Taking into account the data provided from a number of sources I've met along the way and taking into account the questions raised in parts one and two, I draw my final conclusion on cannabis prohibition here in the UK.
My final interviewee from the protest was 33 year-old Dan from London who works in mental health services. Dan claimed to have first tried cannabis at around 16 or 17, but says he literally just tried it and then started smoking regularly at university at around 20. He now claims his use is sporadic, with month long periods of sobriety, then having short periods of daily and weekly use.
I suppose one might argue that total abstinence from anything can become an obsession itself. I personally feel that it's irresponsible to suggest that Cannabis is not addictive. Anything can become obsessive and compulsive with regular use. The point is that many legal substances such as coffee and chocolate can be highly addictive and are consumed by millions daily, no doubt causing a variety of health issues. Which to me, makes the argument that cannabis is or is not addictive a bit of a moot point.
Prohibition - 0. Legalisation - 0.
When I asked Dan about his worst experience with cannabis he described a particularly stressful, yet very sunny Summer's day. Dan claims that because of an unusual amount of personal stress he probably smoked a little to much and became sick, vomiting and becoming drowsy. He added that it hasn't happened for a long time but it was a good thing because it taught him to regulate his use.
I asked Dan what he was campaigning for to which he responded. "Talking about limits, I'd like to see some sort of regulation, so you know what type of cannabis you're buying. We need to see a harm reduction model to base a policy on drugs, allowing safer consumption of cannabis such as alternatives to smoking which would be the most harmful method of using it."
I asked Dan, from a professional point of view, what he thought about the study carried out by Norwegian mental health experts that suggested that the correlation between cannabis use and mental illness could be due to many mental health patients having used cannabis to self medicate.
He explained that the connection has always been a bit of a chicken and egg scenario because there are so many other contributing factors to mental illness. He agreed, as most would, that cannabis use could have a detrimental effect to the developing brain, reiterating his point about the need for regulation.
I asked Dan if he had ever been caught using cannabis to which he explained he had been caught once, about ten years ago at Notting Hill carnival. He claimed the officer could see he wasn't causing any harm and was very reasonable, not even confiscating his cannabis.
I heard a similar account from a Devon Cannabis Social Club a member who informed the police when planning a recent cannabis social. He explained that the police were compliant only asking if there would be alcohol. He explained to the police that there may be alcohol but it was unlikely. To which the police simply explained that they would be happy to remove drunk and disorderly people if required. On the day of the event there was no such incident and the police kept a respectful distance of the festivities, doing the occasional walk through, apparently completely unaware that every single person was using cannabis. I think not, but a happy ending none the less for the organisers, supporters and indeed police from a budget perspective.
During an interview taken with the Metropolitan Police for my next article I took the opportunity to ask police their views on prohibition. There were two officers, a PC and a VSO. I asked them how they felt about prohibition, to which the PC responded. "It should be regulated and prescribed. The VSO didn't really give an answer. I asked if pursuing cannabis charges were a strain on police resources and budget. The PC responded quickly saying "we should spend more" explaining that cannabis is not a priority on the police agenda. The VSO interjected that it's usually down to discretion, to which the PC agreed. When I pushed them for more of an opinion on recreational use they didn't give much of an answer. Perhaps confused by my question, the VSO responded with facts about the dangers of alcohol that seemed to only reinforce the anti-prohibition point of view. The PC went on to say that if they see someone in the street smoking it they have to say something, but usually only issue a street caution.
The officer claimed it's not a priority yet the statistics prove otherwise.
Based on the 2009/10 figures, cannabis offences made up 4 percent of criminal activity in the UK costing around £200M.
A heavy price tag for such a low priority issue.
In 2011, CLEAR, a UK political party dedicated to cannabis law reform funded a study by the Independent Drug Monitoring Unit (IDMU). Who estimated that the UK cannabis economy is worth approximately £6.8 billion a year. Provided the estimated UK consumption was correct and completely taxable.
With a 4% budget alleviation on the police force and 6.8 billion pounds to play with, maybe the government could spare the NHS from further cuts.
We should also take into account the social implications. After all, there are claims that cannabis is a gateway drug. But couldn't that be attributed to prohibition itself? It's by association with an underground market that makes it more likely to be offered harder drugs like cocaine or MDMA.
This is not always the case, but for many who make a living out of prohibition, it's a way of life. I spoke to Henry, a 19 year-old dealer from London. Henry claims to no longer smoke cannabis, claiming his first experience with the drug being around the age of 13 or 14. He claimed to have began smoking regularly, as was the norm within his social circle. He said at first he enjoyed it but after a while it "made him feel different", he began having panic attacks, dropped out of school and began dealing. He explained that he already had mental health issues in his family and that smoking cannabis at a young age may have exaggerated an existing problem. Henry stopped smoking cannabis himself over 5 years ago but still deals it among other things. I asked Henry, given his own negative experiences with cannabis,did it raise a moral dilemma in terms of how he chooses to make a living? "Not really", he responded. "It's not for everyone, they come to me. I'm not pushing it on anyone, they all know what they're buying". An honest answer I thought and a valid point. Ones own body, ones own choice I suppose. But when are we old enough to take responsibility for our own bodies?
If we were to follow an American model of cannabis regulation, we would see the legal age for purchase at 21 years of age. A model that most people when asked at the anti prohibition-protest, more or less agreed with.
I asked Henry how old the youngest person he ever sold cannabis to was. A delayed response, I'd asked him to answer honestly. "I dunno, maybe 12 or 13". I winced slightly but I wasn't surprised. After all it was around the same age that Henry had used it. What can we expect when it's use is criminalised instead of regulated. Rather than condemning shouldn't we be educating?
"They come to me, at the end of the day it's my job. I don't push it on anyone but if they ask for it, I'll sell it to them. It's up to them."
I asked Henry if he did anything else for a living. "No" he responded quickly, "this is my income, I can't really take more than 1 day off or I lose too much income"
I asked if it paid well, "yeah" he responded enthusiastically. "But I have a lot of responsibility for a young person." Such as? I asked. "My girl, my 3 year old daughter". This puts things into perspective. Mental health issues at school, possibly attributed to early use of cannabis, as a result,dropping out of school and becoming a dealer to support his young family. This is a criminal with few options,yet he found a way to support his young family by taking advantage of the very prohibition that put him in the position he is in in the first place. One might call that a circle jerk.
Maybe with better regulation and understanding of mental illness people like Henry, forced to make the best of a bad situation could finish their education and put their resourcefulness to more legitimate enterprise. But with many areas of the UK becoming more and more deprived, it's no surprise some turn to drugs at a young age.
After speaking to people fighting cancer, MS and depression at the protest outside the BBC and after accounting for fears of addiction and mental health implications, it begs the question, why is this issue being so widely ignored and why is there so much misinformation?
While writing this article, my first attempt at journalism, I corresponded with, recreational users, growers, police, ex users. self-medicaters, dealers and campaigners from all walks of life, who by sharing their own experiences have shed light on a deeply misunderstood issue.
One helpful corespondent who explained the rhetoric of the UK cannabis social clubs and gave me more informed details about the medical properties of Cannabis that is not reported in mainstream media was The Teeside Pro Cannabis Movement, who created widespread media attention following a campaign to spread hemp seeds and to allow cannabis to grow freely throughout the UK. A campaign also taken on by a number of UK cannabis social clubs throughout the country, such as the "Feed the Birds" campaign with the slogan, "resistance is fertile" on the invitation to their October protest, to which a number of cannabis social groups arranged invites. It seems that all of these groups share the same motive, regulation rather than condemnation.
Tree from the Teeside Pro Cannabis Movement had this to say.
"Back in April of this year I, Tree, was running the Tyne and Wear Cannabis Club Facebook page with Silver. We were plodding along quite nicely bringing people together with plenty of likes on the page and getting loads of information out there for people to digest. Then John Holliday from Teesside Cannabis Club got in touch with us and everything changed.
Credit where credit’s due, John Holliday has done more to galvanise the North East movement than anyone else has. Because of his passion and drive, we have gone from a Facebook page to a real force for movement in the North East.
In six months we have come from nothing to being at the very forefront of the legalisation debate. We have meetings with Ron Hogg, PCC of County Durham of Police, scheduled to discuss our proposals, and we have been invited to the Future of Drug Law Reform symposium to be held at Ramside Hall, Durham on the 27th of November.
We have always maintained that this is a community support group and no one works harder in that department than John Holliday. Because of his vision and single minded approach, the North East cannabis community are going to be the ones to watch when it comes to UK legalisation.
In conclusion, it's clear the questions need to be asked. Why is cannabis reform being ignored? What medical benefits does cannabis really have? Wouldn't regulation and education be a better solution to a growing drug culture here in the UK? Aren't these questions that we should be allowed to present in parliament? Isn't it in the public interest to investigate the truth about potentially life saving drugs? And who really stands to gain from prohibition?"
"Tree" and "DH" (Doc Holloway) also provided me with the following useful links to support the pro-cannabis campaign.
Please share and discuss your opinions in the comments. In my next article I take a look at the varying attitudes of police throughout the world with correspondents from Brazil, Croatia and the United States .
No comments:
Post a Comment