So with Olivia's killer getting 42 years will people now recognise that dealing cannabis is not a victimless crime ?

[AnyaMarx]

Just as the title says

I work in this area and have for 15 years.

When police raid a cannabis factory all the comments on social media are "go catch some real criminals "
"It's just plants !"

Well done plod you caught some plants .

Do people seriously not realise that cannabis factories and dealing are linked to organised crime groups who run about with guns ?
And who kill people?

Maybe now this
Abhorrent crime has been tried people might realise their spliff isn't victimless.

I've dealt with countless factories where modern slavery has played a part - a couple of young Vietnamese kids living In Squalor , acting as gardeners, all to fund some organised crime group , the likes of which Olivia's murderer was .

Now will people stop vilifying police who raid cannabis factories and shut them down ?

Somehow I doubt it .

which would be controlled by violent criminals, as are other "fair trade" type labels, such as the ethically sourced fish one, which people have died trying to uphold.

@OneTC completely agree.

Because there would be a straightforward way to buy your drug of choice, taxed and regulated as alcohol is. We don’t have gangs shooting each other and carving out their patch to sell gin. Look at how organised crime flourished in the USA when they had prohibition. Drug taking should be treated as a public health issue as is excessive alcohol consumption. And the police can devote their resources to real crime instead-no need for the Cashmans of this world if your drug is legally available.

@MarshaBradyo you are conflating unrelated things. MDMA and amphetamines are NOT legal in the Netherlands. Just because cannabis is regulated, that doesn't mean that all drugs are. The Netherlands is a hub for the production of MDMA and amphetamines because it has a very favourable geographical position in terms of access to distribution networks and because of its unethical tax position. However there are things that they get right around drug policy.

If you look at the average age of heroin users in the Netherlands, it is now higher than it has ever been. This is because the existing ones can access healthcare and clean needles and so do not die young, but it is also because fewer young people are using it. Harm reduction approaches work.

I am not sure most of the population cares about how may addicts die and why should. These are the people that cause so much bother to neighbours, destroy neighbourhoods and town centres. I for one don't see why my elderly neighbours have to go to the back of the queue in the chemist because some junkie is bouncing off the walls because he needs his methadone.

Ben Elton's High Society is a great book about legalising drugs and the arguments for it. Obviously it's a fictional story.

@slowquickstep treating drug addiction as a health issue has been shown to reduce crime in countries where it has been done. It isn't about addicts dying (though that is one effect), it is precisely about your elderly neighbours and their safety. If you treat addiction properly, you wouldn't have to stuff methadone distribution into a crowded chemist's where there are already too many demands on the service.

Yes you could call it something like OxyContin.

Sackler family did try to get it sold in EU, starting with Germany iirc who said no.

Tg for that as that issue is no easy one to fix.

Smoking cannabis does have bad effects wrt supply chain but it’s hard for people to stop, so calls for legalisation instead of just reducing.

Is that not a lot to do with their position in the world of shipping as it is their drugs laws?

you have clearly stated you dont care about child slaves in the cannabis industry because there are child slaves in other industries too.

Why are you lying? I didn't actually even mention 'child slaves.'

we are talking about cannabis production in the uk, the whole conversation is about child slaves.

Also, why do people always completely ignore the fact that many people use cannabis recreationally and suffer no ill effects whatsoever, in the same way that people enjoy the odd drink? It doesn't have to be all or nothing and anyway, cannabis use is often only one of several contributing factors to a messed up mental state.

I wish it were the case OP but doubt it too.

It's not as simple as legalise/ not legalise. There's a big difference between weaker and stronger strains of cannabis; and the potential role that the latter has in psychosis. We don't fully understand why some young people end up very unwell. It wouldn't be great to be lawfully selling a product where young people may end up hospitalised (and let's just park alcohol for now....)

So, we could end up with low strength (and high tax) cannabis being sold legally, and there still being an illegal market for high strength, tax free cannabis.

Legalisation might not address the crime challenge

I once had a patient with cannabis induced psychosis. Young healthy man with no previously known mental health problems, spent weeks handcuffed to a hospital bed with two prison guards in attendance at all times because he was such a danger to himself and others. He was transferred to the psych hospital once his self inflicted injuries were treated so I don't know what happened to him but no one could say if the psychosis was permanent or temporary. I think of him whenever I hear anyone say that cannabis is harmless.

thousands of them, all around you right now. But you are Ok with that, because other industries are bad too.. That is what you said.

That is what YOU said. Child slavery is fine, dont make a fuss about it, unless you are able to reach all child slaves everywhere, then its not worth worrying about the ones five miles down the road.

That is what YOU said

But you are lying. I never said 'I don't care about child slaves,' did I? I don't even use cannabis but there is always so much self righteous hypocrisy on these threads. Funny that people only give a shit about human rights when it's something 'other people' are doing.

thousands of them, all around you right now. But you are Ok with that, because other industries are bad too.. That is what you said.

No. This is a lie. Again.

It would be cheaper. Lots would probably get stuff free on prescription. People could also just steal the drugs directly from the shops like they do now for alcohol and fags.

There you go again, exactly the same attitude, "dont care about this child slave, because there are others too" that is what you are saying

There are child slaves within a few miles of you right now, being forced to spend their lives tending cannabis plants, no education, poor nutrition, no medical care, and you think it is "self righteous hypocrisy" to care about them?

reread your post, that is what you have just said.

Drugs are not a welfare issue, people take them because they like them. My late brother took everything and ended up bringing large quantities into the UK. He did not have mental health issues until he started taking them

OK, you're not someone to be engaged with. Do continue to enjoy all your food, products, clothes, etc. while banging on about evil weed smokers.

There you go again, justifying your collusion with child slavery - do you really have so little self awareness?

What are you waffling on about? I've literally said I don't use drugs, I just think you and others like you should stop being big old hypocrites. 'People in glass houses...'

I cant believe how many ways people find to wriggle and squirm and self justify and minimise and deny the fact that they are colluding with child slavery.

And feel like if they through around accusations and say they are going to refuse to engage, that somehow absolves them?

if you collude with child slavery then you are a slave trader. That is all there is to it. There are no ifs and buts and get out clauses.

You are a slave trader yourself