What is this denial about cannabis ?

[9ofpentangles]

That it is a completely harmless drug? There is so much research on this from reputable sources

Anyone who is buy drugs off someone else (unless they are absolutely sure they have grown it themselves many claim this) is fuelling the drug trade, the gang culture

I have been part of that (as in buying) so it’s not as though I am coming from a holier than thou position but that is what we have all or are doing

Yes, and often people are very fussy about fair trade and ethics in food but turn a blind eye when it comes to drugs

www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/04/03/legalisation-cannabis-america-has-led-surge-drug-imports-uk/

Although I wouldn't take it as gospel - there are some very dodgy number in there.

The older type of cannabis which has balanced THC and CBD is really not shown to be dangerous in many studies. The more dangerous skunk is shown to cause psychosis and paranoia and precipitate mental illness.

Like a bottle of whiskey as compared to a glass of red wine, it's what you take and the amount you use, that is the issue.

I think it should be legalised and controlled

I think there is more denial about its health benefits than its harmfulness.
Yep, this

There is evidence for its health benefits but it is largely anecdotal. I guess it's tricky to study a drug that is normally used only recreationally.

Certain other drugs have benefits, too. Heroin in its morphine derivative and alcohol in some instances

Like a bottle of whiskey as compared to a glass of red wine, it's what you take and the amount you use, that is the issue.

During the prohibition the bootleggers decided spirits were more profitable than beer, same as now with cannabis, no profit for the dealers in 'shit' weed.

Legalise and regulate it, because alcohol is legal you wouldnt dream of buying alcohol from some rando in an alley but because weed is illegal you have to

Would legalisation eliminate the black market, though, or would it try to compete with the legal market by flouting the guidelines (eg with more potent, banned products)? And it would be in a position to undercut the legal market, not being subject to taxes.

Prohibition ended and now everyone buys their alcohol from a supermarket. In terms of effective dose, alcohol is more expensive that cannabis as it is (in my experience anyway). I don't think there is any product that is cheaper (and equivalent in quality) on the "black market" than it is when produced by a company in a capitalist society making use of economies of scale. It would be weird for cannabis to be the first one.

The only advantage that criminals would have is that they'd already have much of the infrastructure needed for a legal operation in place.

And you're overlooking the fact that it's pretty easy to grow. You only have people converting houses onto grow rooms because it's illegal to have it grow in your garden. It's simple enough that plenty of people have done it by accident in the UK.

That would have to be regulated, though, wouldn't it. The government wouldn't openly endorse cannabis farms on housing estates as there would be a huge backlash from residents.

People only know about them when someone complains about the smell or they see a lot of strange people going in and out and report it. A friend of mine lived in a former cannabis farm and it stank.

It would be naive to think a transition to legalisation would be anything but smooth

But yes I see what you are saying now- grow it in fields

As someone who smoked a lot of weed late teenage to mid 20s, had psychosis at 19 and postpartum psychosis in my 30s; I completely agree. Just as tobacco smoke stunts growth in childhood, there are sensitive periods in our body’s development and cannabis in early life is dangerous to the still developing brain. I know there will be those who say “I smoked it for x years and was fine”, but to me that’s the same as the “my grandad smoked and lived into his 90s”. There will always be outliers, but the overall evidence for cannabis and psychosis is pretty compelling.

The main problem is that today, skunk is more widely available and used. It is evil stuff and way stronger than the weed of the past.

There’s a legal cannabis farm not far from where I live. It’s grown for cbd. It’s juts like any other crop farm from what I can tell. It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to scale it up. Heck, it might give lots of our small ailing farms a living after (if we ever) brexit

There's no chance that those people who don't develop psychosis from cannabis use are the 'outliers'. It's more likely the other way around.

The research is far from conclusive on this.

www.thelancet.com/article/S2215-0366(19)30086-0/fulltext

but the overall evidence for cannabis and psychosis is pretty compelling.

I have done a fair amount of googling and I've yet to find anything compelling.
There are so many variables to take into account.

I know many people who have smoked (not skunk and I know that's different) regularly for years and you wouldn't know it. They hold down responsible jobs, have good parenting skills, community minded, etc.

A bit like those people who regularly have a drink.

But yes I see what you are saying now- grow it in fields

Why, it's almost like it's a plant !

I think the danger is when it's smoked. When it's used for medical purposes, it's usually taken in oil form

This graph shows drugs rated by toxicity and addiction level, cannabis. Lsd and shrooms are less harmful than caffeine
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_harmfulness

I think the danger is when it's smoked. When it's used for medical purposes, it's usually taken in oil form

Smoking anything isn't really a great idea. It used to be the preferred method of choice back in the day, as it was the easiest way to accommodate the varying qualities of street weed. Which a few posters have noted is unregulated. Take a puff, get a hit within seconds. Stop when needed. It's far harder to gauge when you ingest it, as in cookies. Also the pharmacology is slightly different, and you get a different ratio of the THC deltas.

Vaping is more the order of the day now. The whole market has been transformed with high quality vape units that vaporise, rather than incinerate the buds so no smoke gets inhaled.

Smoking it with tobacco also makes it a different experience, kind of more rushy and more likely to cause paranoia. I think it's something to do with the nicotine widening the blood vessels so it gets to your brain quicker and more effectively.

I vape, like all the cool kids do 😎

I know it's a plant!!

I just thought there might be a reason for growing indoors apart from the legality question - eg temperature

I know of absolutely no one in history who has ever stated that Cannabis is entirely harmless. There is no such thing as a safe drug.

What people point out in a country where this year, Nicotine will kill 50,000 people, Alcohol 10,000 and Heroin several hundred, Cannabis will in all probability kill no one.

It's bad for your health. So are chips.

Smoking it with tobacco also makes it a different experience, kind of more rushy and more likely to cause paranoia. I think it's something to do with the nicotine widening the blood vessels so it gets to your brain quicker and more effectively.

If we want to talk about unknown adulterants, tobaccos quite a good start ...

It's hard to use "paranoia" as a descriptive symptom of the effects of partaking in an illegal substance. It could be the cannabis. It could just be the fact cannabis is illegal. Part of me has a scientific question about it - maybe there's data from the US that could help ?

I just thought there might be a reason for growing indoors apart from the legality question - eg temperature

Well yes, you can control the environment much better. And ensure exhaust air is filtered so no smell for the neighbours.