I’m always on the look out for interesting things to film for Let Me Look TV. So when I stumbled across an event called “Responding to drug harms: Can the UK learn from Portugal?” I thought it might be worth checking out.
For pro-reform advocates like myself, Portugal is often cited as a shining example of how drugs reform works - it is the way forward. Personally, I still think they still need to fully legalise cannabis and regulate it in some way, but that’s a different discussion.
The thing that made me roll my eyes initially was way the title ‘Responding to drug harms’ seemed fairly suggestive, so my expectations weren’t that high at first glance. But after checking out the panellists, I saw it was going to be an interesting event for sure.
Note: This guide should be considered outdated and is saved for archived purposes. (Last updated mid 2018)
Cannabis - The Law
The Government insist that they have no intention of changing the laws surrounding activities relating to cannabis and continue to reinforce their non-scientific, non-evidence based policy. Their official line is “cannabis is a very harmful, very dangerous drug that can cause huge mental health problems and addiction” along with “cannabis has no medicinal benefits in herbal form”. Their reason for classifying cannabis as a “controlled” substance they say, is to protect people from themselves.
Cannabis is a Class B Drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Although it is given the title of a “controlled drug” there is actually very little control that anyone has over it as the commercial market is predominantly run by organised crime and completely unregulated. There is no control over who produces it, who sells it, who it is sold to, or even that the quality of the product is safe to consume.