You
are in Activism Living
under prohibition
Cannabis users protesting in
London in 2002 If
you are one of the millions of perfectly normal, well adjusted people who use
and enjoy cannabis in the UK and who never do anything to hurt anyone else, it
may come as a surprise to you to learn that you're a criminal. Indeed, in theory
at least, you run the risk of penalties greater than those for rape or violent
assault if you share cannabis with someone else.
| The
problem is a law called "The Misuse of drugs act" or "MoD act"
which you can read here.
The
aim of the law is to "control" various drugs including cannabis. The
method of "control" the law uses is called "prohibition",
making it an offense to produce (cultivate in the case of cannabis), trade in,
possess or use these substances.
Hence, like it or not, your government is fighting a "war on drugs",
where you are the enemy. Interestingly, the type of "control" prohibition
produces ensures there is in fact no control over the sale or distribution of
illegal drugs, but more of that later. How
did this happen? Cannabis
is not a new thing, mankind has known and used this plant for thousands of years
as our History
section shows, the problems are all fairly recent and very much the result of
mostly western governments, indeed it has to be said the main culprit is the USA
with our government following along in a blindfolded brown nose sort of way. |
|
The
cannabis laws can screw you up Talk
to Frank - the government run anti drugs campaign - recently issued these warnings
of the dangers cannabis users will still face because of the law, even after reclassification. Thinking
about that brilliant job you've always wanted?
Some employers won't take people
with drugs convictions Pleasant
dreams of faraway places? Planning a trip Downunder? A trip to New York?
Some
countries might not let you in if you have a drug conviction Cannabis
is still illegal - the law is still dangerous
The
government on drugs
Soapbar warning |
|
This MoD act is based on "The
Single convention", a UN treaty drawn up in 1961 which sets out to prohibit
drugs which "have a high potential for abuse". By "high potential
for abuse", it actually means any non-medical use of the substances, such
as recreational and spiritual, as well as to seek escapist oblivion. Yes, using
cannabis to chill out and listen to music is "abuse" in the eyes of
the law. In
addition, cannabis was prohibited from being used as a medicine, despite having
a long history of being used as such. It also effectively closed down the hemp
industry, thus freeing up the markets for cotton, but that's another story, or
perhaps it isn't... But
what about the legal drugs, alcohol and tobacco? Interestingly,
the Single convention (and hence the MoD act) didn't include alcohol or tobacco,
which of course were the drugs used by the white, Christian western governments
who drew up the original UN convention. Protests from countries such as India,
where cannabis was a very established part of the culture and religion, were simply
ignored. In any case, alcohol prohibition had already been tried in 1920's America
(for puritanical, not drug control reasons) and it had failed badly, leading to
all sorts of problems such as:
| | | The
mob supplied illegal booze | | The
price went up, fueling organised crime | | The
number of people addicted increased | | The
type of addiction became chaotic | | The
supplies became uncertain with badly made "moonshine" |
|
Rates of blindness and insanity (caused by 'wood alcohol' in moonshine) increased
| | Children
got caught up in the trade and many became addicted | | People
gathered in unlicensed "speakeasy" venues where booze was freely available |
| Many
people died from overdose and poisoning | | Violence
increased, including gun and gang crime. |
If
all of the above sounds familiar, it's because the same problems are happening
today with all the illegal drugs, and for the same reason - Prohibition. The fact
that some of the above, such as addiction problems and deaths, don't apply to
cannabis is down to the relative harmlessness of the plant, cannabis simply can't
cause these problems even under prohibition. But
it's in this mess that cannabis exists and has done for over 30 years. So
what danger am I in? Well,
an interesting question. When the MoD act was first introduced, the police went
on the offensive, raiding peoples homes looking for even the smallest trace of
cannabis. Many people were locked up for several years for no more than a blim.
The result was to overload the legal system and it became impractical to continue.
Over time the police came to issue cautions rather than pressing charges and increasingly
they simply had to turn a blind eye. Cannabis
use increased massively in the 30 years 1971 to 2001, the law was utterly unable
to contain this growth in popularity and, despite an attempt by the Conservative
government in the mid-90's to clamp down by increasing the penalties, the law
sunk further and further into contempt.
Hard-line Home secretary David
Blunkett, who reclassified cannabis to class C in 2004. | |
So it was
that in 2001 even the right-wing authoritarian Labour government had to make changes
to the law - the first ever. Cannabis was still illegal but, as long as you're
over 18 and not drawing too much attention to yourself, you probably might not
have got arrested, and if you are the chances were that not much will happen if
you touch your forelock and say sorry. Strangely though, if you were under 18
you (in theory) will be arrested, the law is usually applied in a stronger way
against children than adults, so that was unusual to put it mildly. It was later
quietly dropped. However,
in 2009 Tony Blair's replacement, Gordon Brown, reversed the move to class C and
returned cannabis to class B, although the penalties were "special",
in that warnings would be used for first offence and arrest is still unlikely. To
say the cannabis law is in a state of confusion now is to understate the situation.
After the biggest change in the drugs laws ever, the government spent a million
pounds on an advertising campaign to tell people nothing had changed, then changed
it back in such a way as nothing really changed. Got it? The
governments strategy (if you can call it that) towards cannabis is followed in
our section "The British government on drugs" |
So
is that it? No,
you're in more danger than that. As we mentioned above, the law sets out to control
cannabis by prohibition. This means that, because the cultivation and supply of
the plant are illegal, there is no control over it. Unlike with legal substances
which are properly regulated, you've got no protection under the law whatsoever.
It's a strange way to control something. In
practice this means that sometimes cannabis is supplied by organised crime, gangsters
in it for the money and nothing else. Getting mixed up in this scene can and does
lead people into big problems. The
most common danger users face is from polluted hash, so-called "soap bar",
the most available form of hash in the UK is often badly contaminated, as we warn
here In
addition of course, criminal gangs also supply all the other, far more dangerous
and destructive substances in the same uncontrolled manner, and these guys would
far rather you bought stuff like heroin or crack, because the profits are much
higher. Any
more? Well,
because the market for cannabis is totally unregulated you've got no real idea
of what you're buying. Apart from the risk of contamination, strengths can vary
from mild to powerful. If this were alcohol it would be like not knowing if you
were getting a beer or a vodka. Fortunately cannabis is far less dangerous than
alcohol in that it's not a poison and you can't overdose, but for a minority of
vulnerable people this can cause big problems. As always in this sort of situation
there is nothing to protect children or vulnerable people because of the policy
of prohibition. So
what can we do? Over
the years there have been many attempts to get the law changed, but so far only
one thing has worked - contempt for the law. It's only because the law had become
unenforceable that the 2004 reclassification happened at all and, sadly, it seems
the only way it will change further will be because more and more people continue
to ignore the law. The
result of all this law breaking of course is a double edged sword: One the one
hand, the public is getting familiar with cannabis. Gone are the days when admitting
you've used it would cause outrage. The more this happens the less respect there
will be for the law and the more likely that further change will have to happen.
On the other, less respect for the law is unlikely to be focused on simply the
cannabis laws, leading to a loss of respect for the police and thus to more draconian
laws, this is already happening. In
the meantime, be careful. Learn about cannabis, what it is, what the hazards are
to avoid and what the possible dangers of using it are. This is one of the main
functions of UKCIA, we have perhaps the biggest library
of information about all aspects of the plant that's accessible by the public. The
possible dangers are: 1:
Problems with the law.
| Keep
your head down, and don't get into trouble. Having said that don't hide because
using any drug in secret can lead to big problems. So be as open about your cannabis
use as you can and always be prepared to argue your corner. Above all never behave
like a criminal, if you do, you'll be treated like one. 2:
Business problems with dealers Never
borrow from dealers - that's the first and most important rule. Beyond that, try
to buy only from people you know and trust. It's best if you can to find someone
who grows it themselves (this is getting easier) as that way you at least know
what you're getting. | |
Always be polite when dealing with the police | |
Although it may mean more trouble with the law, the best solution is to grow it
yourself, grow kits are widely available now (many growshops are listed in our
contacts database) and
although it's not quite a lazy mans hobby, growing good quality cannabis isn't
that hard, see the, do remember though that growing cannabis is illegal and may
be classed as dealing, so don't grow more than you need. 3
Polluted supplies In
the UK this mostly means rip-off "Soap bar", made by pressing low quality
cannabis with stuff to bulk it out but it can also mean herbal cannabis which
has been sprayed with weedkiller by police authorities engaged in eradication
programmes. Sadly, the government doesn't care if it's war on cannabis kills people,
you are the enemy remember. These days even grass is often polluted so it's safest
to buy from friends who grow their own, or to grow it yourself, but do rememeber
it's very illegal to do so. 4:
Smoking and tobacco Probably
the biggest health risk for the vast majority of users is the way cannabis is
used - smoked in joints mixed with tobacco. There's no need to do this and the
fact that it is still the normal way to smoke is probably down to the lack of
information caused by prohibition. See UKCIA Toke pure
and also our Culture section How
to smoke cannabis and how to
eat cannabis 5:
Harm from using cannabis For
a long time the legalisation campaign insisted cannabis was "the harmless
herb", whilst the government insisted it was the first step to needles in
the eyeballs style drug addiction. The truth, of course is somewhere in between
and much nearer the harmless herb than the needles in the eyeballs. On the whole
cannabis is a pretty safe substance if used in a safe way, in moderation by adults.
See UKCIA risks section for more information. Is
there nothing I can do? There
are several campaign groups around the country you can join, but these days the
old campaign is pretty well burned out. The most effective drug law reform campaign
in the UK now is Transform
who campaign for a total review of the drugs laws, not just cannabis. And
of course, help UKCIA to spread the word. Join in the debate on our forum
and follow the Newsblog But
most of all, be informed, use the information on UKCIA to counter the lies put
out by the government and its prohibitionist friends. Knowledge
is power and it's the one thing the prohibitionists fear most. Welcome to UKCIA. |
