tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25200961.post7756924583988982986..comments2024-03-26T07:19:50.901+00:00Comments on Dr Grumble: Open letter to the Home SecretaryDr Grumblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417731064007601504noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25200961.post-13173317925238440092009-11-03T08:21:14.466+00:002009-11-03T08:21:14.466+00:00As you say this is a minor political spat which wi...As you say this is a minor political spat which will change nothing. The politicians are in charge and that is that. There was very little support for Professor Nutt when Alan Johnson was questioned in parliament. It's not surprising. No parliamentarian cares about what Nutt is saying. They care only about how they think their voters will votes. The idea of leading and educating the public is not on their agenda. That is what leadership should be about. It is not about focus groups or responding to baying mobs or tabloids, it is about finding the right way forward. And I am in no way referring just to the drugs issue.<br /><br />David Nutt has been misrepresented. He only really started shooting from the hip after he was 'sacked'. Before then he was just trying to educate. Perhaps some of his frustration came through in his lecture but I have heard many government advisers point out how the politicians do not necessarily do what they should. How can you be active in Nutt's field without pointing these things out?<br /><br />If you point out, say, that alcohol is the real problem people get outraged. Yet alcohol kills people on a grand scale. So do cigarettes. There seems to be a feeling that because something is legal is can't be that bad and because something is illegal it is.<br /><br />The issue is actually a very serious one. If you were a trainee lawyer and unfortunate enough to have people consuming cannabis at a party you threw it might just ruin your whole career. Yet the alcohol at the party is more likely to kill.<br /><br />The public are not on Nutt's side. I was reading a post somewhere where the writer said that he didn't want any easing up on the laws against cannabis because he had a daughter. In the next sentence he admitted that she had nearly died of a ruptured spleen after falling off a horse. People do not understand even if the truth stares them in the face.Dr Grumblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04417731064007601504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25200961.post-82754544321731102922009-11-03T01:06:00.843+00:002009-11-03T01:06:00.843+00:00I'm really glad people are standing up to the ...I'm really glad people are standing up to the government on this issue. New Labour has seemed to ignore advice from experts quite regularly for political reasons. MMC. EWTD for doctors in training. Allowing the encroachment of private companies in health care provision. Yada yada. <br /><br />There seems to be a mistrust of expert professionals at the core of New Labour's philosophy. Teachers, policemen and women, doctors... all ignored. Dr David Kelly and colleagues? They turned out to have a point actually, didn't they? <br /><br />I don't think this minor political spat will change very much, but I'm enjoying it nonetheless. Perhaps when the dust settles, those in power will be just that little bit more likely to listen to people who know what they're talking about, and a little less inclined to bully them into submission.A. Medstudentnoreply@blogger.com