joined at today's bill announcement by Australian producer Paul Mac and Dan McNamee of Art vs Science, who last year called for a ban at Splendour In The Grass to reduce overdose-related hospitalisations. 

New bill proposes banning all psychoactive substances then expressly permitting use of government-approved drugs

A new blanket ban on legal highs is to be so widely drawn that its provisions could be used to outlaw alcohol, tobacco, coffee and many other widely-used items, ministers have acknowledged.

The Home Office said that one of the main elements of the psychoactive substances bill would be a ban on the trade in “any substance intended for human consumption that is capable of producing a psychoactive effect”, with a maximum seven-year prison sentence to back up the ban.

But it quickly added that “substances such as alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, food and medicinal products would be excluded from the scope of the offence”.

Britain is now home to its first-ever cannabis pharmacy.

Called Carun, the pharmacy was set up by Czech entrepreneur Michal Takac, who told the Daily Mail that he started using hemp-based products after an industrial accident seven years ago in which he lost three fingers, underwent several surgeries and was eventually fitted with custom-made prosthetic fingers that function with electromagnetic electrodes.

When synthetic prescription creams did him no good for scarring and pain, he discovered Carun ointment—made from hemp oil in the Czech Republic where the hemp is grown.

Magic mushrooms and LSD should be legally reclassified so they can be used to treat common mental health problems, a leading psychiatrist has said.

James Rucker, honorary lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry, said legal restrictions should be lifted on psychedelic drugs, which could provide an effective treatment for anxiety and addictions.

Writing in the BMJ, he said legal restrictions imposed on the medical use of psychedelic drugs, such as LSD and psilocybin, the compound found in “magic” mushrooms, make medical research into their benefits almost impossible.

A recent study that was published in the Psychiatric Research Journal is shaking up claims made by drug prohibitionists’ that cannabis usage is responsible for psychotic episodes in teenagers. As it turns out, that simply isn’t the case. Sorry, anti-cannabis crowd, science wins again.

The Home Office is set to publish plans to ban the dangerous synthetic drugs, according to government insiders.

It would spell the end for so-called 'head shops', which sell legal highs including nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas.

The news will be welcomed by the Local Government Association (LGA), who last week called for a ban on the sale of every psychoactive drug except tobacco and alcohol.

It came after a group of students were rushed to hospital after taking a legal high – initially thought to be the outlawed cannabis substitute Spice.

Cllr Ann Lucas of the LGA said: "We need an outright ban on legal highs that will enable the closure of head shops and protect the public from devastating consequences.

University students from Lancaster University were rushed to the hospital in critical condition after smoking artificial marijuana.

Five first-year students from Lancaster University were rushed to the hospital after taking Spice, a drug considered to be a 'legal high' before it was outlawed in 2009.

While three of the students are now safe and have been discharged, two remain in the hospital though they are already in stable condition, according to BBC News.

The authorities and ambulances arrived at the Grizedale College after students were reported to be "suffering adverse effects after taking the substance, which appears to have been a synthetic cannabis substitute".

Officers in South Yorkshire Police have recorded 56 per cent of suspected drug drivers as testing positive, while Scotland Yard has a hit rate of 45 per cent.

By comparison, just 5 per cent of those stopped for suspected drink-driving last year failed the breathalyser test. 

 

 

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