How long until Cannabis is legal in the UK?

[ubermaus]

I'd just like to add something at this point. I'm 100% in favour of legalising drugs.

 

But, and this may surprise some people, I don't take recreational drugs!

 

I hope some of the posters on this thread who seem to think the two are mutually inclusive can cope with this idea.

 

Same here. I don't take any drugs, partly because it's so hard to get decent ones in this country due to our ridiculous laws driving everything underground, boosting criminal activity & exploiting third world people.

 

The UK should legalise ALL drugs including cannabis, package / brand them, tax them and ensure we are getting good quality regulated drugs that dont kill people.

 

I mean you don't go in a boozer and expect to get an expensive, warm pint of ale watered down with weak lemon drink & aspirin do you? you also know exactly what volume is in a pint of ale.

 

---------- Post added 17-11-2014 at 12:03 ----------

 

I think there's definitely a connection with drug about and mental health. But I don't necessarily think their is a direct cause and effect in every case.

Regardless of that though, what makes you think that usage will increase if drugs are legalised?

I don't think there has been any significant increase of drug use in the US states where cannabis is legal. Nor in places like Portugal where all drugs are now decriminalised.

 

I think there is a tenuous link. Those people who were predisposed to mental health problems already before cannabis consumption. From what I understand it has lots of health benefits, such as pain relief for MS sufferers.

[Phanerothyme]

I have used all sorts. I know colleagues who have tried pot, but none of them still actively use it. He was using the active tense though, implying that half my colleagues' first action at home is rolling a spliff. They don't.

 

You said you'd

never encountered a professor that smokes pot

.

 

I was simply pointing out, providing you've met a significant sample of professors, that the statistical likelihood is that you've met one or more that smoke pot, however occasionally and whether you were aware of it or not. Since you work at two universities, it's likely that you have met more professors than most.

 

[i am using 'professor' in the US sense here, as a lecturing academic, but I don't imagine that Professors with their own chairs are any different, just a smaller sample size]

 

So when you said

Sweeping generalisations either side of the fence just demonstrate how little people actually understand about this topic.

you were actually providing a textbook example.

[Korky Kat]

-. From what I understand it has lots of health benefits, such as pain relief

Don't forget Brain relief.

[Cyclone]

Not really fair to use the US definition.

 

Professors in the UK need to work really quite hard to achieve the position, and they tend to be from an older demographic.

I wouldn't be surprised if far fewer of them smoked cannabis than the average amongst university academic staff, and that that % was fewer than amongst students.

[harvey19]

Not really fair to use the US definition.

 

Professors in the UK need to work really quite hard to achieve the position, and they tend to be from an older demographic.

I wouldn't be surprised if far fewer of them smoked cannabis than the average amongst university academic staff, and that that % was fewer than amongst students.

 

What % of students do you think use illegal drugs ?

[Cyclone]

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/drug-misuse-findings-from-the-2012-to-2013-csew/drug-misuse-findings-from-the-2012-to-2013-crime-survey-for-england-and-wales

 

Probably in the region of 20%.

 

There are no hard facts available, and it relies on self reporting anyway, so not really reliable.

 

---------- Post added 17-11-2014 at 16:01 ----------

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3818642/

 

More detailed discussion here

[Phanerothyme]

Not really fair to use the US definition.

 

Professors in the UK need to work really quite hard to achieve the position, and they tend to be from an older demographic.

I wouldn't be surprised if far fewer of them smoked cannabis than the average amongst university academic staff, and that that % was fewer than amongst students.

Absolutely.

I'd go further and say drama and art professors are more likely to smoke it than professors of business studies or engineering. But of course there several eminent leaders in their academic field, including a nobel prize winning physicist, who were confirmed tokers during their professional life.

[Harleyman]

I'd just like to add something at this point. I'm 100% in favour of legalising drugs.

 

But, and this may surprise some people, I don't take recreational drugs!

 

I hope some of the posters on this thread who seem to think the two are mutually inclusive can cope with this idea.

 

And prepared to pay a lot in taxes to care for the junkies once years of abuse finally catch up with them.... right ?

[Bonzo77]

And prepared to pay a lot in taxes to care for the junkies once years of abuse finally catch up with them.... right ?

 

How much money would the US save if it legalised drugs and stopped spending on the drug war?

 

I think it would be enough to keep taxes as they are and spend billions on rehabilitation, saving lots of money in the long run.

[psynuk]

And prepared to pay a lot in taxes to care for the junkies once years of abuse finally catch up with them.... right ?

 

come on, you know it would be more than self funding, the cost to the government is administration, regulation and dealing with the unlicensed sellers. (and production?)

 

I trust the guys who say I actually get a litre of petrol, who regulate that my beer is actually 3.9%, that ensure the meat content of my burger is <51% horse.

The procedures for quality control are pretty robust and established so there is no reason to doubt they could standardise and regulate drug quality.

 

Heroin is a very safe drug, cannabis is a very safe drug, ecstasy is a very safe drug when they are being produced AND used properly.

If the government were to actually take control of these then the damage caused by use would tumble to insignificance.

As it is, you've got people coating cannabis with sand, cutting heroin with fentanyl so on and so on. I don't really trust a lot of dealers to not increase their profits at my expense.

 

Who are the users going to complain to? It's a bit stupid to deny the users exist or that drugs are going away. So why not take control of the 'problem' and at least then there will be predictable results from and for the users.

 

not to mention the violence that goes hand in hand within the trade!

 

The financial costs of policing cannabis amount to at least £50 million a year (including sentencing costs), and absorb the equivalent of 500 full-time police officers. -http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/United_Kingdom#Economics

 

the US spends some stupidly large amount, 40 billion+ or something..

you could treat a fair few junkies with that I reckon.