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THERE’S ONLY ONE strain of cannabis available in Ireland, and it’s called “Do you want it or not?”
In 2019, I gigged Canada and California with my book and podcast. Both places where cannabis is fully legal recreationally. I sauntered into a cannabis dispensary. It was like an off licence back home.
An experienced budtender asked me what I smoked in Ireland? I said, I don’t know, it smells like petrol and gives me panic attacks. They talked me through the dozens of cannabis strains in the shop. Explained the strengths, the effects, the amount of THC and CBD in each variety.
I made an informed, safe, adult, responsible choice. I bought a pre packed joint of “cookie dough” for five dollars and it felt like God was giving me a backrub.
I stared, with a loving familiarity at a billboard of Ryan Gosling for forty minutes on Santa Monica boulevard. I never wanted to smoke “Do you want it or not?” again.
Prohibition doesn’t work
This week the college of psychiatrists of Ireland declared that cannabis was the gravest threat to youth mental health in Ireland. A statement that would encourage any compassionate and thoughtful person to adopt an anti-cannabis position. However, it’s more complex than that. To demonise cannabis is a very simple and sexy narrative that harks back to Reagan era America.
It’s a big dirty bold weed, that conveniently distracts us from two pressing structural threats to youth mental health in Ireland. Those being, a lack of access to mental health services, and the housing/rent crisis. We must view mental health in Ireland in this context. We should view the abuse of any substance in this context also, as substance abuse is often a form of self medication.
First, a disclaimer. Children shouldn’t use or have access to cannabis, or any other mind-altering substance. I’m not here to advocate for the use of cannabis either. If adults want to use cannabis, that’s their business.
Why should you listen to a Limerick person about cannabis? Well, the first person to introduce cannabis to western medicine was a Limerick doctor named William Brooke O Shaughnessy, in the 1830s. It’s an issue that’s very close to our hearts down here.
I’d like to argue for why cannabis should be fully legal and regulated, from a perspective of health and ethics. I’d like to appeal to thoughtful and compassionate adults, who can think critically and aren’t afraid of change.
In Ireland, in 2021, to use or buy cannabis is unsafe and unethical. It’s unsafe and unethical because it’s illegal. Prohibition creates and perpetuates the problems.
I’m aware that cannabis is heavily stigmatised in Ireland. So let’s talk about a more familiar and socially acceptable drug first. Drink. When we partake in a drug like alcohol, we have the agency to make adult choices about what we consume and why.
If I’m wandering around an off licence. I’m making decisions about my health. Do I want a relaxing glass of Malbec with season two of Succession? Do I want a few light cans with 3% alcohol so I don’t have a roaring hangover tomorrow? Do I want a 12% craft beer that I will sip slowly and cautiously? Because alcohol is legal and regulated. I can make confident predictions, and have a degree of control over my safety and behaviour. I can drink responsibly.
What if alcohol was illegal though? Would I be able to drink responsibly? It would be fairly difficult. Because the only alcohol available to me would be high strength Poitin, made in someone’s jocks.
Criminal gangs would control the market. Every time I’d buy a drink from a dealer, I wouldn’t know if the alcohol content was 40% or 90%, or even if the drink was cut with a dangerous substance. Such as the deadly “Jamaican ginger” which drinkers in the US turned to during alcohol prohibition. It contained a neurotoxin that caused users to permanently lose control of their hands and legs. Illegal cannabis in Ireland today, is a bit like this.
‘The pug of the hash world’
Is drink safe because it’s legal? Absolutely not, alcohol abuse is a serious public health problem in Ireland. But at the very least, we can make informed choices, drink responsibly, and know what abuse looks like.
Cannabis users however live under prohibition. The market is controlled and regulated by criminal gangs. We don’t know how strong the weed is, we don’t know if it’s sprayed with chemicals. We can’t use it responsibly.
The Cpsych report stated that “THC levels in cannabis have increased dramatically”. THC is the chemical in cannabis that gets you high. It’s also the chemical that psychiatrists say poses a threat to mental health. But, Cannabis in its natural state, contains a balance of THC and CBD. CBD has been shown to protect the brain from any potentially harmful effects of THC.
Why does today’s cannabis contain such high levels of THC? Well, because it’s illegal. This is what the gangs are growing. Before the millennium, the main form of cannabis available in Ireland was Hash.
Then 9/11 happened. The yanks found out that some hash producers in Morocco were funding Jihadists. Hash disappeared. Then, gangs and dealers started to breed their own weed, in massive grow houses, under lights, with hydroponics. Competing with each other for the strongest most psychoactive buzz.
The CBD was bred out, and high strength THC weed prevailed. Think of dogs, think of pugs. A pug would never exist in the wild. Only a human could make a pug. Ya, they look cute, they’re good craic hanging out of a handbag, but the poor pricks can die if they fall on their own faces. High THC weed, is the pug of the hash world.
Because cannabis is illegal. It is potentially unsafe. A legal and regulated environment, like with alcohol, would allow adults to choose cannabis varieties, based on their strength and effects. You could choose the equivalent of a beer, or a wine, or a whiskey. You wouldn’t be forced to drink the mystery jocks poitin. We could exercise responsibility.
Time for common sense?
High THC weed would still exist just like high strength spirits exist. It just wouldn’t be the only option available. This is what a sensible, health-based approach to cannabis looks like. It doesn’t bury its head in the sand, like the prohibition model.
Another, troubling issue with Irish cannabis, is that it’s unethical. Because illegal cannabis in Ireland is controlled by criminal gangs, it is often grown using human exploitation. In 2014, a report by The Migrant Rights Centre found that victims of trafficking and slavery were being sent to Irish prisons for growing cannabis. It stated that these victims made up 75% of Irish convictions for large scale cannabis growing.
These people are smuggled into Ireland from countries like Vietnam and China, they are then forced to work off their journey, in horrendous conditions in Irish cannabis grow houses. When the Gardai raid, it is these victims that are given hefty imprisonments, and no the gangs who are victimising them. This is human rights abuse. One that exists because cannabis is illegal.
So, what would an Irish cannabis user do today, if they wanted to attempt consuming safe and ethical weed? They’d grow it themselves, privately, in their homes. They’d purchase seeds online, from a reputable grower. They’d choose a strain that has a THC/CBD balance. They’d know for certain that a human hasn’t been exploited in the process.
But there’s a catch. In 2020, Ireland took a milder criminal stance on small amounts of cannabis for personal use, to free up Garda and court time. If you’re caught with a small amount, it will be dealt with informally under the adult caution system. You won’t get a criminal record. However, if you grow a plant for personal use, you risk between 12 months or 14 years in prison.
Therefore. Prohibition pushes cannabis users into the arms of gangs and dealers. Why would you risk prison for growing weed when buying a €50 euro bag from a dealer each week carries no criminal prosecution? The law in Ireland makes cannabis unsafe, unethical and it actively sustains gangs.
Cannabis isn’t going to go away. Let’s follow the example of countries like Canada and states like Colorado. Construct a legal, regulated industry that creates employment, and generates taxes that can be used to fund addiction and mental health services.
Allow adults access to a safe, regulated product, where we have the informed choice to consume responsibly. Take the growing and distribution away from criminal gangs who are engaging in human rights abuses.
Or else we just keep doing what we’re doing. Pretending that prohibition works, and ignoring the problems it’s creating.
Blindboy Boatclub is an artist, author and podcaster. His regular show ‘The Blindboy Podcast’ is available wherever you get your podcasts.
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It is absolutely baffling how anyone in this day and age could support the prohibition of a plant. What is even more baffling still is the vast majority of cannabis prohibitionists I’ve encountered over the years are more than happy to drink a pint of beer without a minutes thought. The “mental health side effects” are of utmost concern when a natural plant is concerned, but when it’s chemicals in a pint glass you’re good to go. The cannabis debate is a debate that exists solely due to ignorance and a lack of education on the topic, which is hammered home by the demographics of those who support prohibition
@Alec MácGrianna: The “mental health effects” are complete and utter do-gooder concern trollers. If they actually cared about the mental health of young people they’d realise legalisation is the only sensible option with net benefits from this demographic.
What has prohibition achieved? Devastation, criminal gangs, death, a black market, and so much more. The majority of young people have access to cannabis before alcohol. The majority of journal readers have smoked cannabis. The majority of UCD students have smoked cannabis. And 1 in 5 people in Ireland (over 1 million people) have consumed cannabis in the last 12 months. Prohibition has completely and utterly failed.
That is why they are do-gooder concern trolls.
@Tomo: no politician could deny that prohibition has utterly failed, but the system around it is dependent on the money it generates. So instead of disrupting that long established venture, politicians who are themselves misinformed, prefer to keep the public afraid with outdated opinion. It’s not only senseless, it’s such a backward business model. Grow, Regulate, Tax, Support, Enjoy!
@Alec MácGrianna: I 100% agree with legalisation, but the “it’s a plant narrative” is something that needs to be dropped, it’s a very weak argument. Herion is goop scraped off the seed head of a poppy, so you could just as easily apply the statement to that. The difference is it’s a very (with some exceptions for developing brains in younger people) safe plant. And it gets even safer when legalised and regulated.
@Conor Bradley: The ‘just a plant’ argument stems from the fact that most people who say this know that the prohibition of cannabis isn’t and never was for the benefit of public health.
It was against Fianna Fail’s “social values”.
@Tomo: I’ll take the unpopular opinion here. I don’t think it should be legal. The tch does have impact on mental health permanently. Make it legal and people will just find illegal stronger cannabis. Sure make it legal for medical purposes if it has a benefit there.
Of course if cigarette and alcohol were invented recently that wouldn’t be legal either and yes both do damage too but does that mean we should allow more. Some even say make cocaine legal I mean some people are nuts.
Not that it would be but if it went to a referendum on it is say no.
@Tom Ripley: you have stated your unpopular opinion, but with out showing any real valid reasoning or in fact understanding of the situation. By the way cannabis use predates alcohol or cigarette use. Your post seems to suggest it was only invented recently and so should remain illegal because cigarettes and alcohol were around first and have taken the limited legal spots available.
@NotMyIreland: I meant if alcohol and cigarettes were not legal until now they wouldn’t be make legal as they do their own damage.
However cannabis does a lot of damage to the mind with prolonged use. for that reason no shouldn’t be legal. Users deny medical science on subject. Fair enough, but it’s not legal and won’t be anytime soon. I’m happy with that.
@NotMyIreland: Cannabis use does NOT predate alcohol use.
@Tom Ripley: you are concerned about the harmful consequences of cannabi use, and that’s a legitimate concern to have. The question I don’t think you have asked is this: what are the harmful consequences of making cannabis illegal? Only when this question is answered can the harms of prohibition be weighed against the harms of a regulated model of cannabis use. Taking everything into account, whether you think cannabis is bad, or just another substance that adults should be able to use responsibly, you should be against prohibition – simply because the best way to minimise the harms associated with cannabis is to legalise and regulate.
@Alec MácGrianna: amen
@Tom Ripley: So we’ll continue to bury our heads in the sand while criminal gangs rake in the profits and become more dangerous. The war on drugs failed along time ago, isnt it worth at least trying some other method?
@Tom Ripley: What makes you happy about it being illegal? How does it affect your life in any way? It doesn’t.
Cannabis use is 1000’s of years old and will continue until the end of time. Prohibition is the NEW experiment since the 1970’s. It’s only been stigmatised and illegal for a relatively very short period of civilisation. The prohibition stems from racism and “social values, not public health.
Prohibition isn’t for the good of public health. Give me some examples of when cannabis being illegal has helped society? I want receipts.
The conversation about whether it’s healthy or not is over. That’s not why it’s illegal. Everyone who wants to consume it happily does so every day. The conversation is now about the benefits of legalisation
You shouldn’t go to prison for a herb.
@sean o’dhubhghaill: yes it does earliest evidence of cannabis consumption dates to 8000BCE where as eariest evidence of alcohol consumption dates to 7000BCE. So the evidence shows us cannabis was consumed up to 1000 years earlier than alcohol. But don’t let archaeological evidence skew your false sense of the world.
@Tom Ripley: when you talk about the negative effect of long term use of cannabis are you referring to a tiny proportion of users or are you suggesting long term use harms all users?
The facts do not bear this suggestion out.
I know many long term users with happy productive lives filled with wellness and the joys of life.
You may refer (pardon the pun) to studies showing that long term changes the structure of the brain. This is true but bear in mind long term involvement in chess or exercise also change the structure of the brain.
Cannabis is relatively harmless. Society just doesn’t like the idea of people being “high”. That is the real reason for the illogical prohibition we find ourselves embroiled in.
@sean o’dhubhghaill: STUDY. “Early Man Smoked Weed Before Discovering Alcohol” https://vinepair.com/booze-news/early-man-smoked-weed-before-discovering-alcohol-now-wonder-its-called-the-stone-age/
I live in a Colorado. It’s been legal for a long time here. Pros and cons for sure. My mother in law was in a bad car accident and she swears the cannabis is cream is great for pain. I love edibles flour and vape pens. I love cannabis and it is addictive. Those saying that is not are clueless, it is and I’ve smoked for over 15 years. It’s no different than drink. We need to educate people on it and it’s not and not always about getting high as a kite. I honestly think it would help our country. A negative for sure is if you legalize how accessible it is to kids in schools and creating a new issue. It’s 2021 Ireland should get with the times educate the people and reap the benefits that the drug barons are getting, tax it and use that money to improve roads, healthcare services etc.
@Ollie McBurnie: Studies from Canada suggest under-18’s consumption of cannabis decreased after it was legalised.
In order to achieve this, the entire country must switch over from the black market to the legalised market. This is done through good public policy.
@Ollie McBurnie: The problem with how addictive it is is that many people are misinformed. Cannabis does not create a physiological addiction like alcohol or heroin however it can creat a psychological addiction. Unfortunately many advocates of cannabis just go with the ‘it is not addictive’ line which leaves no room for nuance.
@Ollie McBurnie: ive smoked for over 20 years and have taken long breaks when needed. I have never had withdrawal like you’d have with cigs or alcohol. Its addictive in the sense that i enjoy the ritual and feeling but there are no DTs or cold sweats. And besides, regulated cannabis has a better ballance of thc and ‘protective’ cbd. Legalise!
@Tomo: which studies?
@Tom Ripley: https://calgaryherald.com/news/cannabis-use-among-canadian-teens-down-since-legalization-say-researchers
Would also recommend that you do some of your own research on this. Judging by your other comments, you need to
@merely ed: I’m torn on the issue of legalisation here. I’ve enjoyed it myself a good few times and wouldn’t mind being able to access it occasionally but I do know a large number of people who are 100% addicted to it despite them saying otherwise. I remember they would be in absolute panic stations if they couldn’t smoke for a couple of days. High profile users get lauded for their addiction to it and it’s not questioned too often. Here a recent article on Seth Rogan. Replace “roll a joint” with drink some alcohol in the headline and what would the man be described as? https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/seth-rogen-i-wake-up-in-the-morning-i-make-a-cup-of-coffee-and-i-roll-a-joint-1.4545652%3fmode=amp
@Longlin: but seth rogen CAN roll a joint and smoke it and go about his day being a successful actor or making pottery ashtrays or whatever he’s up to for the day. Many people can and do wake and bake. Try that with alcohol and all you do is end up needing another and another after that. You can comparing apples and bowling balls. There is no comparison between cannabis and alcohol.
@Longlin: when I was a student back in the 90s, a good friend of mine couldn’t get up in the morning without having a joint. I believe it is addictive.
@Helen Douglas: I believe your friend had more serious issues going on than a morning joint. Did you ask?
@JustBEERbarry: Have you never heard of a functioning alcoholic? There are plenty out there who are completely dependent on alcohol but appear normal to the outside world. Also for every constant stoner that can function relatively normal, there are plenty of others including several I know myself who have effectively withdrawn from normal social life, preferring to spend time in their own company with their smoking.
@merely ed: I got addicted to nicotine and it took me 20 years to get off the stuff. the cannabis I could stop and start whenever I felt like it.
it calmed me down and relaxed me.
@Tomo: It’s understandable that teenagers will use something less when it’s legalised. Much of their fun is the thrill and lure of the forbidden. Stop forbidding it and it becomes boring.
I don’t have stats or a link to any studies, but I recall reading how children growing up in Mediterranean cultures being allowed wine…..sensibly….were far less likely to become problem drinkers when they get older than kids in more restrictive countries.
Someone growing a plant and smoking it is not harming anyone yet you’re given 12 months to 14 years in prison for it. People need to be adult about this situation and grow up. There are far more pressing issues yet they’re happy for the majority of the Garda budget to go into drugs and COVID checkpoints.
Waiting for the usual: Don’t buy drugs it funds criminals line that usually pops up on these articles. Let’s see if they actually read the article and realise that it only funds criminals while it is prohibited whereas if legalised it could be contributing to the exchequer. Let’s also see if anybody who drinks sees it fit to comment about how abhorrent cannabis use is in an ironic and hypocritical comment. I’ll get the popcorn even though I don’t have the munchies.
@Diarmuid Hunt: Lol @ you jist needing to get your comments in even before anyone made those arguments
@OnlyHereForTheComments: because those arguments are to be pitied and anyone who uses such an argument is also to have their intellect questioned and pitied.
The main problem with this debate is the complete ignorance on the side of the sceptics, many of whom have probably downed a gallon of their favourite tipple before dancing the night away to a song written and performed by someone who smoked cannabis regularly and consistently. Maybe even sang along to one in the car….. lets say for example, ‘On The Road Again’ by Willie Nelson. A prolific smoker of the stuff for many years. Many people will have gone on holiday where it is now legal. They were giving out free joints in New York if you produced your proof of taking the Covid vaccine. Cannabis ain’t the devil, the devil is not protecting your citizens when it has been proven elsewhere, in modern western countries, that there is a better way to approach this.
@David Joseph: Whatever happens with legislation, those who are pretending that legalising it will be a panacea are either foolish or lying. Suicide rates and cannabis-related ED attendances have gone up in US states that legalised it. We have to be happy to accept trade-offs like this if we legalise.
Put it on the next referendum Let us choose.
@Go On: Oh Dear! Please learn the difference between a Referendum and a Plebescite.
@Go On: The only way to get things done in a time where visionless politicians are terrified they wont secure a full pension after 8 years work.
The trouble with this is that users seem to prefer the strong stuff, which is not safe and will not be regulated. It will therefore continue to be prohibited and so it will still be criminalised, which brings us back to square one, does it not?
@Dick Barrett: If you could get three bottles of good whiskey for €50 or two which would you choose? You don’t get to spend only €30 or €60 because there are no options, you can buy €50 of good whiskey or bad whiskey? If it was legalised people, as the article clearly states, would have choice and be able to make informed decisions. Also how many ‘users’ do you know not everyone wants the same thing and do you call all people who drink alcohol ‘users’?
@Dick Barrett: Did you read the article?
The reason there’s so much THC and no CBD is due to prohibition and lack of regulation. Nobody knows who’s breeding what to create what. 15% THC is the same as 15% THC with CBD. The only reason that THC dominates is because CRIMINALS are the only REGULATOR of the cannabis market.
@Tomo: this just isn’t true. These new strains come from california and Holland where its legal. Do you really think criminal gangs are doing complex breeding programmes and testing to come up with new seeds and strains with the nefarious purpose of removing CBD? Lol.
@jl: ??? The whole point the guy was trying to make was that prohibition means we are stuck with this THC induced market from people who have bred cannabis to this level of THC potency with a lack of CBD.
How is anyone supposed to know what they’re consuming? Are you suggesting that prohibition hasn’t caused people to consume more THC than they would want?
@jl: Its not legal in Holland, its decriminalised. So its still criminal gangs who grow it there.
@jl: if you believe the stickers the lads from Finglas are putting on the containers to charge a premium
@jl: but you are right these strains are created in Canada or the US where it is legal. But they are created with hundreds of other strains too. Its just that the criminal gangs then pick the high THC strains as the ones that they will grow to sell here. We don’t get the other strains where the THC content has not been increased but rather they have focused on the THC/CBD balance or the terpenes in particular.
Putting it in terms of alcohol again when the criminal gangs look to the US or Canada for a strain to grow for sale here, they don’t look at the hundreds of new flavourful craft beers or the new well balanced wines, they only look for the strongest new spirts available and bring that to Europe to maximise their profits. Its kind of the whole point of the article that in Ireland we just have to take what we are given, so forced to drink a whiskey when we actually wanted a beer. But obviously just like alcohol there is a time and a place for the stronger stuff too.
@jl: High levels of THC are achieved by growing female cannabis plants in a state of sexual frustration. The highest concentration of THC is in the resin of the female plants. This resin is sticky to catch male pollen. But with no male plants around the female plants produce more and more of the psychoactive THC containing resin. It’s as simple as that. No strains or breeding programs needed.
@Dick Barrett: wrong wrong and wrong
@Diarmuid Hunt: If you want to get locked you buy the cheapest hooch with the highest alcohol content. If you want to do the same with cannabis, you won’t be heading down to the cannabis offy!!! You’ll be going to the local pusher. While legalising cannabis may be good for the drug equivalent of the craft beer drinker… Those, VULNERABLE, uneducated people , on the edges, kids in ” lower” class areas, those looking for the next better buzz will still be there while the next push comes to legalise the next one because noone seems to be able to say NO !!!
@Dick Barrett: I’ve been smoking cannabis for almost 20 years and I actually would prefer to be able to buy a low THC with a decent CDB ratio as I enjoy smoking it to relax and chill after a busy work day but dont enjoy getting too high.
The problem as Blindboy points out, there’s no choice in this country, you take what you can get.
Mota hospital admissions per Irish shrinks
300% increase over 12 years with no reference to a baseline doesn’t mean much!
And when dates such 2005 thru 2017 are cherry picked, it looks like they are trying to find data to support a predetermined conclusion.
Regardless of trends, what were the Alcohol admissions per year over the same period?
What were the impacts of alcohol both for the individual as well as their extended family circle?
Did the shrinks attempt to compare
levels of family violence for each drug, family budget impacts, job loss, accidents, etc
The world has gone well beyond the 3 times rule of repeating the same extreme enforcement model and “hoping” for a different outcome!
Time for change.
wiser to legalize the bud in such a way that the black market is eradicated.
I think alot of the anti legalisation people have no idea how flooded the country is with cannabis. It might as well be legal. The garda will never win. They should tax it and put the money back into our health system.
So we’re supposed to listen to a guy who admits smoking something that “smells like petrol and gives me panic attacks” talk about making safe adult choices……no thanks mate
@DM: So keeping it illegal and in the hands of criminals enables “safe adult choices”. Is that what you’re saying? People are going to smoke it regardless of whether it’s legal (and safe) or not legal (and unsafe).
Or did you like many more on here not actually read the article?
@DM: I’m really really sorry you can’t see the irony in your own statement. Have a think about what you read and what you typed. Then read it again. It will come to you.
I’ve had a few bad experiences with the newer stuff years ago. It was probably the equivalent of drinking a bottle of absinthe straight up when I just wanted a few beers lol..fair play blind boy, spot on as usual.
@Derek Moran: wouldn’t a choice and clear defined regulation of the substance done wonders for you in that situation? The advice of a bud tender who would talk you through all your options, take any questions or concerns you may have etc would really have benefited you.
It’s a terrible reflection on this country when a man wearing a mask influences a large portion of the population on outdated laws, and doesn’t even have to lift an Armalite to do so.
We have lost all fighting spirit.
@Graham Bolton: What has his mask got to do with anything? How do you know that he has influenced these people and not just resonated with sentiment that was already there? I think you may be reading far too much into things that have nothing to do with anything other than your predetermined concept.
@Graham Bolton: Read the article and comment on what they are saying. Why are you focusing on their appearance? Do you focus on the lecturer and not the content of the lecture?
@Graham Bolton: I think you are confusing a mask with a balaclava there pal. And have you noticed the whole country is wearing masks now due to Covid?
@Graham Bolton: It’s a terrible reflection on this country when a bloke on the Journal comments gets offended by a man talking about legalising a safe drug whilst he himself has numerous Facebook pictures drinking a more harmful but legal drug.
When somebody uses alcohol as their counter argument, they’ve already failed. Visit a mental health facility and speak to somebody who deals with drug induced psychosis. You’ll know then why ‘a plant’ is illegal. The poppy is another plant. We get heroin from that one. Legalise that too? Cocaine from the coca plant anyone? Unfortunately the vast amount of people wouldn’t choose the ‘low grade’ variety if illegal. There’s no such thing as ‘safe cannabis’.
@Clevie Sal: Legalise them all. You’re still not getting it. Prohibition has FAILED. There is no benefit to it. Cannabis isn’t illegal for the good of public health.
Are you advocating to ban alcohol? Because that is ridiculous. I’ve had two uncles die from alcoholism, I hate the stuff, and this country is completely obsessed with the drug, but I would never want it banned because I know that would lead to far WORSE problems.
The mental health problems are a product of Fine Gael/Fianna Fáil public policy. They stem from a vast array of issues. Alcohol, cannabis, etc. is their way of escaping. It is certainly not the root cause.
@Clevie Sal: Blindboy didn’t use that argument, because it’s nonsense.
@Clevie Sal: I can guarantee you in those mental health facilities you speak of, there will be a lot more people there as a result of alcohol than weed.
@Clevie Sal: both Heroin and cocaine go through a lot of processing from Kant to final product. It’s like saying bread is wheat. Therefore a bread is a plant.
But otherwise yes. Legalise both. Both are made significantly more dangerous by prohibition.
@Clevie Sal: someone suffering from pysycosis has bigger issues to address than cannabis. Try harder
@Clevie Sal: Well both the poppy and the coca plants derivatives are already legal and prescribed to thousands and deemed safe….what makes medicinal cannabis so different that it is not “safe”?
@Clevie Sal: Poppies grow all over Ireland. We get opium fro the poppy plant which through a chemical process becomes heroin, Cocaine is rendered with acid and piss to create that ‘keep you up and drinking (ironically) for a few extra hours’ buzz. Cannabis is consumed as a plant in it’s dried state, or as an oil, etc. Respect the choice of the individual. Come on Sal you can do better than this.
@Clevie Sal: There’s no such thing as safe cannabis? Wow – that is some statement to make. Thanks for making it clear to everyone reading that you’ve no idea what you’re talking about.
8000 people dead every year from alcohol in IRELAND…
0 people dead every year from cannabis on the PLANET…
@Kevin Bruce: Total bollox. And no one is advocating getting plastered every night anyway, are they? If you’re in doubt, ask your loved ones would they mind if you went on a bender anytime you felt like going on one and see what they say. Just because you can buy 10 bottles of whiskey in a supermarket doesn’t make it right to drink a bottle a night 10 days in a row. Why is there always a reference to drunks by those advocating drug abuse? The drunks are just like the stoners, they wreck their own lives and those around them, living in a stupor. Stay sober boys and girls and only drink in moderation. You will reap what you sow. If you are taking any level of drugs or drinking in excess, stop and get help. Don’t take any advice from well meaning Charlatan Celebrities.
@Colin Heffernan: you just argued for legalisation. If you can buy 10 bottles of whiskey every night, that doesn’t mean you should. This can only be achieved in a regulated market. Otherwise people wouldn’t know if they were drinking cider, vodka or hand sanitiser.
@Colin Heffernan: good man Colin, keep beating that abstinence drum, its worked massively across the world since the beginning of time, hasn’t it?
@Tomo: you fail to understand that you can enjoy whiskey in moderation without getting skuttered. You can’t get stoned in moderation. I thought this was clear and obvious, but apparently not, so no, I’m not arguing for legalisation of dope, nice try at putting words in my mouth, but no.
@JustBEERbarry: well, it works for successful people, it works for happy well adjusted people and it is worth advocating. We know it doesn’t work for people who end up with drug related mental health problems from a young age for the rest of their lives. Why gamble with your future? The cost of funding mental health services for people who refuse to take heed from warnings about drugs will not be met by a little bit of tax on pharmacy dispensed legal drugs, Income Tax and other Taxes will need to be massively increased as society carry the ever greater burden of people who can’t work because of mental health illness arising from drug abuse.
@Colin Heffernan: of course you can get stoned in moderation, and you could do it easier if it was legalised. Just smoke or eat as much you want. But if it was legal and you knew the strength of what you were ingesting that would be easier. So yeah actually your argument, although you fail to see it, lends itself to the legalisation argument.
@NotMyIreland: Total bollox. Stoned is stoned, no half measures. You’re not getting your drugs legalised, just accept it and move on with your life and try to be as productive as possible.
@Colin Heffernan: What complete nonsense! 250,000,000 worldwide consume cannabis regularly (at least once per month). About 5% of the population of Ireland are regular consumers. If you seriously think that all these people don’t get “stoned in moderation” you demonstrate a complete lack of understanding of cannabis and of common sense.
Maybe time to learn a little more before you come out with such bizarre statements again?
@Colin Heffernan: not sure you understand the term “in moderation”. Of course you can consume cannabis in moderation. Less than 5mg of THC for the average 70kg person, does not cause them to get “stoned”. Yes you could say they are under the influence of cannabis but they certainly wouldn’t be stoned. Your simplification of the point is the same as me saying sure once you had one drink your “drunk”.
Of course your not, I know this because I understand that whether its alcohol, THC, medicines or even coffee, they need to be consumed to a certain level to effect the body, and also that for more experienced users of any of them, tolerance also comes into play.
So no its not “total bollox”, as you so eloquently put it!
@Kevin Bruce: some kids have been brain damaged by a bad splif. Good cannabis OK, and for medicinal treatment yes.. but I wouldn’t normalise its use, and I’d prohibit it for kids.. as it is proven to hinder adolescent brain development. Yes drink is a scourge but drugs are too nowadays.
Cannabis is devastating young lives with regards to their mental health and people think there is is a safe cannabis??
@Martin Gordon: absolutely – it comes in so many strains, strengths, methods of use, comes as a prescribed drug too. There’s no doubt that some of *beep* available on the streets is horrendous quality. But guess what isn’t.. the licensed products for sale in a dispensary in Colorado. You cannot make a blanket statement that all cannabis is bad, because it blatantly isn’t.
@Martin Gordon: Nobody is suggesting young people should use cannabis in the same way the young, developing brain shouldn’t be exposed to alcohol either but unfortunately, teens being teens, they will take those risks no matter how hard we regulate it. Would it not be harder for kids to access it if there were less dealers selling it (who don’t give a s*** who they sell it to), and it was available in a dispensary where you’d need ID? Obviously wouldn’t stop them getting it but it would make it a damn sight harder.
@Martin Gordon: people think there is safeR cannabis. Prohibition makes cannabis more harmful.
@Martin Gordon: Based on healthcare records, which are facts rather than projections or theories, and adjusting for different levels of use, under the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) anyone is 6.7 times more likely to suffer ‘mental and behavioural disorders’ associated with alcohol use (f10) rather than cannabis use (f12).
When the political and medical leaders in Ireland have the courage to start basing policy on facts and evidence rather than myth and prejudice, the entire nation will benefit
It is really clear the war on drugs has been lost .The world should just legalise .People will still be lost to addiction and bad reactions but the harm that the war on drugs is doing to the world is unbelievable.
No one seems to have mentioned the biggest danger of all from smoking or ingesting cannabis whatever level of THC it might contain. The most unfortunate and worrying effect I’ve observed over the years while people are using it is the sudden onset of a totally unsupported belief that both they and what they have to say is somehow amazingly interesting. It’s such a sad sight to see, hordes of uninteresting and boring people believing their stoned banter is actually witty, clever and meaningful conversation! I think it’s especially evident in some of the comments here. In terms of the arguments for legalising drugs there’s a very interesting book from the early 90′s available free online called ‘Ain’t Nobody’s Business If You Do’. Definitely worth a read for many other reasons as well…
@William Tallon: We’re beyond that now. Everyone who wants to smoke cannabis does so. Young children are smoking it easier than they can access alcohol. It’s probably such a “cool” drug among that demographic because of its illegality and it’s ubiquity. Prohibition has failed.
@Tomo: If young children are using cannabis their parents are wilfully neglecting them .
@Aine O Connor: My teenage son was offered a drag off a joint from a school mate, walking down to the bus after school. Thankfully he told me about it but, no matter how well you parent your kids, you can’t shadow them 24 hours a day.
@Tomo: We’re beyond that now? Does that mean they’ve finally cultivated a strain that makes boring people genuinely interesting when they smoke it and will stop them stating the bleedin’ obvious ad nauseam? Great news and if true would represent a tremendous advance for humanity, which might even put the self-help industry out of business. Hopefully it’ll become the dominant strain and in time we’ll see a ‘trickle down effect’ in the Journal’s comments section but I won’t hold my breath for that happening anytime soon if ever…
@William Tallon: People probably say similar things about you after you’ve had a few pints William.
@FrustratedASDMum:The fact that your son told you about it is proof of your good parenting.
@William Tallon: your talking nonsense and from your second post you seem to think its funny, so you have become the subject of your own post.
@Aine O Connor: Thank you Aine :) It’s not often you feel like a ‘good parent’ so it’s nice to hear it once in a while! My teen hasn’t had an easy time and has had a lot of bad things happen in his life which might lead him down a self-destructive path. I’ve just tried to keep the lines of communication open as much as possible and be open and honest with him about drugs and alcohol. Hopefully he’ll continue to make the right choices as he navigates these last few teenage years.
@FrustratedASDMum: You are doing great.
To be fair, the general trend in cannabis in North America and Holland is towards stronger strains for THC, and with seperate strains completely for CBD. Those super strong seeds the gangs are growing aren’t bred by the gangs themselves, they wouldnt know how. They are imported from the States or Amsterdam.
@jl: Israel is huge in the cannabis industry, leaders in the research and growing of medical cannabis. It also grows wild in many countries. You’re right though Sativa and Indica strains favouring THC or CBD are generally kept separate. Hybrids with a bit of bith would be the way to go.
@jl: Many tens of thousands of cannabis smokers in Ireland may want a balance. They may want majority CBD and 1% THC. They want choice and regulation.
They don’t want to smoke unknown content crap off the streets from gangs.
@Diarmuid Hunt: The vast majority of seeds these days are hybrids, it’s actually very hard to get pure sativa landrace strains.
@Alan Byrne: Yeah I made a mistake there.
@jl: Canada is where many of the strongest strains originate that and the US.
@Tomo: you can walk into a lot of headshops in Ireland and get exactly this, apparently legally. Grass with up to 15 percent CBD and less that 1% THC.
@jl: You can purchase CBD, not THC. THC has a lot more medicinal and relaxation benefits. And even though it’s legal, the Gardai still spend our tax payers money raiding them. The stigma created against this plant in this country stems deeply.
@jl: anything over 0.2% THC in CBD oil is illegal here, so well under 1% THC.
I don’t think there’s any chance of this government doing anything considering it had the chance to stand up to the church about all those children they murdered they decided to just take all the responsibility themselves instead. Just think about that for a second why would this government stand up to developers not building adequate housing if they can’t stand up to people who actually killed 9000 baby’s.
@Simon Fusco: t be fair this government didn’t do it ,previous one did but I often wonder did President Higgins era as a politician have knowledge of it
@FlopFlipU: oh no this current government took responsibility for the deaths after the leak there has been no politician to say a single word against the church not even a whisper
The ‘cannabis leads to hard drugs’ brigade will be shaken to the f€kin core reading this!
@Cat Reid: well if that brigade were half as concerned as they say they are they’d already know that alcohol and cigarettes are the biggest gateway drugs out there and always will be.
@JustBEERbarry: Don’t smoke and drink in moderation, it’s not that difficult, is it?
@Colin Heffernan: why not smoke or drink in moderation? Everything in moderation.
@NotMyIreland: smoking is a dirty smelly expensive habit which causes cancer. Read the warnings on the pack. It doesn’t make you ‘cool’ you know.
@Colin Heffernan: yep thats why I quit. But I still wouldn’t pontificate to others on the subject. Each to their own.
@NotMyIreland: you asked me the question, I answered it and you claim I’m pontificating???? I think you need to lay off the drugs my friend
@Colin Heffernan: you forgetting your original statement. Look above my question. Its not difficult
I don’t think FG or FF will ever legalise cannabis as they are outdated with their beliefs. Here is a way of generating a huge amount of money creating sustainable Irish jobs and making a product that benefits people. We would be able to make our health system the best in the world with the money generated. The Cannabis Industry is worth €800 million annually to the Netherlands.
IMO it’s not really a question of whether it’s safe or unsafe, it’s more to do with economics as the drinks and tobacco industries have the market in recreational libations.
They don’t want competitors
@Paul: that’s been world over at this stage and it’s already been proven all 3 can live side by side. Alcohol is terrified of it but there’s room for both. There’s enough pie for everyone, alcohol just wants all the pie.
I drink but I don’t smoke. I find it abhorrent and don’t understand the attraction. That being said, it exists and a large percentage of people still do it. The same with cannabis. The argument put forth by blindboy can’t really be countered. It’s still a disgusting habit but we either face it or continue to let it be an underhand and therefore attractive option to kids. Legalizing it might actually make it less attractive to younger minds
@Joecantdance: Its good that even people that hate it can see why it makes sense to stop criminalising it.
A lot of smokers dont drink at all either, swings and roundabouts.
@Joecantdance: I don’t smoke either, I used to, gave up 8yrs ago. A lot of cannabis users also choose not to smoke. There are MANY other options to consume it via edibles, capsules, oil, tincture, suppository and vapourising etc rather than smoking. I am more interested in the medical use and benefits however I think it should be legalized and regulated just like alcohol and tobacco.
Yes I think it should be made legal but not under the age of 25/26, due to the brain not being fully developed until this age, which can cause damage by the drug.
What a load of bo11ix
@M.J. O’ Neill: The article, the comments or the laws governing cannabis?
@Diarmuid Hunt: All 3.
The people most concerned about cannabis legalisation are the millionaire dealers!
I was commissioned to write an article on WB O Shaughnesy, the doctor who first used cannabis medicinally (what a man, such achievements, what a life,) and in doing so, I learned a lot about how weed came to be outlawed in the first place…it was essentially a racist, alarmist propaganda onslaught by Harry J Ansslinger, head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics in the US and no other propaganda campaign that I know of has retained such traction. Cannabis is a thing. It’s here. People use it already…prohibition is useless. The argument should be about choice. An adult’s right to choose and not be criminalised for that choice.
@Georgina Downes: Well said
@Georgina Downes: ‘William Brooke O’Shaughnessy – From There to Now.’ https://www.clear-uk.org/william-brooke-oshaughnessy-from-there-to-now/
An excellently written piece. Thank you.
the cost of 50 euro per bag should really be 3 euro. the price is arbitrary, a makey uppy price tag, that will be used a base line price and increased by the moral crusaders imagining they are taking some moral high ground from criminals. the shit should be given away free, but doesn’t suit anyone’s business model.
Free the weed so we believe for in it we live move and have our being (breathe) Legalize it will; we ever realize it…
Pardon me mate but the issue has become a football in the quasi political/moral debate where you can leave any and all sharp items that might be incisive at the gate and truth is the pressure on entry
Sometimes a dog needs a bone but be mindful when you take up arms strike out on from and leave home alone that seeds sown may sprout but with care and attention you can ignore what the establishment mention
And the resulting deflection is to vote left of centre (if at all) in the next election when the cause been an extreme right to get high ignoring that all birds of a feather can’t fly: so therefore logic is censured
Dig deep find some sense to meet with When you walk talk eat sleep shit
Drink smoke There is always hope of a big hit Have another little bit One size fits all; ever been measured for height and width Hold your breath feel the fellowship flow thick Tock tick tock I could swear by the time on the clock But a continuous moving mechanism does not constitute a solid rock
On which to roll ( getting a bit fudged on the buds) another cone Hush… never mention weights and measures on the phone
Why does blowing green ‘n looking for cheap knocks on small lumps off big blocks put people in line prepped for the dock
When all they want to do is get out of their box
So ease up the pressure is the theme of my love letter when I go get her
My sweet Mary Jane tings never been the same since I met her
Never better… I swear never bet her
At sail on a full head with a devil in the detail
If weed for sale pollen for retail alls planned with contraband still available under the table
listen this fact not fable them with ears well able
To legalize it will enable thru regulation and proper tender by due process the nomination of a great defender: them given license, them pay the fee
Them tax you, (o shit mother) Them tax me
Basically making a commodity out of something growing naturally
No vat no handling fee
This good for you this good for me
But you got to think twice
Take care what you free
Fear care might take ye
Careful prayer will make you see the difference the subtly
Be a player: is this a rip or a tare
Anyone care to share
Ever ponder the point Legalize it
Now ponder mine, knocked down in rhyme
Size it realize that this the way foreword
don’t choke the smoke
De-criminalize it
@Clevie Sal, Methadone is a heroin substitute given to addicts freely by the state. Addicts can also go to Merchant’s Quay for a clean needle, injection centres are coming here and some countries give actual heroin to addicts. That drug is practically legal anyway.
I don’t disagree with the argument but the headline, “if you don’t agree with me you’re wrong” not the words of intellect.
@Gerard Jennings: If you believe the COVID vaccine has less net benefits than negatives, you’re simply wrong. If you believe that prohibition works, you’re wrong. And if you believe that it protects young people, you’re wrong. There is data and economic literature to back all of this up. Everywhere. There’s just a huge stigma against this plant.
@Tomo: you saying I am wrong does not mean I am wrong, it suggests you’re lacking basic interaction ability
@Gerard Jennings: you are wrong when the facts are overwhelmingly against you.
@Gerard Jennings: but if you don’t agree with ending prohibition then you ARE pro-prohibition – it’s the same thing. Prohibition X =unsafe unregulated X.
If cars were unregulated and prohibited, would they be safe?
What about airline travel? Would that be safe or less safe because of regulation?
@Gerard Jennings: Hide under your facade of intellectual conversation all you like. If you are against legalisation, you are pro-black market cannabis and all the bad things that are associated with that.
If sugar was banned tomorrow, think about the consequences of unregulated black market for sugar. Do you think everyone’s going to stop because the government said so? People are adults and are able to decide for themselves what to ingest based on the information they possess.
This is simply sociology and economics.
Still nothing on that fg troll
I’m all for blindboy here. But please stop comparing alcohol to cannabis. I’ve abused both of them for years. Two very different drug! I know that legal cannabis would be less volatile for mental health. But its still a mind altering drug in a way that alcohol isnt. We should definitely have a regulated cannabis framework of some kind in this country…..but my god we would need to be careful with it. If alcohol was discovered today it wouldn’t be sold to anyone over the age of 18.
@james spice: why would you deny someone the enjoyment of having a nice glass or two of red wine with their Sunday Roast? There are people out there who can enjoy a glass or two and leave it at that. There is no harm done to anyone in these circumstances. If you can’t stop at two glasses, that’s your problem, don’t deny me the right to enjoy a couple of glasses.
@Colin Heffernan: How on earth can you have the unbelievable nerve to make that appeal (which I agree with) and then argue for the continued prohibition of cannabis?
You must be joking, surely?
@Colin Heffernan: Oh the irony!!!
It obviously must be lost on you….
@NotMyIreland: There’s no irony on me. If wine was invented tomorrow, which it cannot be by the way (irony lost on you my friend), society would permit it because in moderation it has no ill effects. The fact that maybe 3% of the population would abuse it would not make it reasonable in denying the remaining 97% enjoyment of wine, done in moderation.
@Peter Reynolds: I’ve seen the damage done by drugs. I’ve seen suicides, attempted suicides, anti social behaviour, mental illness, family breakdown, people lose their jobs, people losing hope for a better future, its a very bleak picture. I’ve yet to meet anyone who came out the other end completely unscathed and said ‘what a blast!’. Have you?
@Colin Heffernan: Firstly you also seem not to understand the term Irony and secondly I never said anything about wine or when it was invented. Only pointing out that once again the point of your argument could just as easily be applied to cannabis.
Also I’m not so sure your theory on alcohol would be correct. Just look at the rating of all drugs danger levels, alcohol consistently ranks in the top 5, with many studies ranking it as the most. Below is a link to a recent study that places alcohol as the 4th most harmful drug, while cannabis is rated 13th, lower than some prescription medicines! But as alcohol is thousands of years old we will never know. I also notice your reply to someone else about the destruction caused by drugs. But you ignore the fact that according to the WHO alcohol related deaths account for double the deaths from all illicit drugs combined. 2.8 million alcohol deaths worldwide compared to 1.5 million illicit drug deaths. And statistically cannabis accounts for on average 2% of those.
@Colin Heffernan: and according to a USA study up to 17% of men and 8% of women will meet the criteria for alcoholism in their life. So a lot more than the 3% you plucked out of the sky.
@NotMyIreland: my God, in America you’re an alcoholic if you were slightly tipsy once.
@Colin Heffernan: 6.9% of drinkers in Ireland are dependent with 54% scoring as problem drinkers. Thats 1.35 million. So much for 3%.
@NotMyIreland: I am not promoting alcohol abuse. You stoners can’t think straight. I am not even promoting moderate intake of alcohol, I’ve never forced anyone to take a drink.
@NotMyIreland: I’m talking about the general population, and I never mentioned its the Irish population. Anyway, the few who abuse alcohol have no right to demand those who are able to simply enjoy alcohol should stop. That would be completely perverted justice.
@Colin Heffernan: you gave a precentage of 3%, I simply corrected you, with stats from the USA first, which you belittled, and so then from Ireland.
I’m thinking perfectly straight my friend. Your the one who seems to get a little confused by your own arguments.
@Colin Heffernan: I’m not promoting the prohibition of alcohol, prohibition doest work.
Anyway, the few who abuse cannabis have no right to demand those who are able to simply enjoy cannabis should stop. That would be completely perverted justice.
Just so you see the commonality of your alcohol argument and the cannabis argument.
And if that applies to alcohol why not cannabis, which is far less harmful with far less problem users?
@Colin Heffernan: Yes! 99% of all cananbis use is problem free and causes no harm to the consumer or wider society.
This is a fact but sadly our politicians want to base policy on the 1% who have problems. Imagine if we based alcohol policy on the 10% of consumers who have problems.
We’re living in a time of individual right and wrong AND in the global centre for begrudgery. Most people are not really that interested in the point of the argument, just that the coin lands on the side they’ve chosen. What’s best for the future? We’ve already messed up the place for the next few generations, maybe we could try raising the bar instead of lowering it.
@thesaltyurchin: legalisation of drugs won’t happen. Let the dreamers keep tripping in their own heads, nothing will change. Too many people have seen too much damage done by illegal drugs. There is no appetite amongst the general public to make it easier for allowing people to screw up their lives faster and harder than currently possible while being facilitated, aided and abetted by the State
A lot of the illicit cannabis in Ireland is at best low quality and at worst toxic and dangerous. I’m pro legalisation but I don’t think it solves the underage exposure to the bad stuff.
@MacReady: as the market for illegal cannabis would decrease with legalisation dealers would simply get out of it. Its the most easily detected drug and not worth the hassle if the market was say under 20′s only. Niche market suppliers can only grow so big in any market place and usually drug dealers are about making as much money as fast as they can. It just wouldn’t be compatible for a drug that was most likely to get seized or get gang members caught, with such a reduced market
Cannabis is so yesterday! Given the speed with which scientists worldwide developed a Covid-19 vaccine hopefully now they’ll focus their efforts on creating an analog of the drug ‘Soma’ as featured in ‘Brave New World’, which will then be freely available to the population as in the novel. The legalise cannabis debate will then fade into history and we’ll all be happy forever and ever not to mention compliant. Bring it on…
You’ll find caffeine causes not so dissimilar side effects. At least equally concerning. Or sugar. But we allow three things because for the most part people can enjoy them without doing excessive harm to themselves. 88 deaths from alcohol a month in Ireland. Are you campaigning for prohibition of alcohol?
Drugs or Drink or cigs is not the problem its people who take them and why they take it
and every person has a different reason for taking it
Our government take drugs in the Dail Eireann there pub sell alcohol which is a drug
In Dail Eireann Live many tds have spoken with slur in there voices and they are making laws for all of us Any famous people who come over they are taken two a pub and they lifting a pint of Guinness every body smiling as well as president of different country s
We nitty pick what drug should be banned and we hound people who take them we fine them we put them on the news pages internet news they are fined bye court s and many cant pay and we put them in prison what brilliant way to take some one apart destroy them and how many has this happened two
all Drugs are dangerous we need two education how much two take what are the effect of the drug teaching people how two live with an a diction rebuild that person on why they started two take it so in there time two come of it there TIME
I believe every body two there own poison and stop hammering people because or government say its illegal they are backward nothing they do is ever right a slow snail would pass them out
.
Personally I wouldn’t have much of an issue with hash being legalised and regulated. Although I think some studies have suggested that hash can be a gateway drug to class A which is interesting. I also find it interesting that there has been such a massive push to effectively outlaw cigarettes over the past 29 years and now we may be considering legalising hash. You would also wonder what the bad boys who deal in hash are going to do with their spare time. Somehow I don’t see them becoming priests or addiction counsellors.
@GrumpyAulFella: Tobacco is banned in a lot of the Dutch coffee shops, you have to use an alternative herbal mix. I could see the gangs moving into underground tobacco, alcohol and maybe even meat in time.
@GrumpyAulFella: The only reason cannabis could be considered a gateway drug Is because it is illegal, you have to get it off a drug dealer and they offer plenty of other drugs and want you to get addicted to them.
@GrumpyAulFella: what are the bad boys going to with their spare time? Is that a genuine question?
Try continuing to deal harder drugs, keep killing each other and innocents, trafficking innocents, money laundering and so on and so on. I doubt they are going to stop their chosen career path either.
Its not about stopping the criminals it’s about making a substance substantially safer, stopping innocents getting ridiculous criminal convictions, raising tax revenue for the benefit of the entire nation while also removing the need for the police to chase a substance around daily. You know those 10,000 999 calls that were ignored? That might not be the case in the future.
@GrumpyAulFella: Cannabis is only called a gateway drug because its illegal. A person who smokes cannabis might call their dealer to get a bit but he’s ran out and say’s but I have a bag of ‘insert any class A drug here’ instead if you want it, that person says ‘ah why not, I’ll try it’.
If cannabis was legal and regulated it would be taken out of the hands of these drug dealers.
They should put low levels of mdma in northern Irelands drinking water
The problem with weed is the crazy acceptance that it’s OK to work and function socially on it. It’s great craic but it’s a drug kids!
That’s a informative article for once from a different perspective. Makes perfect sense to me.
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