A few months ago, I wrote this blog post as a 4/20 special – all about why I compare the legalisation of marijuana to gay rights, based around The Rolling Stones’ 1967 music video for “We Love You”. You can read the whole story there. That is not the only pot related blog post I’ve written. I also wrote a blog post about classic rock songs songs about cannabis and a blog post about classic rockers who were arrested on drugs charges. In all of these blog posts I called for legalisation. I’ll never stop advocating for it as long as there’s laws against it. I could have submitted the first blog post I linked to there, and maybe I should have because there is an interesting point in there because Ireland was late to the game on gay liberation. We must learn from mistakes of the past. We can’t change the past, but we can act now to right the wrongs of the past to create a better future. Gay sex was only made legal in 1993 in the Republic of Ireland – only 30 years ago! Some people may think it’s insensitive to compare the two issues, but the fights for gay liberation and ending the prohibition on marijuana are not about decadence and debauchery. It’s about freedom. As someone who is part of the LGBT community, I am not offended by the comparison and I am more offended by straight people who condescendingly try to control my speech and tell me what I should be offended by. I believe that pattern recognition is one sign of intelligence and when we see the patterns, we come to a better understanding of the world. Comparing issues and advocating for each other’s causes is how we build solidarity and we need solidarity now more than ever before as wealth concentrates into fewer and fewer hands.
What disappoints me about the Citizens’ Assembly is the lack of non-white/mixed voices, the lack of Traveller/Roma voices, the lack of young voices, and the lack of immigrant voices. Ireland, while it is becoming more diverse, is still very much a lily white country, and anyone who is non-white or mixed stands out like a sore thumb and therefore is an easier target for cops to harass. A lot of people falsely assume that in Europe there is less racism than the US, but the truth is there is less transparency with the statistics so it’s harder to call it out. With the US being a way larger country, it’s easy to point fingers as a distraction from the problems in your own country. It’s disgusting and dishonest behaviour to point fingers and deflect from concerns people have. We also cannot forget how Travellers and Roma are treated poorly and how anti-Traveller/anti-Roma prejudice is one of the last “acceptable” forms of racism – spend any amount of time in Europe and you’ll find a lot of casual prejudice against Travellers and Roma people where if you swapped out the word “Traveller or Roma” for Jewish, they’d sound like a Nazi. Voices of young people and immigrants are especially important, as young people and immigrants face extra consequences if arrested for drugs offences. Young people who are enrolled in university can potentially face suspension or expulsion. Young people who study to become teachers or paediatricians may not be able to follow their dreams anymore because if they have any drugs charges on their record, they cannot work with children. Similarly, if they want to work with the disabled, elderly, or any other vulnerable groups (in other words, any job that requires a background check), it may not be possible if they do not have a clean record. Immigrants can face even more severe consequences such as not having their visa renewed or being deported and banned from entry and that can mean never seeing friends or loved ones again. Even if they are not deported, if they have any dreams of becoming a citizen, they may have to kiss those hopes and dreams goodbye all because they smoked a joint. People get denied for citizenship over something as small as a parking ticket – and even worse, people are denied citizenship for claiming disability benefits or the dole – which is perfectly legal and something people are entitled to, so it’s not out of the question that if you were convicted of drug possession you would be denied. Pretty draconian, right?
Without further ado, here’s what I’ve written to the Citizens’ Assembly:
Why Ireland needs to legalise marijuana in one fell swoop and anything less is an aggravation of the problem:
Dear Citizensā Assembly, my name is Angie and I am a mixed race, bisexual writer with chronic pain and anxiety issues. I am writing to express my views on the harms of the current laws against cannabis use and why I believe that legalisation of cannabis is the best course of action and why any lesser half-measures are only an aggravation of the problem and instead hide the horrors of the system by punishing more people less severely and not doing anything to improve public health and safety.
The current laws make cannabis, a plant that is beneficial to so many people for all sorts of reasons, expensive and unsafe, only breeding mistrust and hostility towards authority. It is clear as day that prohibition doesnāt work. As we know, abstinence only sex education leads to more unplanned pregnancies and prohibition of alcohol was a failure. The model of criminalisation used by Ireland creates more harm to cannabis users through incarceration and stigma than it prevents through acting as a deterrent. The good news is that laws can and have been changed in the past and removing the legal consequences is a good first step towards making cannabis safer and improving public health. Not only should the legal consequences be removed, cannabis should be able to be purchased at dispensaries. The Canadian system works better than the system in Ireland where you have no idea what kind of cannabis youāre getting and you risk losing everything if youāre caught using a plant that some people decided is evil: your job, reputation, and if youāre an immigrant you could end up deported. This current system is unjust and especially harms those who are poor or working class and doubly so if youāre non-white or mixed.
I personally am someone who has lived experience with cannabis helping my chronic pain and mental health issues. I was diagnosed with endometriosis and before I had my hysterectomy a few months ago, I had back pain and cramps that would strike at any moment without warning and only two things helped alleviate the pain and those things were corsets and cannabis. When I travelled to Canada and California last year, I could walk into any shop and purchase cannabis like any other product. The shops are all professional looking, destigmatise the use of cannabis, and have a variety of products for all sorts of needs whether itās for pain relief or recreational purposes. When I had access to cannabis, I no longer needed to wear corsets to help with my cramps and back pain. At this time I cannot get access to cannabis through the Medical Access Programme due to the restrictive list of accepted conditions. Politicians restricting who can take medicine is a form of practicing medicine without a licence and harms those who need cannabis the most. Even if these politicians are medical doctors, they are not specifically my doctor who knows my medical history. Anecdotally, I know that responsible use of cannabis has eased my pain and improved my quality of life. I am sure there are other similar cases out there like mine but these are not going to be reflected in studies and surveys while people feel persecuted for their cannabis use. People like myself who have positive experiences with systems that allow the safe purchase of cannabis cannot have the same experience in Ireland due to the criminalisation and demonisation of cannabis use and cultivation.
There is one solution that will not only make cannabis safer, but also be a huge revenue source and a jobs creator and that is to legalise cannabis, expand the medical cannabis programme to include any medical condition, pardon all people with non-violent drugs charges, and make it available in dispensaries. This should be done straight away with no undue delays. The longer the wait, the more people get harmed by the racist, classist status quo. The number of lives affected already is too many, we can’t afford more. There have been many claims about the risk that cannabis use presents to the mental health of young people, but as a young person who has tried to engage with the mental health services in Ireland, I can say that the long waiting lists and lack of access does much more harm. A safe and regulated market of cannabis products can prevent cannabis users in Ireland from being exposed to harmful additives and dangerous social situations. The revenue generated from sales of cannabis could also be directed towards improving the addiction support and mental health services in Ireland and tackling the underlying drivers of cannabis dependancy and misuse; namely financial insecurity and housing instability.
We canāt change the past, but we can act now to right the wrongs of the past to create a better, more just future. Decriminalisation is an inferior half measure that still punishes the poor for using cannabis and worse yet, there is no regulation of the supply and the drugs can still be adulterated and unsafe – a wild west. The problem with the Spanish social clubs model is that discrimination can more easily happen and as a bisexual, mixed race immigrant with a disability, I worry about being discriminated against. No one should be left behind or forgotten about. This would be harder for a licensed, regulated business to get away with. Cannabis should be available in licensed dispensaries like in Canada or US states like California or Colorado. The goal of new legislation in Ireland should be to make the process of purchasing cannabis open and transparent rather than hidden and isolated in back alleys or social clubs. A Portugal-style decriminalisation model may be more appropriate for other drugs, such as cocaine or heroin, where the immediate goals should be medical intervention and providing support for those undergoing extreme addiction problems. Prison sentences will not improve someoneās health, but rather worsen it both mentally and physically. Safe injection sites and drug testing facilities will save more lives than the stigma that isolates drug users from their support systems, homes, and communities.
In regards to cannabis however, stopping at decriminalisation feels like a waste of the political momentum in the current moment and stops short of a solution that will have the largest benefit for the population. My exposure to the Canadian system of licensed cannabis stores was positive. I felt far less stigma for my method of pain relief and felt safer and more informed. We trust adults to moderate their consumption of alcohol, and cannabis should be no different. The private and personal use of cannabis should be in the hands in the individual. My body, my choice. The role of the State in this matter should be to enforce proper standards and ethical supply chains on cannabis products produced and sold in Ireland and to create an environment where someone who misuses a substance like cannabis or alcohol can feel safe engaging with the public health service without judgement.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Angie
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