Drugs, gimme drugs! (Should cannabis be legalised?)

Member Name: Motley

Product:	Should cannabis be legalised?
Date:	09/12/00 (27 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Could remove a darker element of trade and could help with lots of pain related illnesses

Disadvantages: Regulation. It's difficult to do and I'm not sure how our government would get it right.

I am in full support of all the lobby groups who demand the decriminalisation of cannabis. My motives are selfish as I suffer from MS and although my partner and I are not sure whether I would benefit from whatever cannabis derivative the NHS would come up with if it were legal to use for medicinal purposes, it would be nice to find out.

We do know that cannabis (in its pure form) can help me. It can ease all sorts of pain, helps with fatigue and can give general relief from MS symptoms (of which there are too many to mention). However, currently, we don’t know what kind of long term side effects I may suffer as a consequence of persistent use of cannabis. In truth, nobody does know (scientifically) what kind of long-term effects there may be, as it has never been studied in a scientific and replicable manner. The double blind tests are being carried out at the moment and it will be very interesting to find out what the results are.

I have slightly different views concerning the legalisation of cannabis from a social point of view. I know that it is widely used in our society and it does not appear to be causing a social problem. However, the reason that we have not heard of any obvious social problem may be because it is not being measured and therefore not reported on. My instincts are that cannabis tends to be a drug used socially by the 15 – 30 year old group quite frequently and anyone over 30 less frequently. I do not feel that there are any major social problems caused by the use of cannabis. But I’m not sure about the trade of it.

I am not so sure that using cannabis does not lead to use of harder drugs. In fact I think that using, and buying cannabis may well lead to the purchase and use of harder drugs. I can remember when the thought of using cannabis was outrageous to me. I would have advised anyone against using it and would not have approved or respected anyone who did. I feel very differently
these days. The use of cannabis has been normalised in my society and I worry that this may happen to harder drugs too. There is some evidence to suggest that this is what happened with cocaine. Cocaine was a hard drug, which was feared by many in the 1970s. The 1980s came along and cocaine became fashionable. During the 1980s, cocaine was nearly as popular at some parties as beer was.

I can see a situation where the use of one drug breeds the use of another. I know that the situation in Holland does not back up this theory but I still fear it. If you can use a drug to make you relaxed and to ease pain, then why shouldn’t you use one to keep you awake, or to help you have fun? However my biggest fear surrounding this element of drug use concerns the trading of it.

I am concerned that currently some dealers cut cannabis resin with other addictive chemicals in order to retain their customers and suggest other products. I would strongly advise against using resin and sticking to grass in order that you don’t get caught out like this. A couple of years ago there was a bad batch of resin in the West Midlands which had been cut with a chemical that is used to put horses to sleep during operations (ketamine). It was a highly addictive substance and very dangerous if overdosed on. This kind of thing takes all the fun and safety away from cannabis as far as I am concerned.

However, if the sale of cannabis were to be decriminalised then this darker element would hopefully disappear. Overall, I believe it would have to be a good thing to legalise the use of cannabis both for medicinal and social purposes and hope that by doing so we could all take advantage of the benefits that cannabis offers.

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