BenTasker.co.uk

This post was originally published to Freedom4All, you can find a copy of the original here in the archive.

I begin with some bad news. The country singer Willie Nelson has been arrested at the age of 77 for possession of Cannabis. Six Ounces of Cannabis were found on his tour bus when it pulled into a police checkpoint in Texas, the singer was bailed for £1500. You can read (a little) more about this at the Telegraph. 

This, however, is not what this article is about. Readers will note that I have been elated at the effect that Cannabis has had on my life in recent months, so much so in fact, that I believe I began to forget just how difficult life had been prior to my use of this fantastic plant. 

Unfortunately, earlier this week, I was given a stark reminder of just how difficult life was. 

Today, I watched as one of our representatives denied the opportunity to even debate the benefits of Medicinal Cannabis. Such was his disregard for those suffering, he seems to have acted to prevent simple discussion of the pros and cons.

I'm ashamed to say that he's the MP for the Town I grew up in. For years I've watched people fruitlessly try to convince our MPs to listen, today was too much and I've decided that I need to put my head above the parapet and share my experience in this area.

Below is an open letter which I've sent to the leaders of the 3 main UK political parties

This post was originally published to Freedom4All, you can find a copy of the original here in the archive.

We are told that the Misuse of Drugs Act exists in order to protect society from the ill effects of certain drugs. In fact, there is reason to believe that the original legislation in 1924 was more motivated by commercial interests than humanitarian ones. Especially given that in 1894 the British and Indian Hemp Commission decided against prohibition stating that social use of cannabis was acceptable. For the purposes of this article, however, we’ll give the Government the benefit of the doubt. 

The Government often reminds us that drugs are harmful and constitute a real and present danger to society. This is clearly a very bold statement to make, but does it apply to every use case? 

The Government would certainly like us to believe that it does, but my experience would suggest that the truth is a little different. 

This post was originally published to Freedom4All, you can find a copy of the original here in the archive.

This post was part of a series called Fallacies and can now be found under the tag Fallacies

Earlier in the series, we looked at claims that the Home Office have credibility when debating drugs and also at claims that Cannabis is a dangerous substance. 

In this instalment we will look at the myth that the current political position on medical cannabis is what’s required to protect our children from harm. 

This post was originally published to Freedom4All, you can find a copy of the original here in the archive.

This post was part of a series called Fallacies and can now be found under the tag Fallacies

In my last instalmentwe began disproving some of the myths that prohibitionists use to justify their stance on the medical use of Cannabis. 

In this article, we’ll examine the fallacy that Cannabis is an abhorrent drug 

This post was originally published to Freedom4All, you can find a copy of the original here in the archive.

This post was part of a series called Fallacies and can now be found under the tag Fallacies

The UK Government steadfastly denies the medical benefits of Cannabis, they’ve classified it as a Schedule 1 Drug – “Of no medical benefit” – and resolutely try to ignore scientific evidence to the contrary. 

Surely, you think, it must be that the Government know something that we do not. After all, the Home Office exists to protect the taxpayer from all the nasties that threaten our lifestyles. In this series of articles, we’ll be debunking the myth that the Home Office have any justification in their stance. 

This post was originally published to Freedom4All, a copy of the original can be found here in the archive.

It’s funny what a little restraint can do, I was all set to submit an angry article about the Home Office last night as they appeared to have overrun their 20 day timescale for responding to queries. Instead I decided to employ a bit of patience, and today I received a response!! 

This post was originally posted to Freedom4All. A copy of the original can be found here in the archive.

A member of the Coalition – Simon Heffer – has penned a truly ignorant piece in the Times. Quite frankly, some of the tripe he has written is so self-evident that it’s hardly worth countering. So instead, I’ll deal with the crux of his article; 

This post was originally published to Freedom4All, you can find a copy of the original here in the archive.

Whilst watching “Desperate Housewives”, of all things, I was made aware of another legitimate medical use for cannabis. The show is set in “The eagle state” – Mississippi – where, amongst other things, cannabis is prescribed to treat depression. 

In reality, I can’t find anything to verify this use in Mississippi, but it is apparently used to treat depression elsewhere. 

Now, depression is no small thing. I’ve both seen and experienced it and it’s dangerous and unpleasant.What I don’t understand, however, is the vast differences in state recognition of the medical value of cannabis. 

This post was originally published to Freedom4All, you can find a copy of the original here in the archive.

Contrary to what the UK Government may tell you, cannabis does not ruin your life. 

In fact, I’m constantly reminded by friends and family how much better and happier I am than I have been for a very long time. Why haven’t I been happy in the past? I was in constant, unbearable pain and lived every second of my life under the influence of multiple prescription medications. 

This post was originally published on Freedom4All and the original can be found in the archive at this link.

It was reported on Monday that the Government have decided that they no longer need scientific advice on drug law. Presumably this is related to the mountain of scientific evidence contradicting the Government’s prohibitionist stance, but it does at least make it clear that the policies have absolutely nothing to do with health. 

As if they couldn’t top that, the Government have now announced that they will be promoting abstinence over control of drug addictions. Although, to the casual observer, this may seem like a wise move, it’s a terrible decision and here’s why; 

This article was originally published on Freedom4All. A copy of the original can be found here in the archive.

We here at Freedom4All feel that many will agree with us when we say that pain and suffering should be reduced in whatever way possible. Why is it then that our Politicians seem un-willing to explore certain means of reducing this suffering? 

Our Guest writer has offered to share his story to highlight the impact of this political decision;