Let's Talk Drugs: If You Marijuana?
One subject that you're almost always going to find floating around in this weird and wonderful abyss that we call the internet, is drugs. Namely one drug in particular that goes by many bizarre alter ego's, however for the interest of this post we'll go by what it's universally known as; Cannabis.
What was once a big hit (no pun intended) in the 1970's has now come a long way to present itself as a popular illegal high amongst young people in the United Kingdom. And with its ever growing popularity comes many questions regarding the effects it has on physical and mental health. Above all, though, the one question everyone wants an answer to is "should the UK follow in the footsteps of other European and transatlantic countries by legalising the recreational use and distribution of cannabis?". There's no doubt that this has become a divisive issue in British politics.
Depending on where you are in the world, you may or may not have seen the live drugs [trial] that Channel 4 broadcast the night before last (3rd March 2015). This was a 90 minute long live show where a group of volunteers including journalist and presenter; Jon Snow, former Tory and weekly political columnist for The Times; Matthew Parris and broadcaster; Jennie Bond took part in a series of trials intended on testing and analysing the effects that cannabis has on the human brain.
As someone who holds a strong "zero tolerance" for drugs, my overwhelming curiosity once again lured me into learning about something of which I hold such a strong opinion about. However, I'm glad that I did tune into Channel 4 as there is very little education for young people on drugs and the impact they can have on cognitive processes.
Of course, if you're not a drug taker (like myself) and have little to no experience with narcotics then obviously a little research can go a long way.
So what do we know?
As a nation, we know that cannabis is a Class B substance which has been controlled by the Misuse of Drugs Act since 1971. Possession, supply and production of such narcotics carries some hefty penalties. The maximum penalty for possession of a Class B drug such as cannabis is up to 5 years in prison, an unlimited fine, or both. Whereas supply and production of such a substance can carry a maximum penalty of up to 14 years imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both. Yet, very little people actually understand why cannabis is a controlled substance in the UK.
The cannabis plant contains over 500 chemicals, including the main psychoactive chemical delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol otherwise known as THC. Scientific studies, including the live trial broadcast on Channel 4 show that cannabis does in fact impair short-term memory during and between uses as well as adversely affecting attention, judgement and motor co-ordination whilst increasing heart rate and raising levels of anxiety. It is also known that cannabis smoke contains at least 50 of the same carcinogens (cancer causing substances) as cigarette tobacco, which especially does not look good for those of you that smoke cannabis with tobacco. Researchers also believe that the THC chemical cause a particular carcinogen called benzyprene to alter a tumour suppressor gene called p53. As many as 75% of lung cancers occur in people whose p53 gene has been altered.
However, it's not all doom and gloom for our cannabis companions as other researchers who have conducted tests on the effects of pure THC on brain tumour cells have found that the cells of the tumour have actually been killed by the THC. No, this does not mean a cure has been found. Cannabis is still a long long way from being used as a cancer treatment at the moment.
Note: If you're a cannabis user, a cigarette smoker and an alcohol consumer, you'd probably want to cut one or two of those hobbies out. Unless, of course you're totally cool with massively increasing your risk of developing some kind of cancer in the future. You only live once, I guess.
Skunk or Hash?
The trouble nowadays is that cannabis bought on the streets of Britain today is far stronger than the cannabis that could be bought 20 years ago and most young users don't actually know what they're buying. Hash is the type of cannabis that was typically smoked by users 20+ years ago but has since been replaced by another type of cannabis known as "Skunk". Skunk is a hybrid of Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica strains, which has a higher potency than Hash and 2-3 times more THC than standard marijuana. It is the higher concentration of the psychoactive chemical that is raising concerns for the potential psychological effects it has on users.
Studies have shown that smoking skunk increases paranoia by 270%, which is 100% more than hash. There have been severe cases where users have become psychotic from using the drug. One case in particular is a 17-year-old boy called "Jonas" who claimed that long-term use of cannabis led him to a life of living in fear of the people around him due to the hallucinations he experienced as well as extreme paranoia that people wanted to kill him. His addiction worsened to the point where he would resort to mugging people in order to obtain more cannabis before eventually leaving him feeling suicidal.
What a lot of young people don't understand is that the human brain doesn't actually stop developing until at least our mid 20's. Thus meaning that early exposure to drugs such as cannabis, especially at the strength of skunk, can have serious detrimental effects on cognitive development through teenage years and early adulthood by affecting the way that sensory information is processed by the hippocampus (part of the limbic system in the brain in which learning and memory are controlled). Not to mention that taking drugs at the most crucial stages of development for your body can predispose an individual to increased mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. Research has also shown that an individual that smokes skunk on a daily basis is 5 times more likely to be at risk of developing psychosis.
What would legalisation mean for the UK?
If we ignore the ethical and political debate over the decriminalisation and legalisation of cannabis and solely focused on the potential for regulation and taxation, we would clearly see that the size of the market would be incredible. [CLEAR] - a British political party which manifests the reform of laws surrounding the criminalisation of cannabis, states that there are 2.7 million regular users of cannabis in the UK. Regular users of cannabis use an average of 10 grammes a week, whilst approximately 3 tonnes of cannabis is consumed in Britain every day. The total value of the cannabis market in the UK is approximately £6billion per annum, with roughly 300,000 members of the great British public growing their own cannabis.
£361 million is spent on policing and treating users of illegally produced, sold and distributed cannabis each year. Whereas the Institute for Economics and Research believe that the taxation and regulation of the cannabis market has the potential to raise £900 million for the British economy. So you'd think politicians like our dearest Mr Cameron would be drooling like a little kid in a sweet shop over those figures, right?
Since Colorado, U.S legalised the recreational use, production and selling of marijuana in January 2014, over 10,000 job opportunities have been created in the marijuana industry. Crime rates fell by 14.6% in the first three months of marijuana being legalised in Denver. This reduction in crime led to further savings for policing whilst allowing police forces to concentrate on more serious crimes, rather than dealing with and punishing people for an activity that a fine majority of people don't even consider to be a crime anymore.
So, since Labour's previous tragic parliamentary slip with continuous borrowing and increase of government deficit, you'd think that there would be some serious talks in the House of Commons regarding potential revenue that could be raised from a regulated cannabis market. Not to mention the fact that revenue raised from this market could be recycled back into an education system for the safe use of cannabis.
Our government regulates tobacco, alcohol and painkillers which are all substances known to kill more people each year. Surely if we were to maintain a safe regulation of cannabis, drug related crime would fall dramatically and policing expenditures cut so more money can go back into our public services? The real question however, is: if cannabis were to join the list of legally regulated substances still with so much scientific research pending, would it become just as lethal as tobacco and alcohol?
For now, the answer remains unclear and as the topic of drug legislation is still proving to be a bitter pill to swallow amongst many major party leaders, we could be kept in the dark about potential legalisation for quite some time to come.
What was once a big hit (no pun intended) in the 1970's has now come a long way to present itself as a popular illegal high amongst young people in the United Kingdom. And with its ever growing popularity comes many questions regarding the effects it has on physical and mental health. Above all, though, the one question everyone wants an answer to is "should the UK follow in the footsteps of other European and transatlantic countries by legalising the recreational use and distribution of cannabis?". There's no doubt that this has become a divisive issue in British politics.
Depending on where you are in the world, you may or may not have seen the live drugs [trial] that Channel 4 broadcast the night before last (3rd March 2015). This was a 90 minute long live show where a group of volunteers including journalist and presenter; Jon Snow, former Tory and weekly political columnist for The Times; Matthew Parris and broadcaster; Jennie Bond took part in a series of trials intended on testing and analysing the effects that cannabis has on the human brain.
As someone who holds a strong "zero tolerance" for drugs, my overwhelming curiosity once again lured me into learning about something of which I hold such a strong opinion about. However, I'm glad that I did tune into Channel 4 as there is very little education for young people on drugs and the impact they can have on cognitive processes.
Of course, if you're not a drug taker (like myself) and have little to no experience with narcotics then obviously a little research can go a long way.
So what do we know?
As a nation, we know that cannabis is a Class B substance which has been controlled by the Misuse of Drugs Act since 1971. Possession, supply and production of such narcotics carries some hefty penalties. The maximum penalty for possession of a Class B drug such as cannabis is up to 5 years in prison, an unlimited fine, or both. Whereas supply and production of such a substance can carry a maximum penalty of up to 14 years imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both. Yet, very little people actually understand why cannabis is a controlled substance in the UK.
The cannabis plant contains over 500 chemicals, including the main psychoactive chemical delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol otherwise known as THC. Scientific studies, including the live trial broadcast on Channel 4 show that cannabis does in fact impair short-term memory during and between uses as well as adversely affecting attention, judgement and motor co-ordination whilst increasing heart rate and raising levels of anxiety. It is also known that cannabis smoke contains at least 50 of the same carcinogens (cancer causing substances) as cigarette tobacco, which especially does not look good for those of you that smoke cannabis with tobacco. Researchers also believe that the THC chemical cause a particular carcinogen called benzyprene to alter a tumour suppressor gene called p53. As many as 75% of lung cancers occur in people whose p53 gene has been altered.
However, it's not all doom and gloom for our cannabis companions as other researchers who have conducted tests on the effects of pure THC on brain tumour cells have found that the cells of the tumour have actually been killed by the THC. No, this does not mean a cure has been found. Cannabis is still a long long way from being used as a cancer treatment at the moment.
Note: If you're a cannabis user, a cigarette smoker and an alcohol consumer, you'd probably want to cut one or two of those hobbies out. Unless, of course you're totally cool with massively increasing your risk of developing some kind of cancer in the future. You only live once, I guess.
Skunk or Hash?
The trouble nowadays is that cannabis bought on the streets of Britain today is far stronger than the cannabis that could be bought 20 years ago and most young users don't actually know what they're buying. Hash is the type of cannabis that was typically smoked by users 20+ years ago but has since been replaced by another type of cannabis known as "Skunk". Skunk is a hybrid of Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica strains, which has a higher potency than Hash and 2-3 times more THC than standard marijuana. It is the higher concentration of the psychoactive chemical that is raising concerns for the potential psychological effects it has on users.
Studies have shown that smoking skunk increases paranoia by 270%, which is 100% more than hash. There have been severe cases where users have become psychotic from using the drug. One case in particular is a 17-year-old boy called "Jonas" who claimed that long-term use of cannabis led him to a life of living in fear of the people around him due to the hallucinations he experienced as well as extreme paranoia that people wanted to kill him. His addiction worsened to the point where he would resort to mugging people in order to obtain more cannabis before eventually leaving him feeling suicidal.
What a lot of young people don't understand is that the human brain doesn't actually stop developing until at least our mid 20's. Thus meaning that early exposure to drugs such as cannabis, especially at the strength of skunk, can have serious detrimental effects on cognitive development through teenage years and early adulthood by affecting the way that sensory information is processed by the hippocampus (part of the limbic system in the brain in which learning and memory are controlled). Not to mention that taking drugs at the most crucial stages of development for your body can predispose an individual to increased mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. Research has also shown that an individual that smokes skunk on a daily basis is 5 times more likely to be at risk of developing psychosis.
What would legalisation mean for the UK?
If we ignore the ethical and political debate over the decriminalisation and legalisation of cannabis and solely focused on the potential for regulation and taxation, we would clearly see that the size of the market would be incredible. [CLEAR] - a British political party which manifests the reform of laws surrounding the criminalisation of cannabis, states that there are 2.7 million regular users of cannabis in the UK. Regular users of cannabis use an average of 10 grammes a week, whilst approximately 3 tonnes of cannabis is consumed in Britain every day. The total value of the cannabis market in the UK is approximately £6billion per annum, with roughly 300,000 members of the great British public growing their own cannabis.
£361 million is spent on policing and treating users of illegally produced, sold and distributed cannabis each year. Whereas the Institute for Economics and Research believe that the taxation and regulation of the cannabis market has the potential to raise £900 million for the British economy. So you'd think politicians like our dearest Mr Cameron would be drooling like a little kid in a sweet shop over those figures, right?
Since Colorado, U.S legalised the recreational use, production and selling of marijuana in January 2014, over 10,000 job opportunities have been created in the marijuana industry. Crime rates fell by 14.6% in the first three months of marijuana being legalised in Denver. This reduction in crime led to further savings for policing whilst allowing police forces to concentrate on more serious crimes, rather than dealing with and punishing people for an activity that a fine majority of people don't even consider to be a crime anymore.
So, since Labour's previous tragic parliamentary slip with continuous borrowing and increase of government deficit, you'd think that there would be some serious talks in the House of Commons regarding potential revenue that could be raised from a regulated cannabis market. Not to mention the fact that revenue raised from this market could be recycled back into an education system for the safe use of cannabis.
Our government regulates tobacco, alcohol and painkillers which are all substances known to kill more people each year. Surely if we were to maintain a safe regulation of cannabis, drug related crime would fall dramatically and policing expenditures cut so more money can go back into our public services? The real question however, is: if cannabis were to join the list of legally regulated substances still with so much scientific research pending, would it become just as lethal as tobacco and alcohol?
For now, the answer remains unclear and as the topic of drug legislation is still proving to be a bitter pill to swallow amongst many major party leaders, we could be kept in the dark about potential legalisation for quite some time to come.
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