Weed Like to Talk

While legalization sweeps across the U.S., the E.U. backslides with contradictory pot policies.

While Cannabis has become a worldwide debate over the last decades, the European Union somehow managed to avoid it. However, it cannot do so anymore.

As underlined by the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction, the lack of harmonization of European Member States' Cannabis policies has led to "a heterogeneous ‘legal map' regarding Cannabis offenses: some countries or regions tolerate certain forms of possession and consumption; other countries apply administrative sanctions or fines; while still others apply penal sanctions."

Liberticidal policies pursued in certain Member States turn quiet citizens into offenders or criminals, while other European citizens are free to use Cannabis in their Member States. The question of coherence and discrimination is worth asking.

The ECI Weed like to talk aims at making the EU solve this problem by adopting a common policy on the control and regulation of Cannabis production, use and sale.

Cannabis use is a matter of every citizen's freedom of opinion and right of control over his or her own body, as in the case of alcohol and tobacco. It has been shown many times that the health risks of Cannabis are much lower than that of legal drugs used for recreational purposes (alcohol, tobacco) and medical purposes (pain killers, psychoactive medication). Yet Cannabis is still considered as a narcotic drug and therefore a "punishable offense" by the United Nations, although this classification is becoming more and more disputed.

Drug trafficking is in no way the cause, but rather the result, of repressive State policies: the troubles it brings are the logical consequences of drug prohibition, not of an intrinsic "evil" character of Cannabis.

The reasons alleged to protect public health are contradicted in theory and in practice.

Prohibition itself has increased Cannabis use and resulted in serious damages to public health and security.

Cannabis in and of itself is not the problem, but the renouncing of a debate and a European policy is. Its regulation within the EU is incoherent and unworthy of the Union's values, whatever governments argue and whatever mask they use to hide behind.

WITH ONE MILLION SIGNATURES, THE EU CAN NO LONGER IGNORE THE DEMAND FOR LEGALIZATION!

View the progress of the petition here and spread the word!

For more information, visit Weed Like to Talk.