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Original poster

To think cannabis should be legal?

194 replies

RainbowsAndCrystals · 08/10/2017 12:40

Just came back from a week in Amsterdam.

I very occasionally smoke weed. It was just so nice to be able to sit outside, drink coffee and smoke with no judgment.

I saw hardly any police the entire time I wasn't there. Never felt unsafe.

OP posts:
nooka · 08/10/2017 19:47

Alcohol has been banned. Prohibition was a disaster and provides probably the most compelling argument for legalising cannabis.

One of the problems with cannabis is that it's illegality makes research difficult, that means the claims of it being a wonder drug as well as those demonising it are not based on high quality evidence.

I live in BC, Canada. Legalisation is coming next summer. I'm not sure it will make a huge difference in usage as it's very widely used by many people already. Most adults smoke/eat pot in a very similar way to the way they use alcohol plus all those with a medical prescription (very easily obtainable). Lots of people grow their own. Legalisation will I think lead to a bit of a craft movement, just like with beer brewing although edibles aren't in the currently drafted law. The aim is to undercut the black market and get the gangs out as it is massively lucrative for them right now.

brasty · 08/10/2017 19:53

Actually the impact of prohibition means that most americans still have a low consumption of alcohol.

SilverySurfer · 08/10/2017 20:13

Fireandflames666
Cannabis DOES NOT cause paranoia or mental health problems. The people who have these issues had them before smoking.

An Oxford led study thinks otherwise: www.ox.ac.uk/news/2014-07-16-how-cannabis-causes-paranoia#

Hmm, who to believe.

EnthusiasmIsDisturbed · 08/10/2017 20:43

No one on here is going to deny the devastating effects alcohol can have on many lives

But the issue of cannabis and mental health is becoming more and more apparent in recent years and the links with schizophrenia

if the sell of cannabis could be controlled in some way and in a better way than alcohol that would be better but when you have powerful companies who will sell and market the product with their research that is worrying

malificent7 · 08/10/2017 21:21

The difference between weed and booze is passive smoking...other people can breathe in cannabis smoke and it may effect them. I don't like weed or booze but I drink as it doesn't make me a paranoid, psychotic mess whereas cannabis does. I do like to have something to take the edge of life and my dd is not going to get tipsy by osmosis if I have a glass pf wine whereas a spliff might affect her.

malificent7 · 08/10/2017 21:22

glass of wine even.

brasty · 08/10/2017 21:25

Weed stinks. I already hate the strong smell when I come across it. If it was legal, the smell would be everywhere.

Pawpainting · 08/10/2017 21:29

Well it's legal where I live and I don't smell it everywhere. It's not legal to smoke it in public, only in a private home. Also, there are edibles for sale which don't smell at all

brasty · 08/10/2017 21:34

Its illegal where I live, and I smell it sometimes.

DrunkOnEther · 09/10/2017 00:36

SilverySurfer
I don't think the study you're citing says what you think it says.

It simply says that while under the influence of cannabis, 20% of users experienced symptoms of paranoia attributable to cannabis, amongst a range of other feelings, but as the effect of the drug declines, so does the paranoia.

Fwiw, I can imagine that a clinical setting, and being injected with the drug, is probably not an environment most conducive to having a wholly pleasant time anyway.

silverbell64 · 09/10/2017 00:39

No it shouldn't be made legal.

IncyWincyGrownUp · 09/10/2017 01:24

You’re entitled to think what you like.

I think the opposite, and am glad it is still illegal.

Horses for courses really.

SuperBeagle · 09/10/2017 01:34

I agree with legalising it, but I don't agree with the myriad of arguments around how "safe" it is. No, there's no record of someone dying specifically from a cannabis-related ailment, but cannabis has undoubtedly contributed to some deaths from lung cancer.

It's asinine to suggest that it's a harm-free drug. It isn't. But as tobacco and alcohol are still legal, there's no logical argument for cannabis to be illegal.

nooka · 09/10/2017 04:27

The issue with prohibition wasn't/isn't about how much it affected people's drinking habits, it was about the effect on organised crime. Legalisation effectively removed a large income stream.

wannabestressfree · 09/10/2017 05:08

After nursing a teen at home who developed psychosis from weed I am very anti smoking. He was extremely ill then sectioned for two years after attacking me with a carving knife.

I also watch my neighbours. Six kids and all they are concerned about is being huddled in the shed smoking that shit. Lack of clothes for kids but can always find money for weed. Don’t inflict it on their own but drifts in my house, washing instead.

Not a fan.

squeekums · 09/10/2017 07:14

Should be legal
Much safer than alcohol

stevie69 · 09/10/2017 07:19

Cannabis DOES NOT cause paranoia or mental health problems. The people who have these issues had them before smoking.

You SURE about that? Hmm

Natsku · 09/10/2017 07:24

I'm torn on this issue, on the one hand for most people its a mild drug that's not going to cause issues but on the other hand I've seen the impact it had on my ex and how it worsened his mental health so much that he had to be sectioned several times.

stevie69 · 09/10/2017 07:27

Should be legal
Much safer than alcohol

Maybe. Maybe not. On what evidence are you basing your assertion?

Bluelonerose · 09/10/2017 07:29

I think we should legalise it.
I've lived next door to stoners for past 5 years and I get nothing from them whatsoever maybe the occasional Chinese being delivered instead.

2 doors up the other side like a drink and like the street to know which normal involves 4 cop cars to "separate the family for the night"

Surely legalizing it would cut down on things like anti social behaviour?
I've read people think weed users hide away but surely they are only doing that because it's illegal and worried people will smell it on them?

RoderickRules · 09/10/2017 08:48

Alcohol and cannabis are not used in isolation though.
Why is it one or the other?

RoderickRules · 09/10/2017 08:49

Anti social behaviour may increase when people are not hiding it away.
Not everyone who smokes are happy hippies.

DrunkOnEther · 09/10/2017 09:29

To be fair, I used to work security at big festivals. We always preferred people smoking weed than drinking alcohol. Drunk people caused so much hassle it was unreal, whereas the stoners were far easier to deal with. I don't think I ever had a problem with a stoner. Oh actually, one poor kid had had a bit much & felt ill - I gave him some food and he was good. 😅 The number of aggressive drunks, however...🙄

Waytoogo · 09/10/2017 09:32

The people I knew who were heavy smokers of weed as teenagers and young adults all (without exception) have mental health problems now. One has been sectioned. I don't think that can be a coincidence.

NeverForgotten · 09/10/2017 09:39

Never felt unsafe
Is Amsterdam, unlike anywhere else in the world, exempt from drug induced mental illness now? Hmm Anyone experienced in working in psychiatric services would probably disagree.

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