[Stu]

I will use the Portuguese model as my primary example :

Drug Decriminalization in Portugal
http://www.cato.org/publications/com...on-policy-pays
https://econ.berkeley.edu/sites/defa...lon_daniel.pdf
http://www.time.com/time/health/arti...893946,00.html
http://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...riminalization
http://metronews.ca/news/world/39317...-war-on-drugs/
http://www.businessinsider.com/portu...n-works-2012-7
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/n...rtugal-addicts
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain...f-in-portugal/
http://www.opensocietyfoundations.or...izing-drug-use
http://www.idt.pt/PT/IDT/Documents/P...onalReport.pdf
http://www.beckleyfoundation.org/bib...n_211672_1.pdf
http://www.beckleyfoundation.org/bib...n_211621_1.pdf


In short the system resulted in an increased uptake of drug treatment, a reduction in new HIV diagnoses amongst drug users by 17%, reduction in drug related deaths, a decrease in drug use amongst teenagers and a decrease in drugs related criminal justice efforts - freeing up time, money and resource to chase down bigger and badder apples.

This is a credible strategy to propose. The idea that it's the dubious opinion of some nutter on the internet is entirely reckless on your part. I'll say it again : if this is good enough to be an open debate that exists everywhere from Hollywood to parliament what right do you have to question the validity of it? I'm not asking if you agree with it - you're fine to disagree with it - but to not even give it due credit as a proposal is bordering on insanity.

Now moving on to other efforts. The purpose of this being to establish the feasibility of the idea and how it is happening in the real world. Because sometimes you sound like this is something that is only happening in my head :

Czech Republic
http://www.praguepost.com/news/3194-...t-liberal.html
http://www.prague-guide.co.uk/news/2...-republic.html
http://www.dw.de/liberal-drug-laws-i...east/a-5815996
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/c...marijuana-laws
http://www.expats.cz/prague/article/...c-s-drug-laws/

Reform in the United Kingdom
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2...ugs-law-reform
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2...ion-drugs-laws
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-20720122
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...s-8421157.html
http://www.csdp.org/news/news/ukupdate.htm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...-drugs-science
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2...ohnstone-drugs
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/20...drugs-40-years
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8336635.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8336884.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8342454.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8353685.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8455642.stm

Many other European countries such as Spain have legalized personal use of Cannabis. The movements to legalize Cannabis in the United States and Canada are well documented and I would hope I do not need to link to it. In Canada it's effectively decriminalized whilst roughly half of America have it legalized for medicinal use. Two states so far - Colorado and Washington - have now outright legalized it for personal use with more states to follow. Because the state governments realized prohibition was counter active and was never going to work. And because the people spoke and voted it in.

Now moving on to CBD. This is more Cannabis heavy material as I have already covered decriminalization in general. But it is highly important in providing an antidote to this "Cannabis makes you insane" line. I'm going to be lazy again and copy and paste as background. To this end I said :

I have talked at length on this forum for a number of years now about the emerging trend of demonizing the mental state of Cannabis intoxication and it's purported effects on mental health. I was engaged in debate on topics like the ratio of cannabinoids in the make up of the plant years before the papers caught up with it [some still haven't].

The practical invention and mystical attributes given to "skunk weed" have created this weird sort of fantasy land for journalists who now have carte blanche to hanker back to the days of Reefer Madness and talk about smoking pot as if it's a trip down the rabbit hole with undertones of demonic possession.

Some are only coming around to and respecting the fact now that these mental health effects are not only blown out of proportion but are symptoms of the illegal environment the plant inhabits. It's not the strength per say of Cannabis that is sometimes dangerous but the exact chemical make up of the plant. It's easier to just say it's stronger and scarier than ever, I know.

The trend towards indoor grows where Cannabis is cultivated guerrilla style hard and fast in an ultra artificial environment by crime gangs who don't respect the product has resulted in THC enriched Cannabis that has all but had the CBD bred out of it. CBD is Cannabidiol. It's the true magic of Cannabis that is only coming to light in recent times.

Cannabidiol and other Cannabinoids like it in the Cannabis plant [if you ever want to flex your keyboard fingers in a improvisational groove band feel free to use that as a name, man] play a huge, very important role in mediating the effects of THC [tetrahydrocannabinol, the stuff that gets you groovy]. They round out the intoxication of Cannabis, infuse it with it's medical properties and protect against THC giving the brain too much of a kicking. Cannabidiol is an anti psychotic, anti anxiety agent. It has all but been bred out of most commercial strains of the ganj because of the illegal marketplace it exists in. Because of the zeitgeist of cowardice and anti science that you support.

So it's not just a question of strength. I'm regularly getting great hash that is far stronger than most of the mass market variations of haze and cheese that are smoking up the marketplace on this side of the pond but it's infinitely relaxing. So in essence this mental health scare is an overreaction to a market trend created and preserved by Cannabis's illegality in the first place. And that is without me even going into sprayed and contaminated Cannabis.

And here is some material to support my arguments, mixed up with other medicinal benefits of CBD :

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...C67803F.d03t02
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/bjmbr/v39n4/6164.pdf
http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs...07458608985678
http://www.druglibrary.org/Schaffer/.../dystonic1.htm
http://mct.aacrjournals.org/content/6/11/2921
http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/192/4/306.full
http://www.nature.com/npp/journal/v2.../1300340a.html
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...91305709001166
http://www.nature.com/npp/journal/v3...npp20116a.html
http://jop.sagepub.com/content/25/1/121.long
http://www.nature.com/npp/journal/v3.../1300838a.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20884951

I may post more links pertaining to the more general subject of medicinal Cannabis after dinner in spoiler tags if anybody is interested but I'm not sure yet. I doubt anybody would be brave enough to question Cannabis's potential as medicine because it is medicine. I may also post more evidence supporting a system of drug decriminalization but like I said I'm not sure.

I've taken effort to ensure as many links as possible were from mainstream sites or reputable scientific sourced. You won't fine a single website contained in this post that is in any way a pro Cannabis and or drug culture website.

Enjoy.