Is the United Kingdom on the Verge of a Cannabis Revolution?

The United Kingdom may be light years ahead of the United States when it comes to open access to health care and their stance on gun control, but when it comes to cannabis, they are woefully behind the times. However, to be fair, their penalties for cannabis possession/distribution are slightly less ridiculous than they are in the parts of the U.S. that have yet to welcome modernity into their lives.

Cannabis is not legal in any form in the U.K., though it accounts for over 60% of drug infractions in the country. Interestingly, a study put out by the European drug watchdog agency (EMCDDA) states that cannabis use has almost halved in a decade. Frustratingly, however, the study hasn’t the slightest clue why.

The prominent theory is that, due to the increased strength of cannabis and the draconian consequences of getting caught with it, young people aren’t as inclined to try it. Again, with studies like this, there is heavy reliance on self-reporting, which can be suspect. After all, you’re relying on people to readily admit to doing something that is illegal in their country.

I know that, prior to legalization in Washington, I participated in several surveys about cannabis use and I lied through my teeth every single time. There is simply no incentive to be honest about breaking the law, even if the law is asinine. Especially for young adults/teens, their interest isn’t going to be in providing stellar data to researchers, their interest will be on keeping their access to whatever channel of cannabis supply they have found.

Some good news: there does appear to be a growing clarion cry from the citizenry of the U.K. to rework the current cannabis laws. David Nutt, a leading drug expert in the United Kingdom and professor at Imperial College London, issued a report comparing cannabis to other drugs (including alcohol and tobacco). His findings mimic those of global colleagues who have found the same conclusion: cannabis is the safest drug on the list and is scheduled as one of the most deadly.

Nutt, for his part had a few poignant comments:

“Tobacco kills older people, alcohol kills younger people, cannabis doesn’t kill anyone. As long as you don’t get caught with cannabis, it’s not going to do you any harm. The criminalisation around cannabis is way more harmful than anything else that can happen with it. We spend half a billion pounds a year criminalising people for cannabis. That money could easily be put to hospitals. All that criminalisation does is create an underclass of people with criminal records who can’t work with the civil service, teaching, the armed services and so what do they do? They do more drugs because that’s all they can do. We are wasting that money and we are also denying cannabis to people with medical problems who need it. It’s a double whammy.”

Sound familiar? Despite the report stating that cannabis use is down in the U.K., it seems to me the country is on the verge of a green revolution.