As we all know, weed or 'marijuana' does have a lot of health benefits. So why in the UK, is this magical green substance illegal?
Since the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, marijuana has been illegal to possess, grow, distribute or sell in U.K. It is a class B drug that can lead up to 5 years in prison, an unlimited fine or both, just for possession. Being caught supplying the drug can lead you up to 14 years in prison, an unlimited fine or both. So why is the punishment for possession or supplying this drug so high?
Technically you can't get physically addicted, therefore you will not experience physical withdrawal from trying to stop smoking weed. But you can in fact develope a psychological addiction to the substance, and you WILL experience psychological withdrawal. One of the ways people use this substance to help them overcome problems in their life. But when people start 'self-medicating' it becomes a problem. A lot of people enjoy the warm, dream-like experience that is marijuana, but when regular users stop using then they become a bit depressed and will experience some form of anxiety. Now this is not necessarily true for your average smoker. But this is true for daily users, and is one of the main reasons they are infact daily users. This creates a psychological addiction as you constantly keep trying to reach the same high and escape reality for a couple hours. The problem is that people tend to smoke when they are depressed
, and in today's world depression can be caused by not being financially stable. Marijuana allows you to forget all your worries and clear your mind. When in reality you're stuck in this viscous cycle that is buying weed to forget about the financial problem that weed is causing for you in the first place.
Our brain is mounded and shaped throughout our lives, researchers have wondered whether smoking marijuana during adolescence could change the brains developement. Researchers in Australia did an examination on regular users who started using during adolescence, and compared them to people who have never smoked. They discovered that neural connections between the brains left and right hemispheres were impaired in the marijuana users relative to the non-users. This suggests that weed smokers brains have poorer internal communications. Other studies suggest that marijuana may change the brains functions, especially if used when the brain is still undergoing rapid development. But more studies are needed to varify this and any conclusion made now may be a bit premature.
Marijuana does have a lot of health benefits, researches believe that the chemical in marijuana called CBD can impact the brain positively without a high. The other chemical in marijuana is THC, researchers believe this to have pain relieving (and other) properties. THC is also what makes you high. Marijuana is used to treat things like Glaucoma, Epileptic seizures, Dravets syndrome, cancer, anxiety, depression, Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, hepatitis C, arthritis discomfort and PTSD.
Medical marijuana is used in the U.K. but is very very hard to get hold of. People are calling for the government to reschedule marijuana from a schedule 1, class B drug. To a schedule 4, controlled substance, enabling doctors to prescribe, to encourage research and to aid access to the people that need it. This is definitely a possibility as medical marijuana is now available in Canada, Israel, Uruguay, Poland and Mexico. It is also used in 23 US states and has actually been decriminalised in many countries across Europe.
Personally I believe that marijuana should be legal in the U.K. At this current moment in time it should only be allowed medically as this is beneficial to a lot of people. Not only will it create a legal industry with thousands of job, but it will allow people who need marijuana to have access to it without the risk of arrest and prosecution. I also believe it should be legal to possess in small quantities. Personal use should not lead to arrest and prosecution but lead to a treatment centre or rehab, if the user should want this. At this current moment in time I believe that recreational marijuana should not be legalised in the UK. This is due to the fact that there isn't enough research about the positive and negative affects of this substance. Not only that but the UK is already dealing with enough trying to leave the EU. Something like recreational marijuana isn't a priority at this current moment in time and should be discussed at a later date. But that's not to say I don't think recreational marijuana will be legalised in the future. Thanks for reading the inside mind of a A-Level Student ;) feel free to comment and discuss.