Okay so here goes something quite personal:

I’ve written about this before for @TheSpinoffTV, but not everyone will know that my dad is an addict and his drug of choice has been cannabis. There are other substances involved, but his true love is weed, and it always has been.
I think genuine, life-crippling addictions to weed are probably rare in comparison to addictions to other drugs, but I cannot stress enough that seeing conversations about what little harm cannabis causes is deeply upsetting for anyone who has been harmed by a weed addiction.
I understand it’s a deep, frustrating disparity in harm caused by alcohol vs weed and how we regulate and treat the two which drives the desire to show weed as the lesser of these evils, but the point of decriminalisation shouldn’t be that it doesn’t cause harm, right?
The point is to redirect resources so that *when* harm is caused, it’s a health issue, not a criminal one. I don’t care if stoned people are nicer than drunks, or that stoned people are less violent than drunks, because TRUST ME you can have a nice, non-violent weed addiction.
You can have a nice, comfortable, life-ruining preference for weed over all people, activities, responsibilities and ultimately quality of life. Your constant need to be stoned can get you into car accidents, jail and even court-mandated stints at rehab, just like alcohol.
I recognise the healthcare uses and positive potential for cannabis, and I understand that it’s often a tool for good things in people’s lives. I want it to be decriminalised for those reasons too, but I can’t pretend like its potential for harm hasn’t irrevocably shaped my life.
So I implore you to vote for the decriminalisation of cannabis precisely because that level of harm is possible, not just because it has good uses. Fundamentally, a justice-led, criminal approach to drugs has failed globally and locally and is perpetrating a cycle of harm NOW.
The opportunities cannabis might provide is a nice idea and I understand it’s many people’s focus, but please reframe and include harm in your talking points. Don’t pretend it doesn’t exist, focus on it. Those of us who have a limited bandwidth for those convos need you to.
This will be the only thing I have the emotional capacity to put on the table about the referendum because ~for some reason~ it makes me feel like I’ve been hit by a bus and then run a marathon every time I try and even lightly talk about addiction. So please take this with you x
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