Cannabis as a Class A drug?

[Craig the cyclist]

Not as much as I used to, but yes.

So you are unemployed, we know that cannabis use increases the chance of being out of employment.

You have 75p left in your account, so you are going to a foodbank.

You are buying and using illegal drugs which funds criminal activity, exploits children through county lines activity and brings misery to communities.

You have put a laugh emoji under an explanation of how a young girl died from drug use.

You are smashing life aren't you?

 

[Bromptonaut]

You are buying and using illegal drugs which funds criminal activity, exploits children through county lines activity and brings misery to communities.

And making Cannabis class A would affect that how?

 

[Bromptonaut]

That is an impossible question to answer.

But if we flip the question then the answer is 100%. 100% of people who end up with a cannabis induced psychosis would say they took it recreationally.

I suspect that some, perhaps many, of those taking cannabis are self medicating.

 

[AndyRM]

So you are unemployed, we know that cannabis use increases the chance of being out of employment.

You have 75p left in your account, so you are going to a foodbank.

You are buying and using illegal drugs which funds criminal activity, exploits children through county lines activity and brings misery to communities.

You have put a laugh emoji under an explanation of how a young girl died from drug use.

You are smashing life aren't you?

Are you trying to usurp our Welsh friend as Prince Consort of the Wallopers or something?

I'm not out of work because I occasionally smoke weed. I'm out of work because I am currently signed off, though I'm actively looking for work.

I haven't actually bought any weed in... a year or so. In any case, a friend of mine grows his own in an affluent suburb so there's no child exploitation there, or misery.

I put a laugh emoji there because she didn't die from taking E, she died from drinking a lake in minutes.

My life is smashing, thanks. Got a loving family and partners, wonderful friends, and a generally enjoyable life on a couple of forums.

But yeah, you carry on with your assumptions. Maybe help Jowwy keep tabs on what I like, yeah? You can give each other gold stars!

 

[qigong chimp]

Meditation or therapy might have done similar, without the chance of addiction or long term mental health risk.

Therapy can be addictive, and meditation has its casualties.

 

[icowden]

"Frequent use of cannabis, especially the start of use at a younger age, doubles the risk of schizophrenia development in the future [16]. Daily use of marijuana increases the risk of psychotic illness development with as much as five times higher risk in person using high potency THC"

Frequent use of alcohol especially the start of use at a younger age hugely increases the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver disease and digestive problems, cancer of the throat esophagus, voice box, liver, colon and rectum In addition, teenage drinkers are at higher risk of acute alcohol poisoning, greater chance of accidental injury and ending up in dangerous or vulnerable situations. Alcohol can cause changes to the teenage brain which affect concentration and learning, and can increase the chance of anxiety.

In which case why isn't alcohol a class A drug as well?

 

[icowden]

I don't understand how you think the two are different.

That's easy. Some people like a glass of wine on a Saturday night. Some people like to drink 8 pints on a Saturday night. Some people like to drink as soon as they get up, through the day and into the evening.

One of those groups sees no ill effects from alcohol. One of those groups sees weight gain, mood changes and other symptoms. One of those groups has severe illness sometimes resulting in death.

It also goes without saying that alcohol is heavily regulated. When you have a beer you know how strong it is. Decriminalisation of cannabis would achieve the same thing and undercut the drug barons. Personally I'd like all drugs to be decriminalised and regulated. You eliminate drug crime overnight. You get rid of the dealers and the drugs underworld by controlling the supply legally. You couple that with education and rehabilitation programmes, hugely reduce the prison population etc.

 

[BoldonLad]

That's easy. Some people like a glass of wine on a Saturday night. Some people like to drink 8 pints on a Saturday night. Some people like to drink as soon as they get up, through the day and into the evening.

One of those groups sees no ill effects from alcohol. One of those groups sees weight gain, mood changes and other symptoms. One of those groups has severe illness sometimes resulting in death.

It also goes without saying that alcohol is heavily regulated. When you have a beer you know how strong it is. Decriminalisation of cannabis would achieve the same thing and undercut the drug barons. Personally I'd like all drugs to be decriminalised and regulated. You eliminate drug crime overnight. You get rid of the dealers and the drugs underworld by controlling the supply legally. You couple that with education and rehabilitation programmes, hugely reduce the prison population etc.

As I have said above, that is pretty much my view too, for the reasons you state, plus, the so called "war on drugs" has not worked.

But, I do have one little niggling doubt.... how would "new" drugs be regulated, ie, it is my understanding that synthetic drugs can be changed slightly, so they become a "new" type of drug.

I may be wrong, never having been a user of illegal drugs (despite living through the 1960s).

 

[icowden]

But, I do have one little niggling doubt.... how would "new" drugs be regulated, ie, it is my understanding that synthetic drugs can be changed slightly, so they become a "new" type of drug.

I think you can do it by classification - opiates, cannabinoids, cocaine etc. Not an expert in this area though!

 

[winjim]

New compounds are generally a means to circumvent the law and/or evade detection. Decriminalise / legalise and regulate, and hopefully it becomes a non issue.

 

[All uphill]

Make cannabis class A and then there will be calls for a new category for cocaine and heroin, maybe class AA?

 

[Fab Foodie]

Make cannabis class A and then there will be calls for a new category for cocaine and heroin, maybe class AA?

We could have a new battery of regulations....

 

[AuroraSaab]

Personally I'd like all drugs to be decriminalised and regulated. You eliminate drug crime overnight. You get rid of the dealers and the drugs underworld by controlling the supply legally. You couple that with education and rehabilitation programmes, hugely reduce the prison population etc.

Unless you are going to monitor each individual's consumption, how will it eliminate crime? Alcohol related crime is still a thing. Unless cannabis and cocaine are as cheap as 4 cans of beer in Tesco people will still comit crime to get the money to buy drugs, just like they beg, steal, and shoplift for alcohol now.

Look at the devastation wrought by prescription opoids in the US. And that's under supposed medical supervision. Legalising drugs just seems like a huge gamble.

An A and E doctor once told me that most cardiac admissions of people under 30 were cocaine related. It's asking a lot of the NHS and the police etc to pick up the pieces when these things are more widely available.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Unless you are going to monitor each individual's consumption, how will it eliminate crime? Alcohol related crime is still a thing. Unless cannabis and cocaine are as cheap as 4 cans of beer in Tesco people will still comit crime to get the money to buy drugs, just like they beg, steal, and shoplift for alcohol now.

Look at the devastation wrought by prescription opoids in the US. And that's under supposed medical supervision. Legalising drugs just seems like a huge gamble.

An A and E doctor once told me that most cardiac admissions of people under 30 were cocaine related. It's asking a lot of the NHS and the police etc to pick up the pieces when these things are more widely available.

Whilst I don't disagree with your sentiments on drugs (and I would add alcohol into that), the genie is out of the bottle and at large. No amount of 'law and order' or crackdown's have an effect despite big budgets and good intentions. The best we can do is figure out the safest way to manage the problem and one where people with serious addictions get help and where we also drive-out the underground/criminal element - just look at misery of county lines for example.

Control is better than the free market of the criminal.

Of course in a better world we wouldn't need to get off our prawns so often, but reality's where we're at....

 

[Deleted member 28]

You have 75p left in your account, so you are going to a foodbank.

You are buying and using illegal drugs which funds criminal activity, exploits children through county lines activity and brings misery to communities.

You have put a laugh emoji under an explanation of how a young girl died from drug use.

You are smashing life aren't you?

Have to admit it doesn't sound like a very 'smashing' life to me but what do I know?