I agree with Lord Hague

Yep. Hopefully some sensible discussion can be had on it

at least we now no who left the crystal meths in the shoitehouse,

There is enough mental illness in the population already without bringing drugs into the mix, madness

All but legal anyway at street level, users get it confiscated at worse and small dealers are left alone, or fined token amounts if caught red-handed - that is certainly the case in my area, where until even quite recently people were being prosecuted for possession.

There really aren't any grounds for keeping it proscribed - only the habitual failure of our legislative bodies to keep pace with public sentiment has stopped the law being changed already, and it seems as if Hague's intervention will allow the Tory Party to change its stance on this poor epileptic boy and his cannabis oil without losing too much face. It's also a truth from recent evidence that legalisation for medicinal purposes will soon lead to a free market.

I think the argument that legalising would enable the police to focus on Class A enforcement is a bit of a red herring because as I sad above, little Police energy is wasted on it now anyway and also because the war on Class As was also lost a long time ago.

I smoke every day, and would obviously welcome a change in the law, but as aaronh says above a grown-up debate is needed because there are worrying signs re: the effect of today's extremely strong products on young brains - that said, the use of cannabis and the flagrant disregard for any sanction is so endemic in our youngsters now that the legal/illegal argument is all but moot anyway. A law that is not feared is no law.

we have lost the war on dealing with crime not drugs,start by doing your sentence,life means life,5 years means 5 years and not 5 months,most criminals know their true sentence before they leave the dock,we should start by whatever the sentence is for using or selling drugs is that what you do

Why should it be legalised, I don't believe in witch doctors either

gazo as soon as someone is in court the one of the things they are told to say is that they are on drugs, gets them a reduced sentence
the whole culture is based on crime and no punishment

there is no point in saying this is the culture of young people, well unfortunately a very large percentage of our young people are violent and psychotic

so after years of government policy and taxation to get people especially young people to stop smoking were going to encourage the same people through government policy to smoke cannabis,strong skunk etc.
ive checked but its not april 1st
no doubt wont be long before some young trendys start to enlighten us about the benefits of cocaine ,heroin,crack etc

I'm not young, and I don't think I'm trendy, but I can tell you that this country rubbed along quite nicely when all the class A you mention were legal.

Prohibition does not work - it didn't work with alcohol in America, and it has signally failed to work with drugs either. In fact, there are now several countries in which users are treated as patients rather than criminals, and the resulting reduction in societal problems has been marked in all cases.

I,m sure if robbing banks became legal some social problems in deprieved area,s would be improved greatly, lets go for it

Legalising does not lead to any marked increase in usage going by other countries

ah but you are making the mistake jed of comparing middle class English life with other parts and other countries
Now I am afraid if you look at drug culture in other countries , America, Jamaica , Brazil
wherever, then you can see the damage and England of course is no longer England anyway
take a look at london

that prat Hague is making the same mistake

The same mistake of thinking people would listen to intelligent and reasoned thought, I guess

Did you hear the reports earlier this year when the prisoners rioted in Brazil jails

what took place was like something out of a horror movie, but it was real

Are you for prohibition of alcohol, lfc?

have a pop into any town centre and see the effects of a legal drug in spice,

alcohol doesn't change and alter the brain , it doesn't lead to people committing acts of barbaric violence in the way drugs do
drugs can alter a persons mind, and very quickly the damage can be done
alcohol doesn't do that

yes it does

Reasons to legalise anyway;

1. Medical purposes
2. It is no worse than many legal things that could be considered harmful and is really not so in the occasional usage.
3. Can be regulated and made safer compared to what you may well get on the street
4. Cuts out the rest of the useless arrests in something mostly ignored now anyway.
5. Gangs not going to be making huge money out of it with a legal supply
6. Can be taxed to provide decent money for government

alcohol can be dangerous for some people, but that is the nature of those people
they are like that
drugs are different, they can change a person from one thing to something else
that is why they are so dangerous

aaronh,no3 gangs will just sell stronger product,no5 they still do with cigs,no4 zero tolerance and shouldnt be ignored no matter how trivial

1. if medical purposes can be proved, then use with caution
2. it is much worse than any legal thing because of its nature
3. don't take it if you want to be safe its illegal
4. leads to more crime
5. prosecute those who use drugs, less problems with gangs
6. will cause untold damage to people and society, look around

Jun 19, 2018 -- 10:22AM, lfc1971 wrote:

alcohol can be dangerous for some people, but that is the nature of those peoplethey are like thatdrugs are different, they can change a person from one thing to something elsethat is why they are so dangerous

Lol if you can't be convinced by the social harms of alcohol and instead just go on your gut, no point having a discussion.

if you cant understand the potential difference between different types of drug no point having a discussion

maybe you would like to legalise heroin

Excellent stuff lfc. I can't differentiate between drugs and then you bring up heroin lol.

Things go downhill in Dutch and Portuguese society since?

The discussion has soon descended into an all drugs are bad and why we are gonna go nowhere anyway. (btw, have never smoked it or anything else)

you don't seem to be able to differentiate between alcohol and cannabis
why not?

Should cocaine and strong strains of cannabis be legalised if the milder strains are?

Its like this, we know cigarettes are bad for people , but its a balance
the damage is to them over time
some drugs such as cannabis can need only a short time, and very minor use
to do irreparable damage to an individual
that is the difference, its the swiftness and irreversibility of that damage

that's what people like aaron don't understand

with alcohol and cigarettes the signs are there over time, whether that is for a persons health or mental state, it takes time and they and people they know can have a warning over time and make decisions according to that

with drugs there may be no warning, none and no time
that is the point that people don't understand

Dear Lord Hague,

Please note that there hasn't been any 'War on Drugs', let alone cannabis, in the UK since at least 1967.

Alcohol is legal because it has a strong lobby. Its production is controlled by the right people. Cannabis definitely is on its way to having a strong lobby, judging by how often the subject of legalizing it comes up. Once the right politicians push for it, it will be legal. Then it will be an organized and legal moneymaker, instead of a dangerous moneymaker.

There is the small matter of its effect on the society. Its dangers etc. That however has absolutely no impact on the chances of it getting legalized. You can debate about the pros and cons all you want. They are all irrelevant. Its just about setting yourself up to control the source of cannabis and then getting your politicians to make the move.

cant get my head around everyone outside hospitals smoking joints ,lots of people today at acsot for example smoking joints

i only ever smoked two the second one nearly killed me. Now my body doesn't take in any smoke, something gets shut off at the throat.

Peter Hitchen now bbc2 Daily Politics.....what a pratt !

His belief in his own self-importance is limitless !

Arguing against cannabis legalisation.

if someone is smoking strong skunk today without plod knocking on the door why would he revert to smoking the weaker version just because its legal, if the police arnt bothering now there hardly likely to spend time, money, testing prosecuting people to say your joint is to strong in our opinion, it would be like making strong cider illegal and policing different strengths of alcohol, complete non starter unless people are advocating making strong skunk legal as well