To think cannabis isn't harmless?

[freedom26]

Cannabis seems to be normalised and many people don't even consider it a drug. My brother-in-law is a psychiatrist and he says that he fears legalization in the UK as it would increase

In his 20 years of work, he says that the patients who only used, alcohol, or prescription drugs had a far better outcome for their mental health than those who smoked cannabis regularly (apart from the addiction) who regularly visited after suffering a psychotic break.

Cannabis is obviously far safer in terms of physical health than other drugs and not everyone gets the bad effects, but people seem to downplay the potential harm it can cause if you're predisposed to psychosis/schizophrenia.

If I think back my childhood, I went to a high achieving private school were many people I knew dabble in all sorts of drugs and it seemed that even among the excessive users, those who used cannabis and didn't develop psychosis still fared worse in terms of academic achievement than those dependent on alcohol who usually reduced their drinking as they age.

But the medical prescription canabis they know exactly what strength it is.

I have been a social worker for many years. Almost all drug addicted adults start with alcohol and weed, this is true. But they usually start at an extremely young age due to neglect or trauma, and they very quickly introduce other substances into their lives as cannabis doesn't do the job by itself. Most addicts have been using substances as well as weed since well before their 18th or even 16th birthdays. Saying that weed is the factor that leads to addiction is conflating correlation and causation and missing the bigger picture. Most teenagers who smoke weed only smoke weed, and may move on to party drugs when they are a bit older, but never develop addiction or misuse. Because weed isn't the problem for most people, it's the underlying issues that are masked by weed.

There is! Cannabis farming is a pretty exact science. I vape weed occasionally and I know exactly how much to put in the vape for the effect I want. It's as predictable as alcohol.

Edited because Im a dick who can’t read

The voting agrees with you?

Yeah, ignore me I’m a dick!

I think it would send out a message that it's safe.

Filthy, smelly disgusting habbit that turns its mostly young male users into lazy dossers with mental health issues.

Yeah, 'sending messages' is also not a verifiable outcome of a substance being legal or illegal. If you want to make an argument, at least look at the evidence. Criminalising cannabis doesn't decrease use, and legalising doesn't increase it, messages or no messages.

Perfect viewpoint here in my opinion. I would actually like to use it but know that I can’t really control what strength I would be getting, so being able to buy it from a dispensary would be amazing, also it would be great to be able to vape it.

Personally I find it incredibly frustrating how people who drink alcohol can generally be very judgmental about cannabis considering the harm alcohol does to society, but I know from experience on here it’s best not to venture into that argument as you tend to get your arse handed to you, probably from someone typing furiously with a glass of wine in their other hand!

I actually think legalising it would make it safer. It could be regulated and prescribed with usage monitored. It won't be cut with goodness knows what and in cases of dependency like pain killers doctors can monitor its effects in the patient.

It seems that illegal usage is happening anyway, might aswell make sure that there is a way for it to be safer.

With regards to legalisation we have the worst of both worlds now. It's unregulated so it just stronger and more potent and laced with whatever. Plus organised crime profit. If it was legalised years ago it would be a lot different, look at tobacco now.

But it's not legalised and people still smoke it in the middle of the street with no pushback.

DBIL is an alcoholic that smokes all day and I would say in that instance, certainly it harmful.

However, as someone who doesn't smoke cigarettes (or vape), hates the smell and aftertaste, and doesn't drink- it's the ONLY thing that will kick a full migraine.

I have triptans that I use on days where I'm expected to be somewhere etc. but if I'm not working, and I'm off the next day, I'll smoke a joint. It doesn't get me high- it literally gets rid of the migraine in about 10-15mins. So I can see that it has a benefit, too.

I used to think it was. People don't understand the strength of the current strains of grass that are common now. It isn't the gentle weed that older people remember from their youth.

My dad smoked it a lot and died of a heart attack at 39

Take alcohol. If it was illegal (as it was in America 100 years ago with disastrous consequences) then you could get a crate of beer from the local dealer that's 15% strength (for example). Go to a supermarket or a pub where it's licensed and you know exactly what you're buying.

Same with cannabis. People don't know the potency or ingredients of what they're smoking or what the criminal they're buying it from has laced it with.

As they say in the JUUL documentary, breathing in anything other than air is bad for you.

I would argue that breathing in air is also bad for you. 20,000 people a year die from poor air quality in the UK so I'm not sure that rings true. How many cannabis deaths are there?

No Illegal drug is completely without risk of harm. The question is whether the risk is proportionate to the legal sanction.

I don’t use cannabis and haven’t for many years but I used it without any harm as a youth for over a decade. Most of the people I knew also used it and the vast majority of them did so without any real harm. I too know someone who had a psychotic episode as a young man who smoked cannabis. It was impossible to know for sure if there was a direct causative effect or not but it would be absurd to pretend there are no risks at all. On the other hand I know dozens of people whose health has been ruined by alcohol.

Thr question for me has always been can there be a justification for keeping cannabis illegal when alcohol is legal and widely available. There’s no question that alcohol is far far more dangerous than cannabis. It seems increasingly morally dubious that the “safer” one is illegal (albeit with some tolerance) while the far more harmful one is not only tolerated but heavily promoted and completely normalized. I have never been able to square this circle.

I don’t think it would be ideal to legalise cannabis. Legalising any previously banned drug sends a dangerous signal. I think we need far greater restrictions on alcohol.

People are saying that it isn't physically addictive but it is.

Withdrawal is coupled with insomnia, no appetite and sweating.

Because when it's left in the hands of organised crime it's an unregulated substance. Prohibition is harmful to the user.

Queen Victoria used tincture of cannabis for her period pains. When her doctor told her he had run out, she told him that she was not amused.

Older people still tend to mix it with tobacco but most younger people roll it near or use vapes/edibles. It only really smells if smoked with tobacco I think.

agree with other it’s to hard to unpick the cause and correlation with mental ill health as there’s so many overlaps with other environmental and individual factors.

and drug induced psychosis is absolutely not what is ‘crippling the nhs’ thats nonsense.

Omg I did my sw placement aat a drop in for addicts and the cannabis addicts just have no memory whatsoever. It was like 50 first dates - they couldn't remember meeting me so we'd have the same conversation 5-6 times!

Your acedote is a single experience. It's a well established fact that cannabis increases the risk of psychosis.

*Perfect viewpoint here in my opinion. I would actually like to use it but know that I can’t really control what strength I would be getting, so being able to buy it from a dispensary would be amazing, also it would be great to be able to vape it.

Personally I find it incredibly frustrating how people who drink alcohol can generally be very judgmental about cannabis considering the harm alcohol does to society, but I know from experience on here it’s best not to venture into that argument as you tend to get your arse handed to you, probably from someone typing furiously with a glass of wine in their other hand!*

To me, the issue is about impact on other people, whether that's directly, eg: inflicting a disgusting stink on others through smoking or vaping, or indirectly, eg: through associated violence, impact on health services etc

And that goes for any substance: alcohol, tobacco, cannabis....

Personally, I don't smoke or vape, I find the smell revolting and I certainly wouldn't want to smoke anything known to be harmful. I rarely drink, but if I do, it's because I sometimes enjoy a glass of wine with a meal or a g and t. I never drink any amount of alcohol before driving, and I never drink enough to feel drunk.

I have no problem with people having gummies if they feel it helps them - that has no impact on others. I don't actually care if people choose to smoke within the confines of their home (provided there isn't any impact on neighbours) though ironically, many smokers go outside to smoke because they do actually know the smell is pretty rank and that just being in a house where someone smokes has a detrimental impact on children.