A Step Along The Road To Acceptance?

A change in British drug laws this week resulted in the reclassification of cannabis from a class 'B' drug to a class 'C'...

Although it is still illegal to possess the drug, no matter how small the quantity, new guidelines dictate that it will no longer be commonplace for the police to arrest anyone caught in possession; so long as it can be assumed that it's only 'personal', and that it's not being smoked in public or around children. It will now be considered the norm for an, on-the-spot, informal caution to be issued and the greenery be confiscated.
Hmm... methinks there maybe a few of our friendly law enforcers saving a bob or two from now on ;-).

To all intents and purposes though, has anything really changed? I've subscribed to the comfortably numb fraternity for the best part of thirty years. I've never known the DS to come-a-knockin' for someone in possession of a quarter of rocky and a ripped up rizla pack!

Well, the answer is, things have changed. At the same time as reclassifying weed to a class 'C' substance, the government, in it's infinite wisdom, has increased the penalty for dealing in class 'C' substances from 5 to 14 years, the same as for dealing in class 'A' drugs. A nonsense if ever I heard one! That kind of penalty will deter the small-time pot purveyors from knockin' out the odd bit of green and, consequently, drive the supply chain into the hands of the big boys. The same big boys that are already hellbent on introducing our impressionable kids to far more lucrative, addictive and, potentially fatal, recreational accessories.

Then we have Hard Hitter Howard, spouting off about how absurd it all is, and how it will be a priority to reclassify it back to class 'B' on the Tories rise to power... Wise up Micky, it's here to stay and it's used by a staggering amount of the public, from all sorts of social back drops. I despair. The powers that are supposed to voice public opinion are, once again, doing a foxtrot to the beat of a waltz!

Surely, the best way of dealing with cannabis would be to decriminalise it completely and regulate it's supply. That way, it will be disassociated from the hard drugs trade, thereby keeping our inquisitive kids a helluvalot safer. It would also free-up the manpower and money that's currently being wasted on policing such a widespread and, pretty much, socially accepted pastime. I'm sure it could be better utilised elsewhere.

Leave us smokers in peace to count the woodchips in the wallpaper.... go sort out some real social issues!