Drug users don’t give any thought to who’s behind their next spliff

[StLevanBlackcaps]

I’m sick of how common smoking weed has become - you literally smell it on every street and it’s seen as no big deal to participate despite it being illegal - lots of people seem to think it’s no different to having a glass of wine and the police couldn’t give a damn.

Yet behind the scenes you’ve got scum like Thomas Cashman and the gangs who run county lines praying on vulnerable kids and funding the sort of lifestyles that many people seem to aspire to - you only have to look at Cashman’s gf with her Botox and Range Rover and all the other proceeds of his disgusting ‘career’ choice.

AIBU to think drugs are drugs and if you choose to use them you’re as bad as the arseholes who supply them?

Agree with this apart from the 'all' bit. I've worked with drug addicted individuals and would be extremely worried if geroin, crystal meth, crack etc were legalised.

Thomas Cashman’s girlfriend was acting like some Z list celebrity off Love Island with all that pouting and designer gear. She was clearly loving the spoils of his crimes and turning a blind eye to where all the cash was coming from. Well, he’s not the hard man now, stuck in his 6x 8 cell for the rest of his life 😆😆 Those people are scumbags.

Facts are the government are happy for this shit show to go on it generates money all round. Why would they stop selling cigarettes? Alcohol in cinemas? Alcohol in the airports and on planes?
Let alone drugs...

It generates money and its the people at the top that are reaping the most. They are the ones who are the real culprits (the GOV).

Weed is legal where I live. Therefore you can know exactly who's behind your next spliff, or edible, or tincture or spray or lotion. You can check that the grower is paying their taxes, or choose to support women-owned companies or dispensaries, or learn about the history of the leaf and how it was developed.

Buying weed is more like buying wine here than street corner crack, just saying...

yep my brother was a cannabis stoner and yes it does cause psychosis and leads to harder drugs. on it for years and hard to get off. Yet with him and his mates it was very acceptable and considered harmless. His main dealer made a killing and owns several houses outright now and is a bus driver.

Compared to him my ecstasy and coke use was much easier to come off.

I’m not proud I did mine but I had fun.

I smoked for 10 years,but never like you describe. I never smoked before work and had a responsible job. I rarely ever smoked during the week, similar to the way I rarely drink during the week. Most of my friends also smoked in a similar fashion. Many people would never dream of this wake and bake, always stoned picture you paint.

I smell weed on streets daily. West Yorkshire for anyone who is wondering, and the situation is very very bleak. It’s absolutely everywhere. Children smoking it in every park, teenage drug dealers, knife crime , county lines issues , it’s horrific. You only have to look to the news reports of the sheer amounts of illegal cannabis factories discovered in abandoned mills across West yorks to get an idea of the scale of the problem. These are massive operations.

It’s been legal in Canada for a few years now. Legalization is not a perfect solution but it does eliminate some of the organized crime element and allow the government to collect taxes. However, some people still prefer to buy from dealers. I’ve never heard of county lines here.

It’s heavily controlled in government regulated/ licenced stores and you can buy it different forms. Some of these forms like edibles, cannabis to vape, teas etc. mean a lot less smell. In my circles I do see people turning to it in low doses as an alternative to a glass of wine or to help with specific problems such as insomnia. The advantage of the stores is that you can go in and chat openly about what you’re looking for. Different strains / strengths have different outcomes. You can also grow a small amount for personal use.

There are government campaigns about safe use for young people and not using while driving.

I think all drugs should be managed this way honestly.

I sometimes wonder if cannabis was legalised, if how many people would continue to use it and not progress to harder drugs.

The difference with medicinal cannabis is that it doesn't include a significant part of the plant that gets you high. It is mainly CBD not THC. Totally different to the recreational use. You cannot judge all users the same anyway, it's like comparing somebody who drinks a glass of wine with their Sunday dinner to an alcoholic.

I smoke cannabis to help with my medical conditions.

A lot, I would think @TheInebriati. I lost a once dear friend who'd been through a lifetime of trauma and ended up with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. There was no way in hell they would ever give up smoking weed. It became a barrier to them accessing care in the end, because of the stigma and fear of being caught, as well as the fear from repercussions from local dealers of being involved with the authorities. They never wanted anything stronger, thank goodness. It was alcohol killed them in the end. Desperately sad.

My views on drugs have changed a lot since having children. Like many, I tried the 'softer end' of the menu when I was younger, hanging out with student friends and at festivals. Like alcohol, I considered some drugs to be ok-ish in the right place at the right time. However, the shocking rise in drug related crime, and just the bloody irritating smell of weed everywhere, invading neighbours homes and gardens at clearly inappropriate times and places, where there are children and people who just want to get on with a normal, safe, suburban life is making the small 'c' conservative in me angry. The biggest thing for me is, if a neighbour is smoking it regularly, who is their dealer? Am I going to have some dodgy bloke knocking on my door in the night? Am I going to have my house and property vandalised, because they haven't paid their dealer? It's the threat to innocent bystanders that raises my hackles.

@Bettyboop3 not entirely correct. The medical cannabis can be grown with specific THC/CBD strengths, depending on the patients need. So they can be prescribed a higher THC for say evening use, and a lower thc higher CBD for day time use.

@RuddyLaura That's so sad, I'm sorry for your loss.

Thank you. They were a harmless but deeply troubled soul. Loved and not forgotten.

While I agree with the pp who works in county lines.

I do worry ,as with vaping , for the fact teenagers can bring it into school with dab pens. They can toddle off to the toilet and come back and put their head on the desk and not smell of anything. But you can clearly tell they have changed. Call for safeguarding help and theres no proof even after pocket searches or they think they are vapes.

That is really scary @RoyGBivisacolorfulman.

AIBU to think drugs are drugs and if you choose to use them you’re as bad as the arseholes who supply them?

Yes I think you are being unreasonable to think this. Lots of people buy things that are unethically sourced through full of partial ignorance of how bad it is. I think it's extreme to consider those as bad as the people actively doing those things.

It really is everywhere so there is no way the bulk of the supply is a lovely chap who grows enough for hinself and a few best friends.

I think it is time to legalise, educate and regulate.

I hope you don't live in a country where drinking alcohol is normalised as the effects of alcohol on many people I know is pretty devastating.

Your choice if you’re ok with weed or harder drugs not alcohol

I don’t agree with your view but that’s life.

I wholeheartedly agree op but I work with drug users and see the utterly devastating effects on families. Many start off and so called soft drugs like cannabis and it spirals. There will always be those on mumsnet who will bring out stats re alcohol and smoking and I do agree that alcohol in particular can affect domestic abuse levels and hurt families too. It is however different to illicit drugs in terms of county lines, using vulnerable kids in transporting of it etc.

It's a very middle class view that an occasional joint is absolutely fine that it won't lead to other drug use and is totally OK. They don't consider the effects it has on wider society and the most vulnerable. Often because it isn't their kids getting dragged in to the selling or transportation and so they can plead ignorance to the wider social problems it involves.

If it were legalised and regulated the crime would disappear.

Untrue. there is still a black market in cigarettes even though they are legal.

@Sceptre86 if you work with drug users you should be fully aware other factors in their lives, all the adverse childhood experiences onwards, have a much greater impact on the 'spiral' toward harder drugs than the use of cannabis. The whole 'gateway drug' argument is nonsense.