Dr. Alex Wodak, a rare man in Australia these days. For those of you who haven't heard of him listen closely, and for those who have he probably needs no introduction. According to the St. Vincent's Hospital website Dr. Wodak is a physician and has been Director of the Alcohol and Drug Service, St Vincent’s Hospital since 1982. Major interests include:prevention of HIV among injecting drug users, brief interventions for problem drinkers, prevention of alcohol problems, … [Read more...] about May I introduce…
Flights of fancy – pt. 2
In a world where cannabis was legal, how would things be different? Let’s indulge our imaginations further. It's Thursday night. You've been at high school all day and are spending the remaining part of the evening listening to the nationwide top 40 program."Yes, I love this song!" you say as you move away from your homework and turn the radio up."Coming in again in the top 10 this week is Kerry Patty with her latest hit 'This Friday Night'" drones the host, … [Read more...] about Flights of fancy – pt. 2
Flights of fancy – pt. 1
In a world where alcohol is illegal, but cannabis was legal, how would things be different? Let’s indulge our imaginations for a moment. It’s Friday afternoon. You’ve just begun to think about what the weekend has in store for you. The week has been a busy one, and you’re looking forward to relaxing with a couple of hits from your favourite drug, alcohol. Unfortunately it isn’t legal, but fortunately your dealer always has the best gear for you when you want it. So after a quick … [Read more...] about Flights of fancy – pt. 1
Back to the Future please!
If you are living in Western Australia you could be easily forgiven for making this statement. Unfortunately the situation does not involve Michael J. Fox, a cool car, lightning, nor some old genius crackpot scientist, but it may involve some crackpot ideas on drug policy.In case you haven’t heard WA has just had a CANNABIS specific change in their drug policy. A previous post I made on the topic of the illicit status of cannabis in Australia and each state’s respective laws included the … [Read more...] about Back to the Future please!
What’s the opposite of morbid? Outrageous?
It may not be the opposite of morbid but the comparison I have here of cannabis vs. alcohol in the media could be described as outrageous.By outrageous I am referring to the absolute absence of any serious consequences for users or those around them in the media.This post was my attempt to provide a balance to the previous one which was essentially a survey of the last 3 months in the media as far as articles related to the negative effects of alcohol go. And what a tale of woe it … [Read more...] about What’s the opposite of morbid? Outrageous?
Is it too morbid?
That’s the question, but you’ll need to read the post first I think before you answer. In an attempt to provide some sort of perspective on the alcohol vs. cannabis debate here I decided to give myself a challenge. It went as follows:If alcohol is really that dangerous surely there is some sort of paper trail, as in surely the media would be all over it right? Therefore, if I assume that is true, a bit of a media investigation will give me my answer.Thus, I challenged myself to find … [Read more...] about Is it too morbid?
A summer insect has no word for ice
The above saying is attributed to Daoist author Zhuang Zi (368 - 286BC) But what does it mean? Well bear with me.疑冰 - yi bing. This is a way you might express the title of this post in the author's native Chinese language. If we break it down we can get a better idea what is being expressed here.In particular if we look at yi (疑) things begin to open up. yi can be used to denote describe or designate the following:- to doubt- to misbelieve- to suspectbing (冰) denotes … [Read more...] about A summer insect has no word for ice
Cannabis vs The Big C?
Alcohol causes cancer, but does cannabis? In my last post I pointed out the fact that alcohol has been known to be a carcinogen for many years now by the scientific community, but not so much by the broader Australian public. It begs the question then: Is cannabis a carcinogen?Well, ask most people and you will get a response along these lines;"Mate, if ya smoke it, it gives ya cancer. Just look at cigarettes, they don't call 'em 'cancer sticks' for nuthin!"I have found that the … [Read more...] about Cannabis vs The Big C?
The Big C
Alcohol and cancer. What have the two got to do with each other? Way too much, which begs the question why do we have so many 'Cancer' related charities, searching for the cause of cancer. Let's start with grog.Now I've mentioned the word 'causative' before in these posts. The word means basically 'the cause of' or 'the reason for a particular phenomena'. The context for its use previously had to do with the fact that cannabis has not been shown to have a causative effect upon the occurence … [Read more...] about The Big C