Hold on to your hats:
 
No longer is it possible to claim cannabis has never killed anyone.
Norwegian researchers have proved cannabis smoking has directly killed six people and their results are soon to be published in an as yet un-named international journal.
The prohibitionists are likely to have a field day with this one.
 
Here is how the news broke in Norway,
from the newspaper Bergensavisen:
 
Bergensavisen 02.10.2001

Six killed by hash

Oslo: The myth that cannabis is harmless has been destroyed. The Forensic Toxicology Institute reports that six Norwegians have died as a direct result of smoking hash in a period of six years.
 
- We have made a remarkable discovery says the chief of the Forensic Toxicology Institute, Jorg Morland. The findings were published in the latest issue of the journal Mot Stoff (Against Drugs), published by the National Organisation Against Drug Abuse, and they shall shortly be published in an international journal.
 
- It is widely known that hash smoking puts a strain on the heart and that blood pressure rises. But that someone should die as a direct result of smoking hash  is new to us, and these findings will arouse international attention, says Morland.
 
- What can you say about the deaths?
-  That they occoured over a six year period, that is, one death per year.
The average age of the persons who underwent autopsies was a little over 30 years. They were all hash smokers, but there is no reason to believe they were big consumers, adds Morland.
 
The autopsies showed the six persons did not have substances other than THC, the active component of hash, in their bodies.
- They did not have specially high concentrations of THC in their bodies when they died. There was also nothing to indicate the persons had a greater susceptibility for heart and circulation diseases than normal. These discoveries are sensational, says Moreland.
 
Translated by John Yates
 

Jorg Morland is a professor of toxicology and chief of the Forensic Toxicology Institute in Norway. His observations about cannabis deaths were widely and prominently reported in the Norwegian press, after first being published in Mot Stoff (Against Drugs), the magazine of the National Organisation Against Drug Abuse, a militant Norwegian prohibitionist organisation.

As it was reported it does sound fishy, six dead people had THC in their bodies, but the press, in Norway and elsewhere, is very uncritical about anti-cannabis propaganda and happily jump to the wildest conclusions.

The wildest conclusions then become facts.

I suppose we will have to wait until Morlands research is published internationally before we get any background, but be prepared, there is every reason to expect blaring scare headlies trumpeting "Cannabis - The Killer Drug" and "Smoke a Joint and Die" however tenuous the evidence is.

On the other hand, Morland has gone on record in another context as saying alcohol is a more dangerous drug than cannabis. I don't expect that to be reported, but it could be included in the counter arguments when the shit hits the fan.


John Yates