"With skunk, it’s a completely different story. Just three drags on a skunk joint will induce paranoia on a massive scale. "

Yep, that's why many people around the world use marijuana time and time again...for the paranoia. If most marijuana were like this, the "problem" would solve itself. I think John P. Walters and other prohibitionists are missing out on a golden opportunity to flood our streets with skunk to reduce marijuana use (maybe sprinkle a little salvia in each baggie).

Progress appears to have been made in drug reform.

These drug menace fairy tales have been relegated to the supermarket tabloids, or their equivalent, where they belong.  Pieces about anal probes conducted by aliens from outer space now compete with actual anal (and vaginal) probes performed by drug warriors  (Tabloid pitch:  could there be a connection…?).

Not long ago, bogus stories about skunk might have appeared in the London Times or the New York Times.  Fortunately, there are now many more hip people at these newspaper desks than some might think.

Giordano

If the Brits were really concerned about violence their laws wouldn't push young people and everyone else into using alcohol as their recreational drug or be called a criminal. Think it thru: alcohol supremacism over cannabis promotes alcohol use which promotes violence. That's in addition to the prohibition caused black market related violence.
How do they know cannabis related paranoia isn't related to the (bogus) criminal status of cannabis users? If you never had to worry about being treated as a criminal for a bizarre reason (preferring weed to booze), how would you know how it feels?

...probably because the journalists have been thoroughly educated, some of them firsthand. Canadian law frowns on workplace drug testing outside obvious "safety" positions. I know the US has drug testing in their media - does the UK and Australia?

Just had to comment on the Mail article - I'm happy to see there were a number of anti-prohibitonist comments already there.

Regarding the psychosis effects, I believe certain people are naturally predisposed to mental illness (genetics - for example schizophrenia has a strong genetic element) - marijuana isn't right for some people, just as alcohol isn't right for others. A few puffs on a spliff isn't going to cause psychosis (and if it does, you're probably seriously in need of help before you even started to smoke it). However, alcohol isn't illegal despite the fact some people become aggressive, irrational and even violent after drinking.

Still, getting drunk out of your skull is OK, according to the government. At least, I think they're saying it's alright - by Gordon's logic, anything that's legal is 'sending out a message' that it's OK to do, right? ;)

and I agree with the first comment - if marijuana were such a horrible experience, I don't think the millions of people who currently smoke it would be doing so.

- 'Hey, fancy a joint? You'll be sobbing in the corner in your own personal paranoid hell after 3 tokes, it'll be wild! You might even STAB someone, dude!'

- 'AWESOME!'.

Surprisingly enough, it's NOT the fault of rags like the Mail!
The Mail has always been anti-cannabis, but even a few months ago it's attitude was that there's no such thing as a special "killer skunk", ALL weed is bad.

The real trouble started with "The Independent" (the Sunday edition), a supposedly liberal newspaper, which had campaigned for a long time for cannabis legalisation. Just over a year ago they ran a full front-page special, with a big cannabis leaf image and a title along the lines of "We're Sorry" or "An Apology" or something like that. In this special they "explained" how they had got it it so, so wrong, that the weed they campaigned for legalising was "their parent's", nice, cuddly 60s weed and nothing, absolutely NOTHING like today's killer skunks. After whipping themselves publically in a suitable show of penance, they stated that they are henceforth against legalisation. Go figure. And if you do, let me know.

I still do not have a clue why the "Independent" chose such a moronic, brain-dead approach. Some rumours say that a previous (female) editor, who'd been pro-pot had some middle-class friends whose kids were getting a bit out of hand, but your guess is as good as mine. The horror stories about the killer skunk that have since filled the press, however, abound with tales of good middle-class boys from good (read dysfunctional) families that went mad after a few tokes.

The really frightening thing, though, is not the laughable stories, but the willingness of the public to believe them. Suddenly we're in the Middle Ages again and anyone using a herb is clearly in cahoots with the Devil. The UK government has as good as admitted that there is no such thing as a "new killer skunk" strain, and that it started the rumour with its misguided "Talk to Frank" anti-cannabis campaign as a WHITE LIE to protect youngsters, because - presumably - they were too stupid to understand anything about strains; however that information was too little, too late, and now a significant part of the population is under the impression that there is some mythical (usually genetically modified) killer skunk out there, ready to pounce on your children and drive them mad!

Those wondering about the term "skunk", should realise that until recently there was not much herbal cannabis in sensimilla form in the UK. The main sources were either Moroccan hashish, almost always terribly adulterated, with minimal cannabis content, and maximal rubbish to bulk it up, and imported brickweed. Once indoor-grown weed started appearing it was almost universally called "skunk" by its consumers, who were not very knowledgeable. To this day, any indoor-grown in the UK is still referred to as "skunk", regardless of the variety. Even the govt. definition of skunk, as explained to the Parliament, is "any potent indoor grown sinsemilla" - absolutely nothing to do with genetic composition! Basically the government agencies, presumably in an attempt to look hip, used the street slang of the clueless average stoner as a technical term... and the Myth of the Killer Skunk was born.

weed is good it should be legil.