Pubdate: Sat, 30 May 2009
Source: Sunday Herald, The (UK)
Copyright: 2009 Sunday Herald
Contact:  http://www.sundayherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/873
Author: Tom Shields
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

CANNABIS PRODUCTION MUST BE WEEDED OUT AND PUT IN SAFER  HANDS

WHO WOULD have thought that Ecclefechan would be the  centre, 
allegedly, of a major industry? A multi-million  pharmaceutical 
business operating out of a small town  best known for the fact that 
Thomas Carlyle is a Fechan  boy. That's not a swear word, by the way, 
just an  affectionate diminutive.

The slight problem is that the commerce in question is  the alleged 
cultivation of cannabis. If I were mayor of  Ecclefechan, I would be 
delighted at the initiative.  The signs at the town limits would say: 
Welcome to  Ecclefechan - Scotland's Alleged Cannabis Capital.

But society has a down on this natural product. While  the folk who 
were the subject of a police raid last  week will not be getting a 
Queen's Award for  Enterprise, they could end up as guests of Her Majesty.

A large number of decent and otherwise law-abiding  Scottish citizens 
consume cannabis. Lots more would do  so if it were not illegal. It 
seems illogical that so  much police time and legal system resources 
should be  devoted to its prohibition. It seems illogical that the 
provision of this popular recreational drug should be  left to people 
perceived as criminals. Allegedly.

Demand could be met on a safe, controlled and legal  basis. I am sure 
the big pharmaceutical companies are  just itching to expand from 
pills and potions and into  the hashish business. The drinks and 
tobacco giants,  who have much experience in selling addictive 
substances, would love to add dope to their portfolio  of products. 
It makes financial sense. The tax revenue  from cannabis would be 
welcomed by our straitened  Treasury. It could fund any number of 
MPs' second  homes, shopping trips, clean moats and dwellings for  ducks.

The supermarket chains would take kindly to cannabis  vending. Think 
about the special offers. Buy a joint of  meat and get a free joint 
of the hash variety. Buy a  packet of king-size filter-tip finest 
Ecclefechan  (allegedly) smokes and get a free packet of Nestle  Munchies.

But cannabis consumerism should not be left solely in  the hands of 
big business. I would prefer to buy grass  at my local greengrocer 
where I can be sure of the  quality and that the alleged growers are 
getting a  Fairtrade deal. One might prefer to score a deal at a 
farmers' market, where the stuff is bound to be  organic.

Scotland's patisseries could do a nice line in space  cakes. Genteel 
tearooms could offer cannabis-laced  scones as well as fruit, plain, 
and wheaten along with  the afternoon pot of Darjeeling.

Bars could cash in on the cannabis market, in the  manner of 
Holland's brown cafes, if it were not for the  smoking ban. There is 
a way for publicans to pursue  this profitable line of business. It 
is called vapourisation and is done with a bit of kit 
which  eliminates undesired compounds in the weed and delivers  the 
pure stuff, the tetrahydrocannabinol (or THC),  straight into the 
lungs and thence to the bloodstream.  With no smoky toxins and no 
calories (apart from perhaps that packet of Munchies), this sounds 
like a  healthy way to get stoned.

And there is recycling involved. After the cannabis has  been cooked 
in the vapouriser, there is a residue of  cannibinoids which can be 
mixed with high-proof alcohol  and made into a potent drink.

There is a body of opinion that cannabis is a dangerous  drug which 
will lead all our children into addiction  and perdition. The yellow 
press are forever reporting  that skunk, a form of cannabis with high 
levels of THC,  turns young people mental and violent.

One young man reportedly "high on skunk cannabis,  prowled the 
streets searching for women victims to act  out the sick fantasies he 
learned from the game Grand  Theft Auto". This sounds more like a 
case for banning  Grand Theft Auto. One social commentator 
blithely  opined that cannabis "is believed to be behind a string  of 
violent murders".

Author Julie Myerson chucked her son Jake out of the  house, claiming 
his cannabis consumption turned him  into a degenerate who was 
impossible to live with. She  wrote a book, The Lost Child, about how 
her teenage son  had been taken away from her by skunk. Jake 
responded by writing that his parents were "naive and 
slightly  insane". This case could also illustrate the 
highly  dangerous and addictive process of writing books about  your family.

BBC3, the TV channel for young people, broadcast a  documentary 
Should I Smoke Dope? in which journalist  Nicky Taylor tried skunk 
and reported that it made her  paranoid and terrified. For the 
purposes of her  documentary, Taylor had gone to Amsterdam to 
smoke  large amounts of skunk. She also had THC injected  straight 
into her veins.

In previous investigative programmes, Taylor had  cosmetic surgery 
and had a go at binge drinking. To me,  this illustrates the danger 
of gonzo journalism.

In years of observing people who like a toke, I have  not detected 
any great tendency to violent behaviour.  Most seem about as 
dangerous as Dylan in Magic  Roundabout. I don't know anyone whose 
life has been ruined by cannabis. That Kirsty Wark off the 
telly  allegedly tried it and survived.

I don't use the stuff much. It makes me too relaxed  which, to be 
honest, I don't need. I did have a bad  trip once in Amsterdam. After 
indulging in some space  cake, I spent half an hour in my hotel room 
trying to  work out what final task I had to complete before 
going  to bed. I finally realised the problem was I hadn't  taken my 
socks off. My overdose had more to do with an  addiction to cake than 
drugs. The result was hilarity  rather than paranoia.

Cannabis has been in use since the dawn of time. Hindus  and various 
other religious sects use it as an aid to  devotion.

The mental health charity Sane take a much more serious  view. It 
says there is a link between psychosis and  cannabis, particularly in 
its more potent forms. It  says the government should warn young 
cannabis users  that some of them are risking lifelong mental illness.

Which brings me back to my point that if people are  going to use 
cannabis, and it seems that they will,  production and distribution 
of the stuff should be in  safer hands.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom