cannabis user jailed.

Terry

Cannabis user jailed over attack


A schizophrenic and regular cannabis user who attacked his girlfriend's mother so viciously that she had to have her face rebuilt has been jailed. Peter Thomas, 21, was given three years for grievous bodily harm with intent at Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court but he must be deemed safe before release.
The judge said if he had not been ill he would not have attacked Lisa Voice, 52, at her north London home last June.
He said the illness was exacerbated by the defendant's prolonged cannabis use.
Thomas had smoked the drug from the age of 15 and had recently moved on to smoking skunk - a stronger strain of cannabis.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif

Voice's 15-year-old daughter Kimberly had noticed his behaviour had become erratic in the days prior to the attack.
During the attack on Ms Voice, in St John's Wood, Thomas punched her and put her in a headlock making it difficult for her to breathe.
He finally ran towards her and jumped on her upper body and head.
She was left with severe injuries including a broken jaw and nose, a collapsed lung and damage to her eyes.
Grounds of insanity
Speaking outside the court Ms Voice said: "We are absolutely shocked and I am very disappointed. I am thinking about leaving the country.
"You can do anything and get away with it, if you use cannabis as an excuse."
Thomas had initially denied the grievous bodily harm charge, plus another two of assault and actual bodily harm, on the grounds of insanity.
He changed his plea to guilty to grievous bodily harm with intent and the other two charges will lie on file.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/4687328.stm

Agent Smith

and rightly so

Blisterman

I hate the way they put the blame on the cannabis. Whatever happened to someone just being a psycho?

DEmeant0r

If I read that right, what's a 15 y.o doing dating a 21 y.o? :eek:

ApeXaviour

So the lesson is... Schizophrenia and longterm cannabis use don't mix.

Wow.. kind of a nobrainer. Not really a lesson for the majority of us. Kinda like don't drink and drive really.

Demeant0r wrote:

If I read that right, what's a 15 y.o doing dating a 21 y.o? :eek:

Not all that uncommon tbh... When I was 15-16 I knew plenty of girls going out with lads in their 20s.

Now that I'm in my 20's, if I knew any of these lads I'd hold them in contempt

WexCan

Demeant0r wrote:

If I read that right, what's a 15 y.o doing dating a 21 y.o? :eek:

It was her mother wasn't it?

Agent Smith

I doubt if i had a 15 year old daughter i'd be happy for them to be dating a 21 year old...

WexCan

WexCan wrote:

It was her mother wasn't it?

Oops just read it properly, my bad.

JuliusFranco

typical

cannabis gets the blame becuse "my little angel jonny is a good boy and this devil drug has turned my boy away from the lord and has led him down the path of satan...he never took to masturbation with himself i tells ya"

really....

Esel

OP, do you have an opinion on this, or do you just think we should all be in awe at your cut-and-paste skills?

MorningStar

When mental illnesses happen to manifest themselves the people tend to be at around the same age as people whom use cannabis first use. THere are of course a few exceptions. Either way the link between cannabis and schizophrenia is not a straight forward one. Cannabis is believed by some to help certain mental illnesses like bi-polar helping level out people in a mainc episode.

CiaranC

"You can do anything and get away with it, if you use cannabis as an excuse."

The guy got 3 years in prison for an assault, what are they whining about? And what is it, 1950 again with all this "Reefer Madness" style crap goin around?

cournioni

Yeah, this never happens when people have too much to drink either. :rolleyes:

rubadub

Cannabis user fined for not paying TV licence

I know a guy who was beaten up by this crazy bloke, rumour was he started drinking coffee 5 years back but had recently moved onto the hard stuff, espresso...

cakehole

He was a nutjob plain and simple....majority of people smoke pot, play play station and eat some wagon wheels...thats about the extent of the madness.

Terry

esel wrote:

OP, do you have an opinion on this, or do you just think we should all be in awe at your cut-and-paste skills?

yes to both, although it was more copy and paste.

the point of thins was to try to point out to a number of posters here that cannabis can be harmful. certain people seem to be under the illusion that it is completely harmless. the above story is proof that it is not.

i'm not trolling here or trying to start a war of words. i'm just pointing out that cannabis can be harmful. that is all.

ApeXaviour

julep wrote:

the point of thins was to try to point out to a number of posters here that cannabis can be harmful.

You didn't really succeed. If anything this thread is showcases the kind of propaganda we're continually subjected to. Your copy and paste is pretty much a parody of itself.

julep wrote:

i'm not trolling here or trying to start a war of words. i'm just pointing out that cannabis can be harmful. that is all.

I love the way you're leaving out the conditional point. Cannabis can be harmful IF you are a schizophrenic, which most of us are not...

Alcohol can be harmful if you're an alcoholic and god knows there's a lot more of them around.

toString

I have to agree with julep. Anyone who thinks there are no long term effects from taking cannabis needs to grow up and look at the research. I'm not saying that all long term users turn psychotic, but the drug is not harmless.

Terry

ApeXaviour wrote:

I love the way you're leaving out the conditional point. Cannabis can be harmful IF you are a schizophrenic, which most of us are not...

Alcohol can be harmful if you're an alcoholic and god knows there's a lot more of them around.

not everyone is born with schizophrenia. this guy started smoking weed when he was 15. who's to know if he had been diagnosed at that age. a healthy person can develop schizophrenia in their 20's or later.

that story is not proaganda. it's fact.

Ruaidhri

julep wrote:

i'm not trolling here or trying to start a war of words.

Yes,you are.

i'm just pointing out that cannabis can be harmful. that is all.

Umm what a no brainer. EVERYTHING can be harmful. Why did you single out cannabis?
Why not something like Crack Cocaine? Which is FAR more dangerous?
Or food?
How about Religion?

I found your post offensive. Why cant you see THROUGH the drug to the asshole behind it? Drugs dont change people,they just strengthen facets of the (already there) personality.

cournioni

Too much water can be harmful to you. You know that?

Terry

Ruaidhri wrote:

Umm what a no brainer. EVERYTHING can be harmful. Why did you single out cannabis?
Why not something like Crack Cocaine? Which is FAR more dangerous?
Or food?
How about Religion?

i explained my reasons behind the thread in my second post.

just to reiterate, certain people here are under the impression that cannabis is harmless. i just wanted to show them that it is not.

also, schizophrenia does not neccessarily mean a person is an asshole. the guy was mentally ill and this illness was worsened by his use of cannabis.
whether or not this would have happened if he had not smoked weed is debatable, but the facts are there that he did smoke weed and it did add to this attack.
i'm not condoning the attack, just pointing out the factors that lead to it.

for the record, i'm not an anti drug campaigner. i just think people need to be informed of the facts before embarking on drug use.

crack, religion and food are not the subject here. cannabis is. i'll voice my opinion on these matters when i feel like doing so.

EDIT: granted, the title of the thread could have been clearer, but i was in a hurry at the time.

toString

Ruaidhri wrote:

Drugs dont change people,they just strengthen facets of the (already there) personality.

And this statement is from your own experience I guess? which would make it your opinion and not based on fact.

cournioni

julep wrote:

crack, religion and food are not the subject here. cannabis is. i'll voice my opinion on these matters when i feel like doing so.

Do you drink alcohol? Do you eat food? Do you drink water?

pwd

If you try to hang yourself in a cell you'll be able to plead insanity too.

Terry

ok. not going to get any serious replies here. i'll just back out of this now.
just remember this thread the next time you want to say that cannabis users are never violent.
yes, he was schizophrenic, but that was made worse by his usage.
done.

Ruaidhri

I gave you cause and effect.
You gave me maybe's

Look,all cannabis themed threads spiral into the same old argument.

Once again I'll ask for a Cannabis forum to move all this crap to.

The hard facts are that cannabis has been about for thousands of years. It's here to stay, either illegally or legally.

slipss

julep wrote:

yes to both, although it was more copy and paste.

the point of thins was to try to point out to a number of posters here that cannabis can be harmful. certain people seem to be under the illusion that it is completely harmless. the above story is proof that it is not.

i'm not trolling here or trying to start a war of words. i'm just pointing out that cannabis can be harmful. that is all.

I've never heard anyone claim cannibas is completely harmless, and I really doubt you could find anyone in this day and age that would. Everybody knows it is bad for your lungs and throat (as is inhaling any smoke regularly) and that it is probably carcinogenic (as is smoking many types of plant matter). Research also tends to show that cannibas use can precipitate neuroses or psychoses in those that are already at risk i.e people with a family history of mental illness (again this is not particular to cannibas as many other strong psychoactives have this effect). The same studies have also shown that cannabis use does not appear to increase the risk of psychosis in otherwise healthy individuals. .

Cannibas is viewed by many people as a relatively safe drug however when compared to most other illegal drugs and this is also my view as well as the view of the Irish (and many other nations) gouvernments, therefore its lower classification in most states.

cournioni

Ok... It seems that I have to spell this out to you julep... When you abuse anything. It becomes harmful to you and your body.

If you drink too much water it is bad for you.

If you eat too much, it is bad for you.

If you smoke cannabis when you shouldn't be smoking it or you smoke too much of it it is bad for you.

Stop trying to make cannabis sound like if you took one toke that it automatically turns you into a schizo.

SpAcEd OuT

julep i like how you leave out this part in the article

''You can do anything and get away with it, if you use cannabis as an excuse."

she is basically saying what has been echoed here that he was a physco to begin with

Wertz

julep wrote:

yes to both, although it was more copy and paste.

the point of thins was to try to point out to a number of posters here that cannabis can be harmful. certain people seem to be under the illusion that it is completely harmless. the above story is proof that it is not.

i'm not trolling here or trying to start a war of words. i'm just pointing out that cannabis can be harmful. that is all.

I'm sorry, but I'll take 15 yrs of personal experience and first hand accounts from many friends and acquaintances, over a freak case that occured in another country, thanks very much.

I don't think cannabis is harmless, but I don't think it turns you into a raving lunatic either in the vast, vast majority of cases.
Sorry to flog a dead horse but drink fueled violent assaults happen on the streets of every town in this country and the UK every weekend...where's your links to news items about that?

AngryBadger

Demeant0r wrote:

If I read that right, what's a 15 y.o doing dating a 21 y.o? :eek:

yeah exactly what I thought.

Lump

Demeant0r wrote:

If I read that right, what's a 15 y.o doing dating a 21 y.o? :eek:

Never mind that....

John

steveland?

julep wrote:

i'm just pointing out that cannabis can be harmful. that is all.

I watched a show on TG4 a few months ago about an Australian guy who used to get up in the morning, smoke a few spliffs, go to college where he didn't go to any classes, just stood around smoking joints, went to his mates apartment, smoked a few spliffs, popped home for dinner, back to his mates for a spliff desert...

He developed schizophrenia...

What they neglected to point out until about half an hour through the documentary was that there was a history of schizophrenia in his family...

The program was the most one-sided, biased "documentary" I'd seen in a long time...

The guy abused cannibas basically... anything in that quantity is going to be bad for you...

There was very, very little actual medical evidence on the show. The most they had was a psychiatrist talking about his condition... No evidence of chemical imbalences or anything else that can contribute to mental unbalance...

They finished up the show by saying something along the lines of "1 in 3 young people in the UK use cannibas... a per centage of these will develop schizophrenia"...

0 is a per cent... 1 is a per cent... the couple of people that already suffer from schizophrenia and just happen to smoke constitutes a per cent...

I'd like to have seen a follow up show of a guy who drank in half the quantities that guy smoked... Let's see how his body reacts...

Also I'd like to echo those statements that others have made

rubadub wrote:

Cannabis user fined for not paying TV licence

It's just ridiculous when people use cannabis as an excuse for being psychos/morons...

toString

Wertz wrote:

I'm sorry, but I'll take 15 yrs of personal experience

With your 15 years of experience with the mushrooms how would you rate your short term memory?

pisslips

Well said
I think the issue here is the biased media.
Few things anger me more. I mean I'm an extremely laid back person because I genarlly find it pointless to worry about things I don't have control over.
But an impartial media must be the most important facet of a healthy society.
I mean it's my belief that a person should be allowed to kill a burgalar in his home, one man is meaningless. But this type of opinionated bull threatens to degrade civillisation.

What a load of horse-manure;
"Most priests can't be trusted", "Communism (as a derogratory term)", "People who use drugs clearly need help", "We all have the right to feel sorry for ourselves", "Political corectness means I must patronise people who are more disadvantaged than I, Also I cannot call someone of a different race, White, Black, Asian."
What a load of manipulative messages that we are being conditioned with.

"EVIL arises when good men fail to act".

greglo23

toString wrote:

With your 15 years of experience with the mushrooms how would you rate your short term memory?[/QUOTE

pay a scientist enough and he will prove whatever you want. you must look at who is paying for this research.
do some research yourself and you will discover the real reason why cannabis is banned. maybe Bill Hicks is not too far off the mark when he says that because you can grow it yourself there is no revenue stream for government.

toString

greglo23 wrote:

pay a scientist enough and he will prove whatever you want.

Classic! (he says sarcastically)

rubadub

julep wrote:

the point of thins was to try to point out to a number of posters here that cannabis can be harmful. certain people seem to be under the illusion that it is completely harmless. the above story is proof that it is not.

I honestly thought you posted it as a joke, to point out the bizarre logic people arrive at. If I was anti-drugs I would be trying to brush propaganda illogical crap like this under the carpet. Check out the thread I started about a particular woman who has made a mockery of serious debate against cannabis use. The link further down in this linked thread is hilarious.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054886349

Of course cannabis is harmful, I cannot think of a single ingestable/consumable substance on the planet that is not harmful in some way! can you list a few?
Simple common sense will tell you smoking any substance is going to be more harmful than fresh air.
This is similar to the whole addiciton thing, no substance on the planet can be regarded as "not addictive", you can only prove substances are addictive, not the negative.

rubadub

toString wrote:

With your 15 years of experience with the mushrooms how would you rate your short term memory?

How is his short term memory!, you can't even remember we are talking about cannabis, not mushrooms :v:

December Son

JuliusFranco wrote:

typical

cannabis gets the blame becuse "my little angel jonny is a good boy and this devil drug has turned my boy away from the lord and has led him down the path of satan...he never took to masturbation with himself i tells ya"

really....

Well im sure there are other reasons behind this, ie the guy is a nutjob, but having seen first hand how cannabis smoking turned a good friend of mine from a good, likeable, funny guy into a paranoid loner, id say that some of the blame could be laid at the door of cannabis smoking. Its really not as harmless as alot of people make it out to be, IMO

toString

rubadub wrote:

How is his short term memory!, you can't even remember we are talking about cannabis, not mushrooms :v:

Look at his signature!

rubadub

toString wrote:

Look at his signature!

Yep his sig is brilliant but he never mentioned shrooms in the post, he was talking about 15 years experience, which inferred cannabis which was being discussed. I'm only takin de piss
The good shrooms have probably offset any negative memory effects the cannabis have

meditraitor

Just a quick note for all you pro-dope's....

Everybody has a history of mental illness in their family, any one here who says they hav'nt is either an orphan or adopted and doesnt know.
So saying that the chances of cannabis causing phycotic episodes,shizo...etc is only increased if there is mental illness in your family history is a no brainer as far as "no it wont harm me" argument..... you are all
susceptible, get a new argument

rubadub wrote:

Of course cannabis is harmful, I cannot think of a single ingestable/consumable substance on the planet that is not harmful in some way! can you list a few?

Water,

Next

pisslips wrote:

Well said
I think the issue here is the biased media.

Are you really that stupid, do you think a proportion of the media dont smoke? were do you think you got your pro-smoking opinion from? the media.(the side you prefer to listen to!)

wertz wrote:

Sorry to flog a dead horse but drink fueled violent assaults happen on the streets of every town in this country and the UK every weekend...where's your links to news items about that?

Apology not accepted, silly analogy, go after the drinking laws then! drink is not even related to cannabis, neither are nuclear bombs, cans or diet coke, prostitutes, all will have effects on you! blah stupidy blah.

Im not saying marajuana is the devils brew but stop all this lobbying for it to be legalised, if you had a decent argument for it to be legal, it would be so! do you really think that none of the people in power smoke, you would be wrong! and the reason they dont push for the legalising of cannabis is that even though they smoke they know that it can be detrimental to your health both Physically and Phycologicaly,

Mark

Chris P Duck

I dunno, I'm kinda on the fence on this one.

I think that cannabis smokers are putting money into the pockets of drug dealers. I have seen from my friends that it can lead to harder drugs, thats not to say they all became regular users of harder drugs but alot of them have tried harder stuff.

I think also that smoking cannabis is no more harmful than drinking alcohol, and smoking cigarettes, therefore maybe if it was legalised, the drug dealers will be taken out of the equation, and the quality of the stuff that is smoked in this country would be greatly improved. Hash is one of the worst forms of cannabis.

rubadub

meditraitor wrote:

So saying that the chances of cannabis causing phycotic episodes,shizo...etc is only increased if there is mental illness in your family history is a no brainer as far as "no it wont harm me" argument..... you are all
susceptible, get a new argument

like this argument? http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/eletters/327/7423/1070-c#40423

meditraitor wrote:

Water,

Next

I think you will find that a fair amount of people have died of water overdoses

Next,

meditraitor

rubadub wrote:

like this argument? http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/eletters/327/7423/1070-c#40423


I think you will find that a fair amount of people have died of water overdoses

Next,

thats the funniest thing I have heard all morning brother, livened me up no end.

rubadub

meditraitor wrote:

thats the funniest thing I have heard all morning brother, livened me up no end.

the link, or Leah Bett's death?

Hyponatremia ignorance is bliss I guess

cournioni

meditraitor wrote:

Water,

Next

Too much water is bad for you.

meditraitor

rubadub wrote:

the link, or Leah Bett's death?

Dont really think the overriding factor in Leah Betts death(sad all the same:( ) was water consumption, the water consumption was a directly related to the drugs (e as far as I can recall) she had taken.
If she hadnt have been taking drugs she would not have drank so much!

rubadub

meditraitor wrote:

If she hadnt have been taking drugs she would not have drank so much!

If it hadnt been for propaganda telling people they will suffer heat stroke from dancing she would not have drank so much.

So do you still think water is "harmless" if people can suffer hyponatremia without allegedly taking e