A Guardian report that three American states plan to legalise cannabis revives an old debate which has historically been polarised between left and right, the religious and the libertarian. What is clear is that prohibition doesn’t work. I believe the arguments for keeping marijuana illegal are much weaker than those in favour of decriminalising or legalising it, and what damage the herb does do is almost entirely the result of it being illegal in the first place.
The fact that Washington, Oregon and Colorado are holding votes on legalisation is a reflection of a growing consensus that America’s “war on drugs” is counter-productive, expensive and ultimately an unmitigated failure. Last year the Global Commission on Drug Policy reported that opiates, cocaine and cannabis had all increased during a decade-long war on drugs. The only winners in the war are the drug lords.
Even if you believe such substances should remain illegal it is clear the current strategy is nowhere near achieving its’ aims. It is much more likely to imprison ordinary people using for recreational drugs than catch the traffickers at the top of the chain.
If we want otherwise law-abiding citizens to associate with hardened criminals then keeping cannabis illegal is the way to go. It’s like outlawing coffee and forcing housewives to seek their caffeine fix from a guy who also tries to get them hooked on heroin and cocaine.
That is exactly what is happening with weed. This is a drug that, in its’ natural form, is not a contributing factor to violence and murder yet is classified in par with ecstasy and speed as a Class B drug.
Meanwhile the ‘drugs’ that cause tens of thousands of painful deaths each year (cigarettes), fill up our hospital casualty units every weekend and fuel violence in the home and on the streets (alcohol) continue to be perfectly legal.
Even several police chiefs agree it is nonsensical to dedicate huge police, court and prison resources on everyday recreational users and away from tackling real criminals with real victims. The answer is simple; take the ‘soft’ drugs like cannabis out of the hands of the criminal gangs by legalising and regulating it, and instead focus state resources on tackling suppliers of harder drugs.
Cannabis has its’ risks but it is inconsistent to argue that it should remain illegal while more the harmful alcohol and tobacco remain legal. I’m not in favour of any of the negative effects these substances produce but as a liberal I’m against criminalising people for using them.
If the purpose of outlawing drugs is over the danger they pose to the public then marijuana clearly does not qualify. Quite simply the reasons for prohibition do not add up. Besides, even though cannabis can have side-effects we cannot and should not legislate against every risk. The fact that weed remains illegal is the starkest example of the ‘nanny state’ that I can think of.
Liberal Democrat members voted to legalise cannabis at the annual conference in 1994 but this inconvenient policy was ignored and buried by successive leaderships, such is the nervousness of a backlash from the puritanical and moralistic Daily Mail. These are the very mindsets that must be challenged if we are to let rays of common sense into this debate and liberate Britain from ham-fisted attempts to control the population with prohibition of a drug that (if consumed properly) contributes to an increased consciousness.
Whether one approves or disapproves of the taking of mind-altering substances it is undeniably part of human behaviour throughout the ages. Alcohol certainly falls into this category. I take issue with 4×4 drivers – they damage the environment and annoy other road users – but regulation is the answer not giving 4×4 drivers criminal records which plight their lives.
Cannabis users deserve to know they are not consuming a cocktail of dangerous chemicals introduced by unscrupulous dealers to make the product more potent or addictive, regardless of the medical effects. All manner of substances have been found in cannabis, including Class A drugs. And then there is the constant strengthening of the ‘high’ by modifying the plant and its’ cultivation, which makes it less ‘natural’ and its’ effects more unpredictable.
The only way to take responsibility over the quality of what consume is to grow your own with kits freely available on the internet. But growing your own turns the user from a consumer (maximum jail term: four years) into a supplier (maximum jail term: 14 years). In other words people who just want a tok for relaxation, to alleviate stress or stave of depression or just to feel good – and who don’t want to play Russian Roulette with their spliffs – are turned into even worse criminals in the eyes of the law.
In Britain we caution and convict in the courts 90,000 people for cannabis each year. The failure of the political class to get to grips with solutions have allowed gangs to push Skunk onto our streets which induces effects quite different from traditional cannabis and hashish resin to the extent that there is a strong argument that it is a distinct drug and should be separated from the debate over decriminalising or legalising of cannabis.
There is no credible scientific evidence to suggest cannabis is a ‘gateway’ drug in itself, but a when dealers handle soft and hard drugs it makes drug ‘progression’ more likely. Gangs arm dealers with a range of harder drugs to peddle to cannabis users.
Legalising cannabis not only provides quality assurance to users, eliminating the risk of inhaling any number of dangerous and unknown substances, but also clears the way for an honest public education debate which can get to grips with issues like drug-driving in addition to removing the average smoker from associating with the criminal underworld.
There is another aspect to this debate. Many cultures have a tradition of consuming drugs, such as Khat in Somalia and east Africa. Buddhists, Sufi Muslims and some Hindus take cannabis, and Rastafarians value the drug as a central part of their faith. Indeed they point to Revelations (22:2) which says “the herb is the healing of the world” to back up their beliefs.
Rastafarians also bless the pipe they smoke with, dedicating it to Haile Selassie. Similarly in Nepal, where they have used cannabis since 2 B.C., they believe that smoking without first undertaking rites is a sin. The further back in history you look the more cannabis is associated with the act of communicating with the divine reaching a place of peace and enlightenment and trans-meditation.
Today the vast majority of smokers just want to get high or have the rough edges of their day smoothed out. Apart from true Rastas and dedicated ‘hippies’ there is a chasm between the herb and the spiritual benefits that it is known to bring. I guess it is inevitable in the concrete jungle life hardly goes any better with weed than it goes better with coke, especially if it is artificially manufactured.
I haven’t tok’ed regularly for some 14 years. After years of enjoying hashish it sudden gave me a feeling of mild nausea. And with my life at the moment, filled with politics and campaigns, I have no intention of returning to it. However if there is ever a day in the future when I’m living a peaceful life close to nature I may feel in a mental place to blaze up again. It’s nothing to do with being an old hippie – I’m not – it’s more a recognition of the origins and purpose of the herb.
An appreciation that it delivers more than a cheap high. In the right ‘space’ and with the right heart it can open up a part of ourselves, not by hallucination, but in a more subtle way. Some may not care for such talk but I, for one, regret that marijuana is no longer respected. Perhaps the normalisation of it that legalisation would bring could prompt such debates. Perhaps in an atmosphere where it is no longer a forbidden fruit people can be free to promote cannabis in a new way.
By Lester Holloway @brolezholloway
