I have seen a couple of articles recently about your 'hard stance on cannabis'. Without meaning to sound insulting, I must assume that either you are completely ignorant as to the reality of the situation surrounding this hugely popular drug, or you are following some agenda that opposes the legalisation or decriminalisation of one of the most popular and harmless drugs on this planet.
In the last year I have watched a friend's father, a decorated veteran and successful businessman, destroy himself through alcohol abuse. I have watched people who have never tried class A drugs before do so because they are drunk and their inhibitions are lowered. I have watched people being rushed to hospital from drunken accidents. I have watched drunken fights. I have watched my father's youngest brother hobble round his home on a zimmerframe, in a worse state than his 90 year old father, as a result of the alcohol he has consumed. His wife divorced him because of his drinking, and he does not see his children any more because of this. He will no longer let anyone in his house because he is so ashamed of himself. Let us name this paragraph, 'ALCOHOL'.
In the last year I have smoked cannabis most evenings after work. I get home, take off my suit, sit on my sofa, put the TV on and roll a joint. When I am finished I put some dinner on. I might roll another while I am waiting. I will smoke maybe 2 or 3 joints through the evening, and go to bed about 11:30. I then wake up at 6:30, iron a shirt, put on a suit and go to work, where I advise investment managers on how to use our software. I am excelling in my job, receiving praise from many of our most difficult clients. I have an uncle (the oldest) who is 65 years old and does likewise. He runs a business with his wife, is healthy, happy, intelligent, and has been smoking cannabis (he tells me) every day for 40 years. If only his younger brother had done this instead of alcohol. The vast majority of my friends are the same. They smoke cannabis regularly, most of them daily, and they get up every morning and go about their lives. You would not know that they are cannabis smokers if you met them. They are professional, hard working, intelligent people. They are kind-hearted, generous, decent people. None of them have any more psychological issues than the next person, and I would even venture to say that they are on the whole a lot more stable mentally and emotionally than most people I know who don't smoke. Let us name this paragraph 'CANNABIS'.
You seem to have a lack of understanding about who smokes cannabis, why they smoke cannabis, the effect it has upon them, and the damage it causes. The reality is that PEOPLE IN ALL WALKS OF LIFE SMOKE CANNABIS, and they get on with their lives without issue. The idea that cannabis can be a 'gateway drug' is laughable. I have never smoked cannabis and been tempted to try another drug. When I am drunk however, my common sense is diminished and I am much more likely to do things that are out of character. When I smoke cannabis I am liable to eat more food and sleep better. Of course it is a drug and should be treated with respect, but cannabis is by far the least harmful drug I have ever taken, and I have taken a few.
Cannabis smokers come in all ages, all races, all religions and all social classes. You may know many of them and not even realise it. If you want to mark millions of people as criminals, as people who are a danger to society, for smoking a plant, YOU are the criminal. I am sick of paying prohibition prices for a plant I could grow myself. I am sick of people suffering and being given harmful drugs for the profit of pharmaceutical companies at taxpayer expense when they could ease their suffering immeasurably by growing a weed in their garden. I am sick of being demonised by people who are completely ignorant about the most versatile plant on this planet (cannabis/hemp). I am sick of seeing people ruin their lives drinking excessive alcohol, when they could be getting high on weed without destroying their liver and kidneys. I could go on and on and smash every single illusion there is about cannabis, because that's what they are - illusions.
I have smoked cannabis heavily for 15 years. I have a good job, a great social life, amazing friends, amazing family, I pay my taxes, and ironically the only time I have been arrested was for drunken disorderly. Your stance on cannabis is immoral, offensive, and damaging in many ways to the future of our society. Please do some research. Speak to people who smoke cannabis regularly and have done for years. See how they live their lives. They aren't much different from you
