Cannabis never killed anyone? Tell that to Tim's parents - An argument against legalising Cannabis and drugs generally

The war on drugs must be continued to be fought

When I was in the Police service, a read of the daily briefing sheet would no doubt produce advice of a few arrests for drugs offences from the previous day, amongst the other usually tin-pot list of offences and low rent crimes. There was the occasional murder sometimes.

Often the drug offenders were local and well known users. This was back in the 90's and the drug of choice was most likely to be Cannabis.

It really pisses me off to hear the often left leaning celebs and do-gooders who say that drugs should be legalised. Richard Branson is always banging on legalisation, he should read this and go and talk to Tim's parents if he thinks drugs are a good thing.

The reason they are not 'good', is because they are dangerous and can kill. The oft spouted tosh that 'Cannabis never killed anyone' is fatuous. Here's the truth.  It can.This is a true story.

When I started my secondary school, in my class I sat next to a boy called Tim for the first year. After I left school, some eleven years later I was at the time in the Police service and stationed in the town where I had been at school.

I was looking through a local free newspaper one day at work at lunchtime and in an article, was a picture of Tim, who I hadn't seen since leaving school eleven years before.

Tim was now an artist and living in the same town still, he was according to the paper set to go to Australia to paint for 6 months.

It was a shock sometime later to see that once of my colleagues had arrested him for Cannabis possession. I double checked the name and date of birth and it seemed to fit. I did get a bit of a bad feeling about this. Sadly I was to be proved right. This wasn't going to end well.

Illegal drugs 'farms' are often concealed in suburban houses and industrial buildings

It was a short time later that a pair of my colleagues attended a house that Tim rented and found him dead, the cause of death was suicide by hanging, from an open loft entrance. It was quite a shock to read that on a briefing sheet, I can tell you. It made me feel sad to read it having known the victim for 5 years at school.

So my question was why would this young man with the prospect of a painting trip to Australia choose to take his own life? Perhaps he had his own problems and the psychosis of the Cannabis led him there? Certainly a possession conviction could put the lid on his Visa application.

I often do think about Tim when I hear these liberal do-gooders spout about legalising drugs, I wonder what Tim would have been doing now, how his art might have progressed? Perhaps that may be viewed as pointless to speculate about, but the thing is that this was a real person's life cut short. Someone with potential. Someone I knew.

Our Brain is a complex chemical construction combined with electrical impulse operations

So what is the danger of this drug? Firstly, we must look to the brain. Our brain uses a complex cocktail of chemical traces in our body to regulate certain functions. Depending on the strength of cannabis, the brain reacts to these compounds in the active chemicals contained, differently. They are an 'alien' intrusion.

Chemicals in Cannabis itself can cause psychosis, this can vary from person to person. Much as Manic Depression (now called Bi-Polar disorder) is a situation where brain chemicals have to be regulated by medication.

(In this situation, the chemical balance in the brain has to be stabilised with medication, otherwise the patient can suffer problems with coping with everyday life.)

The medication has to be changed periodically when the brain becomes accustomed to the formulation. Some people claim to have no after effects of Cannabis, others are noticeably affected.

With new super-strength strains of Cannabis from factory production in artificial conditions, there is the danger that chemicals used in the growth promotion will be ingested by the user. These can be highly toxic. One report I read said that a 10 year habitual cannabis user of high strength cannabis has the damaged lungs that would normally be found in a 70 year old life time smoker. Is that not warning enough?

The user does not appreciate what has been used to grow this super strength drug. The grower doesn't care either, they just want profit and as much plant growth as possible.

People often try and push this 'its harmless' routine, it doesn't wash, I've known of too many people who have come up on Police briefing sheets as being casualties of 'recreational drugs' as the trendy media sound bite has it. When was death ever 'trendy'?

One of our local 'users' who started out on the 'harmless' Cannabis was found dead by Metropolitan Police Officers, shot through the head in a crack den in Kings Cross, in London. I don't expect his parents who lived in a very expensive house in a well to do area found that amusing or agree with legalisation. The murderer was never caught.

The victims often start down this sort of road by Cannabis use. If they are lucky, they get off the stuff before too much damage is done. But often, it is a sad story that ends up with their lives ruined by hard drugs and often, death from an overdose.

People often turn to these devices to obliterate something in their lives, to escape from it. There is only one way to deal with these things, to face them and get professional help.

So, if you think that this sort of drug doesn't affect you, it does. The what they use to super grow it remains in the genetic heart of the resin that is ingested. You can't see the damage its doing inside from the outside.

That's half the problem. If you want to get high, go and stand on the top of a mountain and enjoy the scenery.