Decriminalise Cannabis Petition UK

I've tended to avoid the subject of drugs and drug laws in this blog to date, for what its worth its a topic i would prefer to explore in greater detail rather than simple speculation and opinions.

Nevertheless, anyone with any intelligence can see that the drug laws are not effective. Not only do they fail to prevent the real crimes involved with drugs (infact most of these crimes are a result of the drug laws), they also fail to prevent the serious problems that arise from the use of hard drugs (crack and heroin). Drug laws criminalise a substantial proportion of the world's population, people who are otherwise decent law-abiding citizens.

While i personally believe that the only way we can move forward in this respect is the complete decriminalisation of all drugs, i understand that its a slow process and would require the co-operation of all the world's leading governments. However, the British government took a step in the right direction a couple of years ago by downgrading cannabis to a class C, unfortunately that decision has recently been reversed, due in part to the great media propaganda machine.

Full cannabis decriminalisation should be the first step towards a newer better system regarding drugs. Again, this is not something that can be achieved overnight. Aside from the fact that cannabis is a relatively harmless drug (unlike alcohol and tobacco), it is proven to have a great number of positive uses, especially medical. A great number of people with health issues can benefit from using cannabis, and research is constantly showing more ways in which this natural, easily cultivated plant can be advantageous to sufferers of many illnesses.

Unfortunately the current laws prohibit the use of this drug in these ways, forcing sufferers to criminalise themselves and turn to the so-called black market to relieve their suffering. At the very least laws should be changed to allow for people to grow their own plants for personal use without fear of prosecution. This would not only be an acceptance of the fact that a large number of people do (and will) use the drug regardless of its legal status, but remove the need for otherwise innocent people to have to purchase the drug from street dealers, and in doing so continue to support a criminal industry.

Surely this would be a better way to combat the crime associated with drug use than the current system of full-blown criminalisation. As we all know, the drug laws do not work.

The reason i have brought this topic up is because it has come to my attention that a petition within the UK has been launched to "petition the Prime Minister to Decriminalise cannabis cultivation for personal use only (not for profit)."

The petition can be found here: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Growing-Cannabis/. Please sign it and tell as many people as you can, email your friends, post it in your own blog, make a video on YouTube, whatever you can. If enough people can show their support for what is a reasonable proposition, maybe our government might just take notice.

US Election - time for change?

Politically speaking, today is arguably the most important day of the year, and i suspect will go down as one of the most important days in American history.

As a British citizen, i have no say in this of course, but that does not mean that Britain, or for that matter the rest of the world, is going to be unaffected by the outcome of today. It seems pretty certain that Obama is going to be the next US president, and i sincerely hope that he will be one of the good ones.

How much of an influence the president actually has on America or the world is debatable, the last 8 years have shown that an idiot can stand up in front of the world and claim to have ultimate control over the worlds greatest superpower. Somehow, i doubt that is the case (although i suspect that Bush Snr is far more influential). Whatever happens behind the scenes, there is no doubt in my mind, or anyone else's that i know, that Obama would be a huge improvement over either Bush.

Just a short post from me today, nothing too heavy. For now I'm keeping my fingers crossed that today is the start of a new era of American politics, an era of change and hope for the future.

Mixing opinions with music...

How many great artists have avoided politics within their music, instead focusing on the fun side of life? Quite a lot. Sure theres been a fair few great political bands, but theres a lack of it within the electronic world. Dance music is ultimately disposable, its great while you are on the dancefloor, a good tune should lift your mood for five minutes or until the DJ gets bored and brings in the next tune.

At the moment the few tunes i have are still in an instrumental form, but these are really just demos, as such unfinished. Ultimately i hope to actually say something with my music. These random blog posts are really a different way of expressing what i want to say.

Problem is in saying things that might be controversial. Sure, i've got a bit of a problem with religion, but then i've also got a problem with anything that encourages prejudice and hatred and the way i see it the major religions all do that in some way. That doesn't mean i hate religious people, i take everyone on their own merits. If someone has a spiritual belief i disagree with that doesn't make them any less of a person in my book, like i said i dont like prejudice and hatred.

We all need to be prepared to have our ideas about the world challenged if our society is going to "evolve". I might not agree with you on everything, but i can respect that you have your own opinion provided it is just that, your own. Not just an idea you have been told and believe unquestioningly.

I don't really feel like typing any more today. I just hope that people aren't put off my music by the things i post here, infact i hope that when its all finally put together it will all make sense.