Smoking weed - what’s your take on it...

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I don’t know much about it but on balance think it should probably be decriminalised. However, it is addictive and it obviously can have a negative impact on people’s lives and mental health. It does seem very prevalent around my part of London - I feel like I can smell it in the street all the time when I am out and about.

Supply and demand, no? Bigger, better, stronger, harder, at least in the UK that seems to be the way it goes

I have no problem with it and i would decrimininalise it and all other drugs and let people choose themselves

@schnubbins most people aren't saying it's harmless, far from it. But harmful doesn't equal illegal.

And the young man who started dealing, wouldn't have if it was legal. Which is part of the point!

Where it's illegal, you have young people accessing criminals to buy it. Which makes them vulnerable. Where it's legal you don't. And use amongst young people in Colorado has reduced in terms of proportion of young people since legalization.

Once again, I don't like cannabis. I think it makes young people less vibrant and less effective. But it being illegal also makes them criminals and I hate that more.

It's not a big deal. Keep young people away from it like you would with any other narcotics. But adults shouldn't have restrictions, imo.

It's legal where I live and it hasn't ruined society, everything is fine. The people who don't like it don't use it, and the people who do like use it, just like they did anyway when it was illegal. Saves the police a lot of time and money and it means we can research it's medical benefits without navigating a load of tricky legislation. Also brings in a lot of money for our economy which is nice.

@HaroldsSocalledBluetits that's so not true though! My boyfriend smokes a lot of weed, always has, he smokes it in the car with the windows shut, and in unventilated rooms every day and more often than not I'm there with him. When I was living at home with my parents they found out about this and started urine testing me to make sure i wasn't smoking it with him. Never once did it show up as a positive test, even though I was around him every day while he smoked in unventilated areas!

I migrated to the Netherlands and really appreciate the drug culture here, they pride themselves on the art and science of their industry.

I don't smoke but I've loved chatting with the couple of people I've met who work in coffee shops - they really know their work, and the wide range of products & effects is mind-boggling.

Decriminalisation of weed hurts no-one.

It is illegal, it's impairs your ability to drive causing crashes, however because the government cant Tax you as it's homegrown therefore harder to financially gain, that's the only reason it's illegal.

Ok so none of that post made any sense...

American states where it is legal have raised billions in taxes

You can grow your own carrots yet nobody does as morrisons is easier

Making anything illegal immediately removes it from quality control and encourages adulteration and worse.

Most UK dealer weed is mixed with goodness knows what (c.f. using goodness knows what to bulk out alcohol in prohibition US). Ground glass and ketamine are common.

A lot of people with MH issues are actually using cannabis for self-medication. CBD has an anti-psychotic effect, so high CBD/low THC strains are more appropriate.

There's a lot of anecdata about cannabis. As usual the UK media are pretty shit at dealing with anything beyond clickbait simplicity. Loads of people live to pile in with "proof" ripped from a Daily Mail headline. Personally I prefer my science from scientists - at which point you suddenly discover how little real research there is, let alone definite conclusions.

As with much in the UK, drug policy is political rather than practical - the alphabet soup of classification may as well be based on astrology (remember tobacco and alcohol had to be specifically excluded from the 2016 psychoactive substances act). And despite having one of the best and admired drug policy frameworks in the western world (the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act is sublime) repeated political interference has rendered it worse than useless.

People have used cannabis for millennia - it only became a "problem" when combined US interests wanted to eliminate the threat to paper producers, and Nixon wanted a way to criminalise being black without actually saying so.

Wasn't just Nixon who wanted to make the connection between black people and weed. Around 100 years ago the word 'marijuana' was effectively invented because it sounded foreign and exotic and would encourage miscegenation. Them dopeheads are coming for your white ladies.

US government official Harry Anslinger (1892–1975), the bureaucrat who led the prohibition effort, is credited as saying: “There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others.”

Anslinger-what a complete piece of shit

Yep, very much a product of his times but what a lovely man

it's impairs your ability to drive causing crashes

So does alcohol (and more prescription meds than people realise ...). Alcohol also kills more people simply by rotting their liver - as well as having a surprisingly low LD50 (when I was growing up there was a lad who died after drinking less than a litre of vodka). The only way you'd ever kill yourself with cannabis is if a tonne block of hash fell on you.

The whole "legality=harm" argument is a busted flush, and requires all sorts of mental gymnastics to advance and maintain. The worst effect of prohibition is when people realise that the law is a crock and then start to wonder what else people are being lied to about. Given that hard drugs usage has fallen not risen in parts of the world where it's decriminalised (again, very little peer-reviewed data observer.com/2017/12/teen-drug-use-drops-across-the-country-thanks-to-legal-marijuana/) there's some merit in the notion that it's the illegality of cannabis that makes it a "gateway drug".

Back in the 1950s, there were 2 police officers in "the drugs squad" in the Metropolitan police, and their job was to check up on doctors prescribing heroin and cocaine (quite legally).

You can grow your own carrots yet nobody does as morrisons is easier

Not quite true - plenty of people do, depending on their tastes. Similar to homebrewing and winemaking.

With no end in sight to austerity, and the police service being stretched ever thinner, people are really going to have to make their minds up about where they want what little money left to be directed.

Read up on what he did to Billie Holliday if you want to see how much of a shit he was

Do you really not see the problem with that logic? People who ignored the legal sanctions would ignore worse legal sanctions and therefore you're further criminalizing people with MH issues. Astoundingly prison isn't very good for either addiction or MH issues

I think the point is the weed is what is causing the mh problems and you can’t get addicted to something you don’t use.

I've seen a clever, handsome, young man destroy his life after smoking it a couple of times, the drug induced psychosis he suffered was shocking and has made me v v anti.

Illegality doesn't stop use. In fact it appears to correlate with increased use.

weed is what is causing the mh problems

I'd be interested to read a source for this as it's not something that's been established as far as I know

This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others

You left out the bit where he decried "Reefer makes darkies think they’re as good as white men,”

timeline.com/harry-anslinger-racist-war-on-drugs-prison-industrial-complex-fb5cbc281189

Thanks Banterlope I've been looking for that quote for years but forgot the twats name.

Time to go win some arguments...

weed is what is causing the mh problems

I'd be interested to read a source for this as it's not something that's been established as far as I know

Get ready for a slew of Daily Mail stories ....

I have a friend whose partner smokes weed every day. He is both depressed and paranoid and hasn't worked for five years. Instead, he grows and sells weed to make money. Their 8 year old son knows about it, but has to keep it a secret so his dad doesn't get in trouble. It's a fucking shambles. He's highly educated and used to have a responsible job and a good income but since he got hooked on weed he's just pissing his life away.

Over 25 years ago most of my friendship group from school were heavily into smoking dope. Fortunately for me I had zero tolerance and can’t touch the stuff without puking. By our early 20s I had to ditch them as they were the most boring, unmotivated, bunch. I was desperate to get out and do stuff and travel. Their world and conversations revolved around getting money to buy hash, buying hash, smoking hash and repeat, fucking dull insular life.

Quite a few of them have suffered from moderate to extreme mental health issues over the years. Feel like I dodged a bullet, not being able to tolerate the stuff. Now it’s seems much stronger I wouldn’t encourage anyone to use it. I’m not sure if it causes mental health issues or amplifies underlying issues, but it’s not worth the risk and there are surely better things to be doing with your life.

I feel really iffy about it. If we decriminalised it we might be able to control the strength.

However I used to work in mental health services and have seen many people who have had psychosis triggered by marijuana use. For some this has been truly catastrophic.

So on balance I would definitely not use myself and I've told my children about what can happen. There is not enough known about why for some people it triggers paranoia and then psychosis.