Opinions - US vs UK perceptions on cannabis use.

[Nature Boy]

It seems pretty damn obvious at this stage that there are very different opinions on cannabis use in the United States and the United Kingdom. Both governments are clearly opposed to any sort of mass decriminalisation or legalisation of cannabis but their arguments against cannabis are remarkably separate.

It appears as though in the US the main argument against cannabis use is involving motoring skills and reaction times. Automobile culture in America is a lot more predominant than in Britain. One can drive at the age of sixteen, fuel is cheap and cars are affordable for most young people. A great fear among conservatives is that loosening laws on cannabis would create havoc on the roads.

Another aspect of the US attitude towards cannabis is use among youths. The legal drinking age is twenty-one and many American teens can access cannabis more easily than alcohol. There are economical factors also. How would hemp production effect the balance of power regarding the nation's finances as a whole?

In the UK we have what could be described as "Reefer Madness 2.0". Often we hear the argument that today's "skunk" cannabis is some ridiculous amount of times more potent than the safe grass of yesteryear our fathers smoked and that it is responsible for a plethora of mental illnesses due to its high level of THC. Why do we not hear this argument across the Atlantic? It seems like the perfect propaganda tool in order to mould the minds of the young anti-drug America. Is it because these claims lack a scientific basis? Many UK studies do not differentiate between causation and correlation. Even the usually reputable Lancet stumbled at this hurdle.

The existence of hash oil, a cannabis product which has existed for decades and contains a higher THC level than all of today's most advanced types of "skunk" never gets mentioned either. Surely if high levels of THC directly cause mental illness, wouldn't that mean that anyone who has touched hash oil would automatically need medical attention? Why haven't we heard about this?

So what's with the huge gulf in anti-cannabis strategies here? Is it that both sides have developed their arguments in such contrasting ways based on bad science that they cannot cross-breed their methods of deception? Personally I believe the British anti-cannabis movement is far more deceptive and harmful. Talk to Frank advertisments touting unfounded mental health risks is a much bigger lie than anything I've seen come out of America because people actually believe this nonsense. What's even more worrying is that people are being won over by this bullshit for no good reason e.g. Gordon Brown.

And another thought, why is it that we have more British, even on this forum, complaining of paranoia and mood swings than we hear from US users? Is it that weed on this side of the Atlantic is tainted in some kind of way, or is it that they have been brainwashed more efficiently?

Opinions?

Reputation Comments on this post:

	good comment
	very interesting question