![]() American’s traveling abroad must never take their cannabis or CBD with them. There are far too many examples of what could happen, such as Brittney Griner’s detainment in Russia over a few grams of cannabis vape oil. But some may feel that they can take the chance on other countries that seem like they’d be easier. Well, mark the United Kingdom right off that list! The U.K.’s Secretary of State for the Home Department, Priti Patel, has made it clear that she is out to punish cannabis users harshly. Ms. Patel just published a new document detailing her plans, and it’s titled, "SWIFT, CERTAIN, TOUGH New consequences for drug possession." In her opening statement, Patel says that drug statistics are “horrifying,” and that they cause a tremendous amount of death, enormous harm to individuals, great financial cost to the country, and ruin countless lives and families. She then says, “It is our mission to turn the tide.” While those statements definitely could be applicable to ‘hard’ drugs… and certainly applicable to alcohol and prescription drugs, that’s not what she’s referring to. The last paragraph of her document’s opening statement says, “We are proposing a new regime for how the criminal justice system deals with drug possession offences for so-called recreational users. Recreational, casual, non-addicted – whichever terminology is used.” She goes on to add that it’s important to her that these casual recreational drug users, “are more likely to be caught, and that they face tougher and more meaningful consequences than today.” She goes on to say that this, “can deter drug use and, alongside other measures, reduce demand for drugs.” After her opening statement, the document goes into the introduction to the new punishment program, and right off the bat she specifically says that she is targeting cannabis, along with cocaine. Under item #11 of the introduction, she writes, “Cannabis has consistently been the most used drug, followed by powder cocaine, “ and she goes on to cite a report that says, “around 2% of drug users were frequent users.” The very next line, on item, #12, she writes, “These cohorts of so-called recreational users, those who have not yet developed dependence on drugs, are the ones which this paper focuses on.” So she is basically saying she is targeting cannabis and powdered cocaine users, and she’s specifically focusing on the ones who are not addicts, but who are ‘recreational’ users. The rest of her 56 page report is dedicated to laying out her proposed three tiers of punishments for those individuals. These begin with a drug awareness course and a fine. Then things move into prosecution, random drug testing, wearing electronic monitoring tags, being banned from locations such as bars and nightclubs, and they could even have their passports and driver’s license confiscated. It’s interesting that Ms. Patel is going so hard after cannabis. As of 2019, there were twice as many UK residents who were in favor of cannabis legalization as those opposing it. (48%* compared to 24%). And in 2020, 8 percent of adults said they use marijuana without a prescription, which means they are all relying on the illegal market. And they’re spending around £2 billion annually, which at today’s exchange rate, is close to $2.4 billion dollars annually. Eight percent of all adults in the UK is an ambitious undertaking to attempt to go after and punish. Especially when 48%, or roughly half the country said they were in favor of legalizing it. (48%, see prior*) Ms Patel was appointed to her position by Boris Johnson, who has just resigned amidst massive pressure from his cabinet, who had been resigning in droves due to a lack of confidence in his leadership based on what they saw as poor choices. Appointing Ms. Patel may have been one of those bad decisions. The UK does have more support than just the citizens, though. There are officials who do as well. Recently, the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, announced the setting up of a commission to examine the UK’s drug laws, with a particular focus on cannabis. He’s tasked the University College in London with research and analysis on any potential changes. And while we’ve been discussing recreational use of cannabis, the UK does already have a medical program. However, it has been widely criticized. They must import 100% of it’s cannabis, and due to this they experience constant shortages. There is also a ridiculously low number of specialists who are legally allowed to prescribe cannabis, and it is very long, hard process to get that approval. Comments are closed.
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