To ask your opinions on cannabis and legalisation

[orangeleopard]

I’m just curious about people’s opinion on cannabis. I’m aware it’s illegal, but I believe it should be treated the same way alcohol is and be legalised. As one example why, I believe it can do wonders for people with chronic illnesses and pain. I think if it was legal I would likely consume it as a way to get me off taking the strong opioids I’m prescribed daily. It would be safer and have less side effects. I’ve seen stories of it helping peoples anxiety as well as helped people with neurological disorders etc.

On the other hand I think it can be very bad as most people I know who consume it have become very lazy, and angry when they don’t ‘smoke’ aka withdrawals and it likely caused their depression. But I’ve also known a person who has adhd and smoking has helped them remain focused and on track in day to day life. I suppose it does depend on the person.

I think my overall opinion is that it should be treated like alcohol - in all honesty it’s likely safer as no one has died from an overdose from cannabis. But I do believe it should be legalised and people should be able to safely access it like they do in the Netherlands for example. I honestly believe it would decrease crime a bit.

So what are all your opinions?

YABU- it shouldn’t be legal
YANBU - it should be legal

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-25968093.amp

I do however think legalising it's use would have its benefits. Despite the stink

You can buy dry herb vapes where it disguises the smell and you can't smell it at all.. so some of you need to know this.. not like the vapes everyone seems to use that smell awful.
I have a canard.. which l actually don't need but easier to show .((Cancard exists to assist front-line police officers when dealing with medicinal possession cases which do not fit into the scope for diversion or arrest, and where the officer may be considering the use of discretion. Cancard verifies genuine medical patients, so that you don't have to.)).
I'm allergic to opiates.. l have one of the dry herb vapes .. they average around £100..
Without using this l would have ended my life years ago.
On average l will vape it once every one to two weeks depending on my pain...
Maybe some of you need to educate yourself...l am not a druggie l am 65 years old ..( l don't smoke tobacco ..l don't drink alcohol.. these are both addictive drugs but yet legal??? ) some people drink to numb pain.
It DOES not smell! If you buy the correct dry herb vape..

My main concern would be the effect it can have on the MH of those who use it.

@WWolfpa

Where is your proof about it effecting MH?

You can get it prescribed i did for 3 months but I found it foul . It's also very expensive.

I don't think people can be trusted, look st the rampant abuses of alcohol and crap food. There's a health epidemic because of it.

Legalise, tax and keep introduce policies around purchase (limits on quantities/sliding scale for age/ MH patient considerations)

And limit smoking to private spaces or designated cafes/clubs/areas within park or public beach etc.

I don't believe it is a gateway drug and have always though legalising and having control of who buys it and how much, is the at to go. However having recently been in NYC, where you can pretty much smoke anywhere, I am a strong believer in limiting of areas. It stank and was disgusting.

Can't stand the stuff and would be happy if it disappeared overnight worldwide. However, legalising it would cut out the majority of crime associated with it, as it would reduce the profit margin on illegal supplies. so for harm reduction, it would be better if it were legalised.

I'm generally in favour of se criminalising drugs and addictions generally. The tax that would be generated The saving of police time, the reduction in psychosis and other detriment that are largely the cause of unregulated and unrestricted strengths would all be brilliant for the Uk. A boost in tax , relief of pressure on the authorities and a raised economy.

I also would not mind a recreational brownie on occasion myself.

HOWEVER the stench when smoked is soo horrific and having been to places where it's legal it is truly inescapable. Miserably so. I now avoid anywhere it's legalised because there's no etiquette or rules and it's smoked in public wherever you are for 24 hours a day. I often think it's what may be propping tobacco companies up too- smoking weed can easily lead to nicotine addiction that would otherwise not have happened . Which is a worry in younger generations when we are keen to see use of tobacco die out.

No. It STINKS. 😨

Not sure if this was meant for me but I haven’t made any claims about it affecting or not affecting MH

I've been using it as both an oil (either CBD - so the 'stoner' bits taken out or THC for evening use) and as what they care to call the 'flower' which I use with a prescription vape. I've had inflammatory arthritis for 30 years which has left me with significant, life altering amounts, of pain and stiffness so can access it as I'm documented to have tried a significant number of other pain relief options without any help. I get it on a reduced price private prescription.

Two parts to this; firstly I have experienced noticeable pain relief and am much more active which in turn helps with pain relief longterm. I no longer drink as alcohol in the evening was one way of coping with pain at the end of the day. I take less morphine and other medications generally. Also not once have I been remotely tempted to try heroin, this I think is linked to my second point.

Secondly the medicine I receive is regulated and made safe (irradiated to stop you inhaling fungal spores), it has a percentage not unlike alcohol. My medicine is 25% but at an estimate (from a radio 4 programme that touched on this) street versions can be 50-60%. As I get mine delivered by DPD from a regulated provider I am also not exposed to dealers who might try and offer other things or even taint my medicine with other products much reducing the slide in to hard drugs that people claim will be inevitable.

I think generally if everyone had access to regulated 'clean' cannabis it would be safer all round. Hopefully they can then work on 'the stink' because I agree it is awful and I go to very long lengths to conceal, although (despite it being legal for me to do so) I don't walk around with the stuff, I keep it to the safety of my bedroom.

Yes please. Legalise it. It's great stuff used now and again. I'd buy it now but I won't fund the misery of organised crime.

But, make it edible not for smoking. If you do want to smoke it, it should be resin nothing too strong. Don't take it until you're in your 20's. And save it for the weekend/period week. Taking it daily just wastes your life away.

I'm pretty sure that it's the criminal status of the drug that creates the gateway to other substances. If you're buying it illegally, you'll come into contact with offers of other stuff. There's also the very real phenomenon described by young people that, as cannabis as they experience it is relatively mild in terms of harm, can the authorities be trusted when they preach about other harmful behaviours.

If you are strong opiods for pain then you can already buy medical cannabis to vape/ ingest. To be honest the net is so wide for it practically everyone can get it that way now i would imagine!

@WWolfpa

Sorry was meant for @WoWolfiefan

Well it can be legally prescribed in the UK, you just need a private prescription. I was in a chemist the other day and they had a poster about what you could get it prescribed for (clue: it was a LOT of things)

I live in Canada now and here it’s legal. I’m always terrified driving and not knowing how many on the road are high and driving (there are some really crappy drivers here). Of course, people drink and drive but that’s more likely to be late afternoon/ evening while smoking weed is an all day thing.

I LOVE the smell of weed - a dream when you pass someone smoking it

I was just about to say something similar. Family member was a MH professional. Presumably prescribed in a controlled medicinal manner might be acceptable though. Would be interested in your views.

Well my Dutch friends hate the effects of living in a country where it is legal, especially as all the rich, privileged people who made it legal can afford to live a long was away from where it is being sold... it has had a terrible effect on the lives of those who have to live in the vicinity of the dealers. More crime, more hard drugs, more serious mental illness, and yes, more deaths.

My point of view, as someone who works with refugees, including freed slaves, is that the legal market acts as a cloak over the illegal market, complicating all attempts to control the illegal market, where thousands of slaves are in forced labour, many of them children, and the standard of the product is so hit and miss you literally have no idea what you are taking

https://www.thelancet.com/article/S2215-0366(19)30048-3/fulltext

This research is interesting.

I’m for cannabis where it’s been shown to help medical conditions. Massively against for everyone else.

I'm from Canada, where it's now legal. Absolute shit-show. Imo it should be more illegal than it is, here in London you can't walk down the street without being doused in it

'I want' is not enough reason to legalise anything and before anyone goes on about alcohol it is already legalised, if people want to fry their brains that is up to them it is not a need in life it is a choice to take it

so
no I see no need to legalise it

Yes I think it should be legalised and taxed.

Links to increased paranoia and mh issues plus it stinks (really put me off Vancouver when I ran along the beach one evening and there were people laying on the grass filling the air with that smell). On prescription maybe but not in a smoking format.