Cannabis - The Case for Legalisation Are we adults or not? Haven't we got the judgement and intelligence to be able to make decisions for ourselves? Indeed, isn't it our right as ordinary citizens of this country to be able to do so? The trouble is that when it comes to drug use in general, and cannabis use in particular we live in a climate of fear. Disinformation and outright lies regarding the effect of cannabis are the consequence because people are afraid to speak out. To admit to taking cannabis is to risk losing your job, being ostracized within the community generally and on occasions even within the users own family, being denied entry to some countries, and to risk acquiring a criminal record, perhaps even jail. So, hypocritical politicians and their allies in the media and elsewhere have a free reign to say what they please, right or wrong, without fear of contradiction. The time has come to speak out and to present the facts as clearly as possible. Fact. In the overall scale of things, cannabis is a pretty benign substance. Smoking related illnesses kill over 120,000 people a year - alcohol over 20,000 people. Fact. Cannabis is only carcinogenic when smoked. It is not when ingested. One of the reasons why people smoke it is because it is a prohibited substance, and doing so is convenient. After all, it's not possible to walk to your corner shop to buy some hash cake. It can be argued that government policies have been responsible for deaths as a consequence. Ann Widdecombe and others like her, hysterically rant that it wrecks families. Surely this shows her complete lack of knowledge. Try telling that to the thousands of women beaten and raped by their drunken husbands, or to the hundreds of thousands of children battered in similar circumstances. Try telling it to those who have lost patents to lung cancer, or to people who have been crippled by illnesses such as emphysema. Fact. Cannabis is a relaxant. The chances of anyone being violent whilst under its influence are remote in the extreme. Ask any Police officer whether he'd prefer to face an alcohol fueled crowd or one under the influence of cannabis, and I know, if he's being truthful, what his answer will be. The medicinal and industrial benefits of cannabis have been well documented, and I don't propose to go into them in this article. My argument is that it should be legalised for recreational use, and to that end there are three specific issues I want to address. Prohibition. Fact. It doesn't work. Look at prostitution. People have been trying to prohibit that for thousands of years, but it's still very much with us. Look at drink prohibition in the U.S.A., which created many more problems than it solved, and finally, just look at the figures. Fact. From the Home Offices own Statistical Bulletins, the number of persons found guilty, cautioned or dealt with by compounding for all drug offences. 1986 - 23,627 people. 1995 - 93,631. The most recent figures suggest that, even taking into consideration the more relaxed policing of the laws relating to cannabis about 100,000 people fall into the categories mentioned above for cannabis alone! Some may say, "good, the rate is slowing down". Well, it's hardly surprising when - Fact - around 30% of all adults, and 50% of younger people up to the age of 30 have used or are using illegal drugs. Fact. We are criminalising a huge proportion of the population. Fact. In countries such as Holland, where there is no prohibition, drug usage has actually fallen. Which brings me conveniently to my next point - organised crime. Prohibitionists say their policies deter crime. What rubbish - it creates it! Because cannabis is illegal "gangsters" are able to sell it at high cost, creating super profits for themselves. They wouldn't take the risk of being apprehended if that wasn't the case. Cannabis should be regulated and taxed, much as alcohol or tobacco is today. Not only would this have the effect of bringing in extra revenue to the exchequer, but it would also mean that millions of people wouldn't have to buy from dealers. Organised crime would be reduced at a stroke. Police resources would be freed and put to better use, and last, but not least, standards could be applied. We would see a vast reduction in the amount of cannabis resin sold, cut with such things as plastic. In my opinion, successive government's have been negligent in the extreme in not tackling this. They have been responsible for the harm done to so many with regard to illegal drugs generally, because of their head in the sand attitude. They even refuse to sanction a Royal Commission to look into the facts behind drug usage, meaning they talk from a position of ignorance. They expect us to listen to them, and to respect them - I don't think so.... It makes me extremely angry when politicians such as Ann Widdecombe suggest that users steal in order to buy cannabis. Over many years of direct observation, I have *never* known this to be the case, and I would challenge her to produce any evidence to support her assertion. On the contrary, the comment merely indicates, yet again, her abject lack of knowledge on the subject. Another argument used by prohibitionists is that cannabis use leads to the use of harder drugs. On that basis I should be drinking methylated spirits, or pure alcohol, and smoking high tar, non filter tip cigarettes, and we should all be sex crazed chocoholics. I have yet to see any evidence to support their argument. On the contrary, even if taken in extremely high doses, cannabis is non addictive. As users have to buy their supplies from dealers, who sometimes sell other drugs, it is often the prohibitionists own policies that result in people being exposed to the harder drugs they are so keen to deter. So there we have it. Those who use know what nonsense our leaders are spouting. The rhetoric and allied prohibitionist policy only serves to diminish respect for the political process, the rule of law, and the police. What could and should be a totally pleasant and comfortable pastime has been made a crime. Whilst the two major political parties continue to willfully ignore all reason, those in the future, looking back, will hold their heads in their hands, wondering in the repression and stupidity of it all. It's time for a change. Dark Angel -- http://www.poleshift.net/dark_angel/index.html Trying to make a Difference Back to the main Info page | Email  | Updates  | Vegan  | Photos |