UK Drug Adviser Fired After Marijuana Comments
Professor David Nutt, chairman of Great Britain’s advisory council on the misuse of drugs, was forced to resign today after he criticized the British government’s decision to toughen penalties for marijuana possession.
Just a few hours prior to his sacking, Nutt had publicly condemned British politicians for “distorting” and “devaluing” scientific research used in the debate over illegal drugs. In an article published Thursday by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, Nutt said that illegal drugs such as cannabis, LSD and ecstasy were less harmful than legal drugs such as alcohol and tobacco, and he called for changes in the way such substances are classified in order to better inform the public about their relative harms.
Specifically, Nutt criticized a January decision by British ministers to upgrade marijuana from a class C drug to the higher class B, a change that increased the maximum penalty for possession to five years in prison, and the penalty for dealing to 14 years.
Nutt still maintained that cannabis was “harmful,” but he made an appeal—based on reason and science—for the government to be honest with the public about marijuana and the fact that it causes no major health or social problems:
“I think we have to accept young people like to experiment, and what we should be doing is to protect them from harm at this stage of their lives,” Nutt wrote. “We therefore have to provide more accurate and credible information. We have to tell them the truth, so that they use us as their preferred source of information. If you think that scaring kids will stop them using, you’re probably wrong.”
To recap: The British Home Office asked Prof. Nutt to reexamine that nation’s drug laws and offer some suggestions based on sound scientific evidence. As requested, Nutt presented his findings and concluded—rightfully—that Britain’s 2004 decision to soften its marijuana laws was correct and should have been maintained. But because those findings contradicted government policy, he was fired. So much for free and open debate in a democratic society.
If you’re wondering if the same thing could happen here in the United States, it already has: Nutt’s predicament is eerily similar to the 1994 firing of then Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders (now a member of MPP’s VIP advisory board).
Tagged with: Great Britain and marijuana and Research by the author
24 comments
Well it looks like the poeple in power dont want to hear they are wrong. Sad thing is this is just bussiness as usual. IK hope this causes a ruckus in the UK maybe changing their laws.
I hope this opens up some eyes here cause its exactly the same. Our drug czar is forced to go along with whatever the government says or he would be fired. Does that mean it is right or that he even agrees with it, no it doesn’t. It just means that he is a pawn to take the fall for them if and when something goes wrong.
Political cleansing may be next. Just like the good ol’ U.S.A.
Start building prisons again.
i would expect this from the US government but UK? maybe this will make people interested and research if he was right, which he was!
It is a very sad world we live in where people are fired for telling the truth and rewarded for lieing.
This is an outrage. The UK is standing right alongside the US in its decades-long modus operandi: order a study on pot, then ignore or discredit the findings that inevitably recommend a reconsideration of our marijuana prohibition policy. People of all political bents should be demanding truth and openness from the government, and cases like this are obvious evidence of lying propaganda.
That crap is always going to happen as long as polititions are in charge. Just as it is over here, big money and big pharma control the laws. Big brother cannot accept the loss of billions of dollers in revenue it would loose if marijuana was to become legal. We in america are a little better off because we have some states that do allow cannabis use for medical reasons. I am very sure that those states are being watched by other states and one day, I believe there will be a national medical marijuana program. The sooner, the better. Over grow big bro.
If ya all couldnt see it before, you should now. Governments are doing what is in their interest, not that of the people. Our own government needs a huge reform. The people of the UK no longer controol their government. Their governemt controlls them. Our governemt is trying to move the same way.
How many of you know that the brits are no longer allowed to own firearms? Yes they took everyones guns some time ago. Last I seen the crime rate increased there by 300% . Makes it easy to be a criminal when they know everyone has no guns.
The pharmaceutical industry runs our lives. Welcome to hell.
HaHa. His name is Professor Nutt.
GB should come around to their senses again. Seems like a global phenomenon, this struggle to set Cannabis free.
Hey #10
as long as Amerika controls world drug policy, this shit will never end………………time for a violent revolution?
its because they enjoy spending the billions of dollars on policing and jail. if it became legal or less of a crime and no longer worthy of putting someone in jail they wouldnt be able to wrongfully spend our taxes.
their heads should be the ones rolling.
The government is not our friend. They do not work for us, they only pay us lip service. They are the problem, which is why they won’t fix the problem. If anything, we are a source of annoyance to them. The government works for who is paying the piper, and that is lobbyists working for corporations. Corporations run the government.
One notion that I’ve entertained in my thoughts surrounding Prohibition is that governments have dug themselves such a deep hole that they don’t know how to get out of it.
Telling the truth surrounding Prohibition would embarrass them and create shame. They’d have a difficult time explaining why they ignored the facts for so long.
Until someone with power decides there’s a clever and power boosting way out of this mess we’ll hear this type of news.
Violence Mark #11 would only put good innocent people in prison, or in a morgue.
Professor David Nutt is now on our side, this is great.
How many of you clicked on the link “condemned”?
After reading the Professor Nutt story to the right is:
CANNABIS AND THE LAW
- Top ministers admit cannabis use
What amazes me too is these people are so close to Amsterdam. They have to know, without a shadow of a doubt, that cannabis laws are working there.
WHAT A LOAD!!!! the guy gets fired for doing his job???????!!!!!
WTF????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mark (#11): “…time for a violent revolution?”
ummm… NO!
Have you been living under a rock for the past year or two?
Reform is in the air and I smell real change (for the better).
There is absolutely no need for violence.
Hardly surprising. Now will anyone hold the government accountable for demanding that science buckle to politics, AGAIN?!
the truth shall not set you free,actually its unpopular with radical drug nazis!
why the fuck did he resign instead of saying….PROVE ME WRONG!
This is actually becoming an interesting development, as more and more people who worked in similar capacities to Nutt are resigning because of his “resignation”. The scientific community is facing down government impedance in the search for truth.
Can you imagine Gil Kerlikowskie — who is the most progressive drug czar we’ve had in decades — even come close to saying what Dvaid Nutt said publicly? And, even more incredibly, can you imagine the scientific community siding with their colleague, instead of caving to political pressure and allowing him to be ostracized and discredited? Fantastic stuff.
The best thing about democratic societies is that, given long enough, truth will reign supreme. We owe a thanks to the British scientific community for the fight they’ve bravely waged.
>why the fuck did he resign instead of saying….
>PROVE ME WRONG!
Professor Nutt didn’t resign, he was sacked. They fired him.
Another scientist has already quit in protest over the issue — Les King.
This situation is similar to how Nixon treated the Shafer Commission. When the scientists did their research and came back telling Nixon marijuana was safe and shouldn’t carry criminal penalties, Nixon got rid of them, threw their research in the trash can, and made further research illegal in the U.S.
[...] Misuse of Drugs have resigned in protest after the group’s chairman, Professor David Nutt, was fired last week for criticizing the UK government’s decision to strengthen penalties for marijuana offenses. [...]
Professor Nutt, and Genaral Elder’s thank you for simply speaking facts! Thank’s for your courage it makes perfect sense to inform the public “The Truth” about types of substances and their side effect’s.
Sadly the alcohol companies have MUCH POWER over the decision’s on our policy. Thank’s to researcher’s as yourselve’s “change is gonna come.” I will never understand why people are presented with “FACT’S” and still refuse to listen. It’s no different than a receipt, then the fact’s are that table you chose price tag and receipt read $300.00, that is the amount you will/did pay in order for you to take it home. “FACT’s”
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