Law's gone to pot, time for cannabis decriminalisation

Many have called for cannabis to be decriminalised

Every time we hear of somebody charged with possession of marijuana we should rage against the stupidity of the criminalisation of a relatively harmless drug while addictive killer substances like alcohol are legally available to 18-year-olds and easy for even younger people to obtain.

Americans push steadily forward towards common sense. Here, the refusal of authorities to acknowledge the truth seems invincible.

Supermarkets display alcoholic concoctions, often at knock-down prices. Football, rugby and GAA authorities compete for sponsorship by alcohol companies arguing, ludicrously, that a ban on sponsorship would damage sport and thereby damage the health, of young people in particular.

Drink more booze for better health. Stay slim with deep-fried Mars bars. Prevent heart disease, up your cholesterol intake.

Advertisers tell us to "Drink responsibly." Aye, right. The purpose of drink ads is to sell more drink. If this weren't the case they wouldn't buy airtime.

The country is awash with alcohol, while you can acquire a criminal record for carrying a quarter ounce of cannabis in your pocket.

Disinformation is dished out day and daily. News reports regularly announce that cannabis plants to this or that value have been seized and the miscreant growers arrested. Police and politicians issue statements of satisfaction and renew appeals to the public to contact Crimestoppers if they hear of a citizen cultivating the weed.

In a rational society anybody phoning the police to report a marijuana "offence" should be charged with wasting police time.

It's not just the police, politicians and busybodies with nothing better to do. A while ago I heard a GP at a meeting in a local estate telling that he had treated "many" patients who had been "turned on" (his phrase) to heroin or cocaine by smoking a single joint.

Of the categories of anti-cannabis campaigners, the police are probably least culpable. Their job is to enforce the law, and UK law classifies cannabis as "class B".

In 2001 cannabis was transferred from class B to class C, ruling out arrest for possession. The change came following advice from the Government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs and in light of surveys suggesting that British adults supported decriminalisation by 49% to 36%, with 15% undecided.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/columnists/eamonn-mccann/laws-gone-to-pot-time-for-cannabis-decriminalisation-30485431.html 06/08/2014