Iâm pretty neutral on the question of legalisation. I suspect mass use would show that it isnât benign in terms of health - certainly I canât see that smoking it will be any less risky than tobacco.
California legalised it and itâs now a billion dollar industry.
Do we really want to legalise the use of another addictive substance, the effects of tobacco and alcohol are already bad enough?
I am wondering if it would be the thin end of the wedge⊠but I think there are some medical benefits⊠???
As an ex -user/smoker, this is my view. Those who will move on to harder drugs will do so whether cannabis is legal or not. Sometimes cannabis can royally fuck people up, legal or not. If it is legalised (or decriminalized) the number of people using it probably wouldnât increase significantly. If sold through approved outlets at a reasonable price ( I have no idea what the price of a quarter of an ounce of hash is these days, canât even remember what it used to be) there could be some quality control and it should free up police to deal with proper crime by removing the need for âdealersâ, The police are, and always have been fighting a losing battle.
Peace and love, man 
I know someone with a form of arthritis who finds it very beneficial. Iâm sure there have been trials regarding the benefits for certain conditions. Not sure of their outcomes or trustworthiness though. So for medical reasons-if proven, Iâd be happy to see it legalised.
For general use though, Iâm not so sure.
I donât think that it needs to be smoked, it can be incorporated into cookies/brownies etc.
Is it addictive?
I havenât actually tried it so I am not exactly an expert!
The medical benefits sound interesting.
The was an interesting TV programme recently with Russell Howard and his mum exploring USA - one episode was on cannabis.
If thatâs the case, then it should be prescribed by a medecin and dispensed by a pharmacist like any other dangerous drug. Giving it blanket âlegalisedâ tag because it âmayâ have benefits is a dangerous path to tread.
What next? Spice?
I donât think this is about decriminalization of cannabis for medical use.
I only tried it once in an Amsterdam coffee shop and Internet Cafe with my wife, when I was in my late sixties. I was logged on to a computer as I puffed enthusiastically, and noticed the mouse wasnât working, then I didnât know what the mouse was, or why someone wouldnât explain what it was, and then, some time later, I was being carried outside to get some fresh air. My wife was finishing off my spliff, after finishing hers.
Iâve never otherwise used drugs, although I enjoy a drink, which has addictive properties.
I see cannabis to be in the same category as alcohol, and on balance I incline towards its legalisation, if only because criminalisation seems to be ineffective in managing its use, and is costly in too many negative ways.
I agree graham. It would be medical marijuana so would have to be dispensed by a doctor/pharmacist , but as I said the benefits would have to be proven for these conditions, not total legalisation.
I reckon Chris that, if the political will were there, the pharmaceutical industry would fall over themselves to produce the research evidence needed to validate its effectiveness and safety for everything from genital thrush to recurrent nose-bleeds. No probs there, let the sun shine in! 
Only tried it twice, first time the result wasâ ânothingâ except the experience got me started smoking bakky again, after being off it for a few months, second time, I was âmonumentally sickâ, Iâm all for legalization, sure itâs no worse than alcohol, which I like many others, (wether we know it or not) are, probably addicted to. 
Will legalisation not encourage more people to try/use cannabis which could lead to more addicts who will inevitably need treatment at the taxpayers expense?
Of course itâs addictive - anything that makes you feel good is addictive, even if it makes you feel bad later. However it has well proven medical benefits in several areas and for some diseases and conditions its the only thing that actually makes a difference to quality of life for the patients afflicted.
However, sugar is addictive, alcohol is addictive, prescription drugs are addictive, junk food is addictive, just going to the doctor is, for some lonely people, addictive. The pharmaceutical industry thrives on addiction because they make most money out of it, with the food industry a close second.
It seems sensible to me to extend the USâs experiment with individual state legalisation much more widely, do proper monitoring of the results, with a view to perhaps making it as freely available as tobacco, sugar or viagra (over the counter now!). The current way it is ineffectively managed by the âlawâ is useless and cruel. The pharmaceutical industry cannot be trusted to control it.
(Listening out for blazing guns!)
I remember some years ago a tale of woe about cannabis and how it affects peopleâs judgement.
Near to where we lived - in the dead of night - Police arrested a young man in a car stuffed to the gunnels with industrial hemp which he had cut from a farmerâs field thinking it was cannabis which he was going to sell on to make some ready money to fund his âvariousâ habits.
The Police contacted the grower to tell him about it and seek his view on what to do with the man they had in the cells. The farmer promptly replied that they could let him go as the value of the âcropâ he had scavenged was only worth a few pence and he would need to smoke a 300 acres fieldâs worth to get even a small âhitâ.
The arresting officer went back to the cells to tell the young man his good fortune and that they were letting him go him without charge and the reasons why at which point the young offender pleaded to be kept in the cells for his own protection as the people who had paid him a substantial sum in advance for the cannabis crop would likely âdo him inâ!
Dangerous thing âdoingâ drugsâŠ
Iâm neutral on smoking itâŠI tried it a couple of times over 30 years ago but itâs not for meâŠI have nothing against people who use it recreationally though and no one has ever died from smoking a jointâŠI am however a huge advocate of itâs use for medicinal purposes in the form of cannabis oil and hemp oilâŠAt the end of the day itâs a plantâŠgiven freely by Mother Earth and I resent the government intrusion in the name of profit for the corporationsâŠthe spectre of gmo and synthetic cannabis is also rearing itâs ugly head in the name of profit and something to be aware ofâŠthis is from 2015âŠa brief history of the prohibition on cannabisâŠwho started itâŠthe corporate connections to DuPontâŠthe rise of nylonâŠwhy Bangladesh got itâs name and what happened to the country and itâs people after prohibitionâŠ
The cannabis available on the market now is no longer the cannabis available 20 or 30 (or more) years ago, it has far higher levels of thc (hundreds of times higher) and is a much more malign substance than it was.
I have no problem with medicinal cannabis but I think many of us over the age of 40 or so are under the illusion that cannabis is a mild harmless high as it was in the distant student past; well it no longer is and can cause psychotic episodes especially as it is usually consumed along with all sorts of other things including prescribed anti-depressants.
I would be very cautious about legalising anything that has the effect of impairing reaction time and judgment, there are enough deaths on the roads as it is; one of the reasons relatively few crashes can be attributed to cannabis is the fear of being caught which is higher than with alcohol.
(That said, I have Gertrude Stein and Alice B Toklasâs 1920s hash cookie recipe for anyone that wants it 
)
This is indisputably true, and if - as seems probable - it can lead to irreversible psychosis, itâs use is perhaps best legalised so that its strength can be controlled and penalties for infringement made more severe, and punitively so, along the lines of attempted manslaughter or aggravated GBH for suppliers or possession with intent.
I have to admit Vero that I wouldnât know my skunk from my hash from my northern lights from my marijuana from my resin as far as smoking itâŠMedicinally thereâs cbd oil made from the hemp plantâŠvery low thcâŠeasily available in outlets like Holland and Barrett in uk and one of their best sellersâŠRick Simpson Oil on the other hand is high thcâŠbut there is no doubt that his protocol cures cancer and many other ailmentsâŠin clinical trials for cancer a 1-1 ratio is showing promiseâŠI do agree that adding anti-depressants and other pharmaceuticals such as prescription painkillers or other âdrugsâ such as cocaine etc into the mix is likely to massively impair judgementâŠItâs interesting to note that Israel grows cannabis to such an extent that many big investors were attracted to their plan to export itâŠIsrael has since changed its mind and many big investors have lost moneyâŠcurrent legislation makes it really difficult for those suffering from cancer or ms etc who would like to try cannabis oil as part of their treatment protocolâŠThe current legislation criminalises their attempts to seek treatmentâŠ