If you buy cannabis you are an accessory to the modern-day slave trade that caused the death of the 39 in the shipping container

[Parsimon]

I hate the fact that so many people in this country blissfully ignore the human misery behind the drugs they consume, whether it’s working class kids being stabbed because of their involvement with the gangs that supply cocaine to middle-class dinner parties or the “just a spliff” crowd who are fuelling modern slavery from predominantly Vietnamese trafficked immigrants, often children.

If you grow your own and trace to source everything else then you’re only harming yourself, but I expect that the vast majority of drugs users don’t actually do that.

Excellent article in the Guardian today about the children having to work to support UK cannabis consumption.

amp.theguardian.com/society/2017/mar/25/trafficked-enslaved-teenagers-tending-uk-cannabis-farms-vietnamese/

messolini

I'm not sure it's that easy though. We get ours from our own tree in a friends garden.
We have kids, much older but still wouldn't smoke it in the house. We still worry that someone will smell and report or Police will call as we live near to a park where kids drink and smoke weed.
It should be decriminalised, making it legal won't solve the problem. Once it's legal it will be assumed to be weak and controlled, and the black market will still survive.

Oh do fuck off.

As for cannabis I've always been against legalising it on a gut level, as my brother has mental health issues related to taking it

@DaveMyHat, if cannabis were decriminalised, MH professionals would have a far better insight into the specific brain chemistry effects, because data from users/ex users would be widely available, as people would be less scared of admitting usage. But because it is a hidden voice, there is not a large enough bank of case histories available for e.g. shrinks, care agencies & doctors to study.

I am sorry about your brother, & hope that research into the effects of long term cannabis abuse continues: I also hope it is legalised, so that more users can come forward openly & take part in studies.

Legalisation would also be socially beneficial, in terms of squeezing out organised crime, quality control & tax revenues .

It should be decriminalised, making it legal won't solve the problem. Once it's legal it will be assumed to be weak and controlled, and the black market will still survive.

Agreed, @Drabarni.

You would probably be surprised to know that most of the cannabis dealt in this country is grown here. Near where I live there is an estate with maisonettes, under the maisonettes there used to be studio flats, the council have never relet them as the residents have left, it's common knowledge that the empty studios are being used to grow cannabis, they grow 1 crop, then move to another studio to grow the next. One got raided last year, there was a crop that was worth many thousands of pounds. Growing it locally makes it easier to obtain, no going through customs or risk of getting caught importing it. Yes there are a lot of nail bars & car washes that are run by people who have been trafficked, but for every one that is there will be one that isn't.

In the immortal word of Peter Tosh,

don't criticise it, legalise it!

www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jun/11/drugs-expert-barred-from-policy-panel-after-criticising-home-office

explains how the government is (illegally) stacking the ACMD to rubber stamp it's decisions.

Cannabis should be legalised, then the sale can be regulated, other drugs if legalised then at least use would know what they are buying substances that are cut with products that are safe, now dealers use anything they want to cut the drugs, washing powder, poisons, users have no idea of strength or content. While ever the drugs market is underground, there is no way of complaining & the dealers can do exactly what they want, charge what they want & users have no recourse.

US Congress votes to remove cannabis from the controlled substances act, decriminalising it federally

www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/3884/text

(as I predicted when Trump took power).

Literally millions use cannabis. It's not going to go away. This evil of 'farming' slavery is a consequence of prohibition. It needs sorting, and the answer is obvious. It's a shame there's too much pig-headedness to be brave enough to take the necessary steps to regulate this properly. Decades of wasted money and resources, and it's clearly not going away.

I have never been to a nail bar (or used illegal drugs), but what about the plight of workers in China, Bangladesh, etc making our clothes and consumer goods? How is that much different?

Try watching “Last Train Home”, about the rural migrants in China without urban hukou status.