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AIBU?

to wonder if this will have any effect on the legality of cannabis in the UK?

122 replies

ophelia275 · 26/12/2013 14:36

From 2014 in Washington and Colorado states in the USA, the recreational use of cannabis will be legal. It will also become legal in Uruguay, the first country to make recreational use legal. This has not been done lightly and legalisation will be tightly controlled and regulated after a lot of research was done on the impact in all 3 places.

It will be interesting to see if this has any effect on the future legality of cannabis in the UK. I think in the next few years more and more places will be making it legal to use recreationally, especially as there are potentially huge income streams associated with taxes/licensing of legal cannabis sellers.

Do people think it should be legalised in the UK if properly regulated/controlled in the same way as tobacco/alcohol is?

OP posts:

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scaevola · 26/12/2013 14:40

I doubt it'll make any difference at all, as the longstanding example - far closer to home and within EU - hasn't made any difference.

Gossipmonster · 26/12/2013 14:44

I think all drugs should be legalised, taxed and controlled.

RedLondonBus · 26/12/2013 15:04

No I don't. I've spent too much time trying to reason with/calm/talk down people high on the stuff.

Can't see the uk legalising it any time soon

RedLondonBus · 26/12/2013 15:05

Who will pay to regulate/control it? And who will pick up the pieces?

FanFuckingTastic · 26/12/2013 15:15

I wish they would consider it.

I'm not a recreational user, but the pain killing properties have helped in the past where all the legal drugs don't, I take morphine and tramadol and codeine and amitriptyline at varying times and they are far more addictive with worse side effects.

It would need to be regulated of course, I think it would be beneficial to many people living in chronic pain. I also hope they would make it in forms easier to take, rather than encouraging smoking alongside it.

My knowledge of the stuff is fairly naive mind you, I am sure there are people that could bring a better argument for the case for legalisation than me. I just know it's brought great relief to me in times when my pain becomes unbearable.

Lazysuzanne · 26/12/2013 15:24

I doubt it'll make any difference at all, as the longstanding example - far closer to home and within EU - hasn't made any difference

you may be right but then again as more and more countries legalize formerly illegal drugs we may reach a tipping point where it seems normal for recreational substances to be legal.

I am ambivalent on the matter, drugs (including alcohol) can cause harms but making them illegal doesnt stop people using them it just creates incentives for criminals to supply them.
Black markets are harmful to the wider economy.

The last thing that drug dealers want is for drugs to be legal, then again we have a whole new legal highs market which is impossible to control.

I think we should just accept that it is part of normal human behaviour to enjoy intoxication ( I speak as someone who doesnt use any legal or illegal intoxicant)

WorraLiberty · 26/12/2013 15:25

Who will pay to regulate/control it? And who will pick up the pieces?

I guess it'll work in the same way alcohol does in that respect.

I can quite legally go and buy a few litres of vodka right not, but if I was caught making it in my garden shed and selling it, I'd be arrested.

'Picking up' any pieces will probably be down to the NHS who will receive more funding due to the tax.

It wont' stop the street sellers but I guess they'll be dealt with more severely.

WorraLiberty · 26/12/2013 15:26

*now

ivykaty44 · 26/12/2013 15:28

No

I hope it is never made legal ever.

livinginawinterwonderland · 26/12/2013 15:28

I just wish they'd decriminalise it. People shouldn't be arrested for smoking a plant.

Wolfiefan · 26/12/2013 15:30

Isn't there research which shows a link between use of this drug and mental health issues?
And other health issues?

ivykaty44 · 26/12/2013 15:32

Massive links to mental health problems espically when drugs are used in teens before the brain has fully formed.

OwlinaTree · 26/12/2013 15:33

I think all street drugs should be legalised.

Think of the reduction in crime for a start.

Lazysuzanne · 26/12/2013 15:33

I can quite legally go and buy a few litres of vodka right not, but if I was caught making it in my garden shed and selling it, I'd be arrested

yes but you can make as much wine or beer as you like...I'm wondering what the legislation would be wrt growing cannabis.

It's very easy (and very cheap) to do, anyone with a cannabis habit can very easily grow enough to keep them happy, if most cannabis users grow their own there would be very little tax revenue from the sale of it.

Or am I being unrealistic in thinking that most people would grow rather than buy?

I used to use cannabis regularly/daily, I lost interest and gave it up over 10 years ago.

livinginawinterwonderland · 26/12/2013 15:33

There are also links between alcohol and mental health issues, yet you don't see people wanting to make that illegal.

OwlinaTree · 26/12/2013 15:34

Thinking it should be legalised should not be confused with thinking it's harmless.

complexnumber · 26/12/2013 15:36

I haven't had a smoke in a long time, but my memory tells me that to some extent mild/moderate use heightened some of my sensory perceptions.

I really don't think it would act as a pain killer for me, it could possibly make the pain seem worse!

Please don't think I am trying to pick a fight or tell people that it doesn't relieve pain, I just can't imagine it doing that for me.

Have I 'mis-remembered' its effects? Or maybe I am just getting my recreational drugs all mixed up.

So, does it actually relieve the pain? or just zonk you out so you can't feel anything?

cardibach · 26/12/2013 15:38

Lazy growing carrots is easy too, but most people buy! I think people would, on the whole, buy. I'm not sure what I think about this - I can see the point of both sides of the argument.

PigletJohn · 26/12/2013 15:45

Prohibition has been tried before, and cultivates organised crime.

Lazysuzanne · 26/12/2013 15:48

Complex, I think the pain killing properties depend on the exact cannabinoids, these very between varieties...THC is hallucinogenic where as CBD has pain killing effects.

Thats just off the top of my head, there's plenty of info on the net for anyone who wants to gen up on that sort of thing

Gossipmonster · 26/12/2013 15:50

And illegal drugs don't cultivate organised crime PigletJohn .

Would save us a bloody fortune if we legalised the lot, cutting crime by about half.

PigletJohn · 26/12/2013 15:55

Gossipmonster

I don't understand your point.

Wolfiefan · 26/12/2013 16:06

I don't think I have seen research that suggests drinking alcohol creates mental health issues. I'm not suggesting alcohol is harmless though.

Gossipmonster · 26/12/2013 16:16

Alcoholism is a mental health issue?!

livinginawinterwonderland · 26/12/2013 16:19

umm, alcoholism is a mental health issue?

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