Sarah Graham reflects on Day 1 of the ACMD’s public hearings on cannabis reclassification. She says she made 5 points, and had a sixth she’d wanted to make:
1) That the day was entirely missing the voices of young people- especially those who have experienced cannabis dependency. That the recovery process for this drug is long, slow and painful. And from a psychological perspective it can be as, if not more so, difficult as some Class A drugs to heal from.
2) There is very little cannabis specific treatment provision in the UK- especially for young people.
3) I reminded the ACMD that although we had heard many rational, scientific arguments today, drug use is emotionally driven. Becoming dependent on substances isn’t very rational.
4) Skunk is a brand in itself- you need to understand it’s place in drug “culture”. So, therefore, classification is a SYMBOLIC statement. Not just about the nitty-gritty of sentencing etc. Is cannabis a “soft” drug? I don’t think so.
5) (I thought this would put the cat amongst the pigeons)… I urged them to consider skunk’s place in the UK’s growing gang culture and the explosion of teen on teen violence (not mentioned- no papers presented). How many years until we have the data?
I had one more point- but I sensed they wanted me to shut up..My last thought is that I would be very interested into research into the new generation of hyper-real gaming (Playstation 3/X-Box) and the role of cannabis in blurring the boundaries between reality and fantasy.
The experience of violence and killing on these new machines is very different to the Sega Megadrive and the other techno dinosaurs I grew up with.
Other media also cover the issue of cannabis today:
- BBC – Heavy cannabis use ‘damages gums’
- The Independent – Surge in skunk adds to pressure for reversal of cannabis downgrading
- The Daily Mail – Skunk overtakes cannabis resin in British drugs market as experts and police demand ’softly softly’ U-turn
- The Metro – Skunk cannabis use on the rise
- The Guardian – Cannabis is stronger, but users smoke less
- The Telegraph – Use of extra strong ’skunk’ cannabis soars
Filed under: ACMD, cannabis, classification , ACMD, cannabis reclassification
Just to respond to your commentary:
1) I know many young people who have used cannabis, and very few misuse it – these are the exceptional cases to whom you refer. Having used it myself at various ages, I know perfectly well that there is no “long hard road” by comparison to any other drug, legal or not. You’re referring to psychological, not chemical dependence. We are all psychologically dependent on all sorts of things. If you wish a balanced representation at the debate, I suggest those speakers who have not experienced any such ill-effects would outnumber those who have by thousands to one, and would not receive the real attention they deserve.
2) Because there is very little need for it. If it had similar properties to, say, alcohol, or heroin, we would likely see similar responses driven by need. Given the scale of cannabis use in comparison, such necessary responses would be necessarily widespread – it is not a new drug. Somehow many people seem to use it and continue life normally.
3) I agree, its irrational, but an inherent part of the human condition. What does this have to do with this debate?
4) Making a “symbolic” statement which further criminalises a large percentage of the UK population is questionable. At best.
5) So much for the cat. Consider the relationship between such culture and prohibition and please educate your argument. The causes of such things have long been identified. For a detailed breakdown I recommend you read http://www.tdpf.org.uk/Transform_After_the_War_on_Drugs.pdf if you haven’t already.
Your last point leaves me speechless. Thats an entirely different debate, and nothing whatsoever to do with cannabis. If there is a parallel, my only point would be that I have spent much time playing computer games, including when I was young, and yet somehow manage to avoid going round beating people with a shovel. That goes for everybody else I know. You are talking about a minority, and given they’re a minority, we need to seek the real causes behind such behavioural issues or any inability to distinguish between reality and fantasy.