To be a bit dubious about cannabis being legalised

[LeahJack]

William Hague called for legalisation today. And there is the discussion about legalisation for medical reasons, which is obviously great for people like Billy Caldwell, but has been used in the US as a back door for recreational legalisation as certificates are given out like confetti for everything.

I worry about this as DH used to smoke it. And like most users thought it was harmless but it made him absent minded and empty headed even when he wasn’t smoking it to the point where I was frightened to leave the children with him because he wouldn’t be able to react quickly if they did things like run into the road. Plus he was grumpy, irritable and short tempered when he wasn’t smoking it.

Another friend of mine who is a bit vulnerable had a complete breakdown into psychosis smoking it and lost her marriage and wasn’t allowed her children unsupervised for a long time as a result of cannabis smoking.

I also know someone who is currently smoking it claiming it is curing his depression, but it is quite obviously making his already poor mental health worse and tipping him into paranoia.

I know some people say it should be treated like alcohol, but if alcohol was discovered now, it would probably be banned too.

I think smoking it is a selfish act, and the price for recreational users legally getting stoned will be paid by their partners and children and vulnerable people who are made ill by it.

I hate that it’s effectively been decriminalised anyway and my children have to walk through clouds of stinking smoke on our high street.

If alcohol had been mass marketed by white people at the same time as weed was (ie the 1960s) it too would have been banned and probably classed in the same level as cocaine.

I think it should be legalised. Your argument about your partner being too stoned to look after the kids is a partner issue, not a cannabis legalisation issue.
The sort of people who get so baked they can’t be responsible around children are cut from the same cloth as people who get pissed around children,
Which is just as bad if not worse. And alcohol is legal (thankfully, I love my wine!)

I'd like to see it legalized - apart from ending all the ridiculous piddling about over (properly) medicinal cannabis use it would allow for cannabis to be grown in properly regulated conditions with lower levels of psychoactive elements. It would also legitimise proper research into the effects of cannabis in the same way that research into the effects of alcohol is carried out.

I think that all drugs should be legalised, regulated and taxed accordingly, the way alcohol and tobacco are.

We are one of the biggest producers of medical cannabis in the world yet we have people in this country being banned from using cannabis oil etc as a medical treatment when it's shown to have clear benefits for them.

Tbh I want pure legalisation, it to be taxed and regulated and then like the Americans do let people choose how potent they want it.

YABVVVU.
Those who oppose it clearly don’t have MS, epilepsy, or are undergoing nausea inducing chemo. Neither do they have a child or a loved one who are suffering with these. I would walk to hell and back to get hold of cannabis oil for my child if there was the remotest chance of it helping them, if they were suffering. It’s time we helped these people!

Legalising medicinal cannabis oil will CHANGE THESE PEOPLES LIVES.

How can anyone be selfish enough to want to prevent this!??

Those who want to smoke cannabis recreationally are DOING IT ANYWAY. Difference is, they’re smoking manufactured skunk because they don’t have any way of obtaining safer cannabis.

Agree 100% @expatinscotland. This war on drugs is clearly ineffective. Alcohol is way worse than weed and as someone upthread said people who smoke it for pleasure are going to do so whether it's legal or not

^ But they aren't talking about legalizing it for smokers, they are talking about legalizing the oil for medical use (seizure and other medical needs)

William Hague made a call for it to be legalised for medical and recreational use @deshausanay.

Some states in the US have legalised recreational cannabis, some medical cannabis only, some CBD oil for medical use only, some have decriminlised the posession of small amounts while others continue to have heavy penalties for ownership under any circumstances. It is still illegal at a federal level. Bit of a mess really.

I'm in Canada where at a federal level they are finalising the legalisation legislation, and at a local level it's commonly used, whether under a quasi-medical system (I bought some CBD oil for my dog and am now registered to get whatever I might want from my local dispensary) or simply under the radar. As our summers are hot enough to grow it in pots on your patio it's not really possible to ban in any case. Better to regulate and tax.

Ah I see. I think medical yes, recreational no.

(btw, not point in tagging me with the @, I have notifications turned off, as do I think a lot of people judging by a previous thread )

*no point.

Do you think he's going for medical and recreational use knowing/hoping recreational gets a no but medical gets a yes? Seems a politician way of doing things. Then the No's get a halfway, win/win.

I would qualify my earlier post and say that I absolutely support its use for medical purposes.

Cannabis oil is a medicine derived from the plant. Like aspirin is a medicine derived from willow bark (or was originally anyway). I have no problem with plant derived compounds that have been tested in trials being used for their intended medical purpose.

Smoking weed for the medical benefits is herbalism and would expose the smoker to all the side effects in terms of risks to mental health. I do have a problem with this type of use.

Would be happy to see cannabis oil commercially refined, tested and then produced like any other medicine though.

I can see the benefit in legalising it.

People would have a much clearer idea what they were buying in terms of strength and amount of TBC or CBD.

You could tax it.

Reduce the impact of criminal gangs.

I was reading an article it could generate a billion plus in tax a year.
Plus saving on court costs, prison etc for people convicted of possession offences.

If it were legalised it would impede on the criminal element who seem to import it ad infinitum and it can cause inter criminal feuds and murder.

It is not a Class A drug is it? but it seems to fuel the criminal element just the same.

I'd say cocaine is worse.

You could tax it.

But would the tax be worth hits in other areas? Hospital treatment? Mental health issues? Family breakdown? Children going into care? Lower productivity, fatter people with more health problems?

I used CBD products to manage my ME/CFS it's helped me to reduce the prescription drugs that I use, I don't have to spend every day drugged up & doped like I used to & my pain is reduced. I fully support the legalisation of Cannabis & the products from it. It is better that it is sold legally where strength & variety can be monitored & products are safe than being sold by dealers where content is unknown.

But the tax could pay for that surely? I think the NHS would like an additional one billion a year.
Plus I'm sure police and prison services would like the savings etc they could spend elsewhere

I agree with expat. There's not a single person who couldn't lay their hands on an illegal smoke if they tried. It's ubiquitous. The law is clearly being flouted, and the cost of policing the law is a waste of money. Legalise, tax, and regulate!

^ I think you're getting the stoners/smokers mixed up with the people that would medically benefit from the oil

Furthermore we have a large number of people with convictions and records for possession of cannabis offences.
This means that it's harder for these people to get jobs etc

Sorry that was to LeahJack