WHO suppressed report (from www.hempnation.com)

WHO on Marijuana

See also:

Cannabis in Japan (main index)

Hemp as a "drug", Alcohol, Nicotine (Tobacco)

Drug risks: How dangerous are the most common drugs?

In December 1997 a long-awaited report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) of the United Nations about marijuana came out, the first in 15 years. A scandal erupted when the British science magazine "New Scientist" in its February 1998 issue exposed the suppression of a chapter in the document.

In the censored chapter the authors, three leading addiction researchers, compare the dangers of marijuana, as documented by science, against those of the legal drugs alcohol and nicotine and illegal opiates. In dry, factual language they point out that where risks exist these are actually more serious for these two legal drugs. They exposed the double standards that are being applied in the drug debate, and according to an insider quoted by New Scientist some WHO officials "went nuts". Two WHO bureaucrats opposed to the report were WHO-head Nakajima (retired in June 1998) and narcotics division head Dr. Yoshida.

The conclusion of the New Scientist on the whole issue of marijuana is that legalisation is not a question of "if" but "when".

WHO Project on Health Implications of Cannabis Use:

A Comparative Appraisal of the Health and Psychological Consequences of Alcohol, Cannabis, Nicotine and Opiate Use
August 28, 1995

By Wayne Hall,
National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre,
University of New South Wales
and
Robin Room and Susan Bondy,
Addiction Research Foundation,
Toronto

Contents

I. OUR APPROACH

II. THE PROBABLE HEALTH EFFECTS OF CANNABIS USE

Acute Psychological and Health Consequences

The Health Effects of Chronic Cannabis Use

Psychological Effects of Chronic Cannabis Use

III. A QUALITATIVE COMPARISON OF THE HEALTH RISKS OF ALCOHOL, CANNABIS, NICOTINE AND OPIATE USE

Acute Effects

Chronic Effects

IV. COMPARING THE MAGNITUDE OF RISKS

Quantifying the Relative Risks of Adverse Health Effects of Cannabis Use

Public Health Significance

Some Direct Comparative Evidence on Consequences: What Users Report

V. CONCLUSIONS & REFERENCES

TABLE 1: SUMMARY OF RATINGS OF OVERALL EFFECT OF DRUG USE BY CURRENT USERS (PERCENT)

TABLE 2:TYPES OF PROBLEMS REPORTED IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS BY CURRENT USERS AGE 18 TO 34 (ONTARIO 1992)

First chapter

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