POTTY! the A.A grumpy column

[pantoandy]

hello and welcome im just back from the car boot so today its a rather soggy grumpy rant.
did you know that It's illegal to grow your own cannabis, but you CAN buy seeds and planting kit online ?
so heres a story i picked up in todays news of the world


SUPER-strength cannabis seeds and the equipment to grow them are being OPENLY sold on the web— despite the fact it is ILLEGAL to grow the drug in Britain.

There are NO plans to close the legal loophole even though the “skunk” is linked to severe mental illness and even murders.

In the UK it is forbidden to grow cannabis but NOT to sell the seeds.

At least two dozen UK-based firms offer skunk seeds, getting around the law by describing them as “novelties” or “adult souvenirs”.

But alongside the seeds—costing between £28 and £50 for ten—they also sell all the paraphernalia needed to cultivate the plants, which are three times stronger than normal cannabis.

These include LED lights for £35, sodium heating lamps for £70, special fertilizer for £12 and watering devices for £50. And the companies give advice on how to cultivate the plants.

One firm says a type of skunk is “a must for commercial growers because of its high yield”. Another states: “This strain is ideal for the inexperienced grower.”

Buyers range from ordinary people growing a few plants for their own use to criminal gangs making MILLIONS of pounds a year.

Last year police in LONDON identified 700 illegal cannabis factories in the capital. And just last week cops busted factories in LEEDS, NORTHAMPTON, WHITTLESEY, Cambs, TELFORD, Shropshire, and MARGATE, Kent.

But the Home Office said: “There are currently no plans for legislation to outlaw the sale of seeds.”

Anti-drug campaigner Debra Bell of Talking About Cannabis said: “Everyone knows how damaging skunk can be to the human mind and of the terrible crimes that have been committed by people high on the drug.

“These companies are profiting out of people’s misery.”

And Tory MP David Davies added: “I can’t see why the Government can’t make a law to ban this trade.”

AAG

there are two sides to the coin with this argument,
i dont agree with drugs myself and think zero tollerance should apply even to cannabis.
however i accept that there are those who actually smoke it for pain relief as prescribed drugs do not work such as MS.
so where do we go from here to take drugs away from the dealers yet allow those who need it for pain relief still have it and prevent the system being abused.
every week in my local paper i see the same names cropping up in the in court section of the paper for burglary or shoplifting and they always use the same whining excuse in court (its because of my drug habit i rely on cannabis...
the solicitors are even telling their clients to say this to get them off.
and the regulars know what excuse to use in police custody.
im sitting on the fence with this one what do you think?
AAG

[Rapunzel]

I agree. I think the whole thing is just POTty.

[oscar]

Originally Posted by pantoandy

hello and welcome im just back from the car boot so today its a rather soggy grumpy rant.
did you know that It's illegal to grow your own cannabis, but you CAN buy seeds and planting kit online ?
so heres a story i picked up in todays news of the world


SUPER-strength cannabis seeds and the equipment to grow them are being OPENLY sold on the web— despite the fact it is ILLEGAL to grow the drug in Britain.

There are NO plans to close the legal loophole even though the “skunk” is linked to severe mental illness and even murders.

In the UK it is forbidden to grow cannabis but NOT to sell the seeds.

At least two dozen UK-based firms offer skunk seeds, getting around the law by describing them as “novelties” or “adult souvenirs”.

But alongside the seeds—costing between £28 and £50 for ten—they also sell all the paraphernalia needed to cultivate the plants, which are three times stronger than normal cannabis.

These include LED lights for £35, sodium heating lamps for £70, special fertilizer for £12 and watering devices for £50. And the companies give advice on how to cultivate the plants.

One firm says a type of skunk is “a must for commercial growers because of its high yield”. Another states: “This strain is ideal for the inexperienced grower.”

Buyers range from ordinary people growing a few plants for their own use to criminal gangs making MILLIONS of pounds a year.

Last year police in LONDON identified 700 illegal cannabis factories in the capital. And just last week cops busted factories in LEEDS, NORTHAMPTON, WHITTLESEY, Cambs, TELFORD, Shropshire, and MARGATE, Kent.

But the Home Office said: “There are currently no plans for legislation to outlaw the sale of seeds.”

Anti-drug campaigner Debra Bell of Talking About Cannabis said: “Everyone knows how damaging skunk can be to the human mind and of the terrible crimes that have been committed by people high on the drug.

“These companies are profiting out of people’s misery.”

And Tory MP David Davies added: “I can’t see why the Government can’t make a law to ban this trade.”

AAG

there are two sides to the coin with this argument,
i dont agree with drugs myself and think zero tollerance should apply even to cannabis.
however i accept that there are those who actually smoke it for pain relief as prescribed drugs do not work such as MS.
so where do we go from here to take drugs away from the dealers yet allow those who need it for pain relief still have it and prevent the system being abused.
every week in my local paper i see the same names cropping up in the in court section of the paper for burglary or shoplifting and they always use the same whining excuse in court (its because of my drug habit i rely on cannabis...
the solicitors are even telling their clients to say this to get them off.
and the regulars know what excuse to use in police custody.
im sitting on the fence with this one what do you think?
AAG

Legal loopholes allow the sale of seeds on the web just as they are allowed to sell knives to idiots who intend stabbing some-one with them.
You can buy the seeds or the knife....... no-one says you have to use them.... That's the law.

[koan]

Originally Posted by grumpy

There are NO plans to close the legal loophole even though the “skunk” is linked to severe mental illness and even murders.

Statistics are a funny thing. How do we know that it's not the reverse? That severely mentally ill and murdering types aren't more drawn to smoking pot by nature? The statement I quoted does not prove that the pot created the illness. The illness could as easily have led to the use of the pot.

What do you mean by "linked"?

[OpenMind]

Strange how cannabis was never an issue before the last century. Yet, it has been grown for millenia. Even in England, although it was only grown for rope then. Every town with 'hemp' in its name was once a source for it.By cracking down on it, users have turned to growing it themselves and then to messing with it and now we have this superskunk stuff which is too powerful and endangers the user's mind. Meddling politicians again. What existed before was harmless by comparison. The most anyone could do to themselves (unless the swallowed it) was to become soporific and fall asleep.