The biggest harm of cannabis at the moment is that you get a criminal record if you’re caught with it. That’s why I’ve been so keen to get the harms in proportion. David Nutt
There’s no damage from cannabis itself. It doesn’t damage tissues. The reason cannabis is safer than almost any other drug is no matter how much you take ... it is never lethal. David Nutt
Once a drug is illegal, you cannot have a rational debate about it, not with a politician at least. David Nutt
Bud, bud, glorious bud
Nothing quite like it for stoning the blood. esias, 2010
I had become friendly with a group of people who occasionally smoked cannabis, irregularly, but with evident pleasure. Initially I was unwilling to partake, but the apparent euphoria that cannabis produced and the fact that there was no physiological addiction to the plant eventually persuaded me to try. My initial experiences were entirely disappointing; there was no effect at all, and I began to entertain a variety of hypotheses about cannabis being a placebo which worked by expectation and hyperventilation rather than by chemistry. After about five or six unsuccessful attempts, however, it happened. Carl Sagan
The illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to full utilization of a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world. Carl Sagan
The amount of money and of legal energy being given to prosecute hundreds of thousands of Americans who are caught with a few ounces of marijuana in their jeans simply makes no sense – the kindest way to put it. A sterner way to put it is that it is an outrage, an imposition on basic civil liberties and on the reasonable expenditure of social energy. William F Buckley
He was America’s most amazing smuggler. The mastermind who landed sixty-seven tons of marijuana. Scoring two hundred million right under the DEA’s nose. Masterminds e7: A Smuggler Supreme, 2003
Master smuggler Brain O’Dea lands the biggest haul of marijuana in US history. ibid.
He calls on his old friends the Shaffer brothers. To the world at large Bill and Kris Shaffer are rich playboys. In reality they are drug smugglers with world-wide connections. O’Dea convinces them to finance the deal to the tune of $10,000,000. ibid.
As O’Dea struggles to turn his life around the authorities spend six years of painstaking investigation to get enough evidence to arrest him. ibid.
Forty-nine people are brought to justice. ibid.
Since the early ’80s professional British criminals have been smuggling cannabis from Morocco to the Costa del Sol. The Underworld: Drugs
During the last forty years the cannabis trade has grown beyond all recognition. ibid.
[Howard] Marks too was a user who graduated into dealing. ibid.
Krishnamma remained oblivious to an investigation by both police and customs ... Kris Krishnamma got a ten-year sentence. At the time it was the longest in Britain for a cannabis conviction. His case exposed a new trend. ibid.
For Radcliffe smuggling was a romantic experience. ibid.
Still on the run he [Howard Marks] had become a compulsive smuggler. ibid.
At the dawn of the eighties vast profits were at stake. ibid.
In May 1980 Howard Marks was arrested. ibid.
Ten of the fifteen tons that Marks had imported were recovered. ibid.
As the cannabis trade flourished the age of the gentleman smuggler came to an end. ibid.
George Young, you stand accused of possession of six hundred and sixty pounds of marijuana with intent to distribute. Blow 2001 starring Johnny Depp & Jesse James & Penelope Cruz & Franka Potente & Rachel Griffiths & Paul Reubens & Jordi Molla & Cliff Curtis & Max Perlich et al, director Ted Demme, judge
Chon and Ben grow some of the best weed in the world. Savages 2012 starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson & Taylor Kitsch & Benicio del Toro & Blake Lively & John Travolta & Salma Hayek & Demian Bichir & Sandra Echeverria & Emile Hirsch et al, director Oliver Stone
Don’t tell me you prefer pot? The Black Windmill 1974 starring Michael Caine & Joseph O’Conor & Donald Pleasence & John Vernon & Janet Suzman & Delphine Seyrig & Joss Ackland & Clive Revill & Catherine Schell & Denis Quilley et al, director Don Siegel, wife of spy chief to Harper
Everyone in the country smokes pot. What’s that got to do with her death? Hustle 1975 starring Burt Reynolds & Catherine Deneuve & Ben Johnson & Paul Winfield & Eileen Brennan & Eddie Albert & Ernest Borgnine & Jack Carter & Colleen Brennan & James Hampton & Catherine Bach et al, director Robert Aldrich, Marty to Reynolds
Well erm, that’s got a real nice taste to it, though. I don’t suppose it’ll do me much good though. I’m so used to the booze and everything. Easy Rider 1969 starring Peter Fonda & Dennis Hopper & Jack Nicholson & Luke Askew & Phil Spector & Bridget Fonda & Karen Black & Warren Finnerty & Luana Anders & Robert Walker junior & Carrie Snodgress & Dan Haggerty et al, director Dennis Hopper, Nicholson smokes a joint
When I was in England I experimented with marijuana a time or two – and didn’t like it – and didn’t inhale and never tried inhaling again. Bill Clinton, television interview 1992
But you can count the dead bodies from alcohol, tobacco, and legal pharmaceuticals by the millions. Jack Herer
For the first twenty years of my life, I rocked myself to sleep. It was a harmless enough hobby, but eventually, I had to give it up. Throughout the next twenty-two years I lay still and discovered that after a few minutes I could drop off with no problem. Follow seven beers with a couple of scotches and a thimble of good marijuana, and it’s funny how sleep just sort of comes on its own. Often I never even made it to the bed. I’d squat down to pet the cat and wake up on the floor eight hours later, having lost a perfectly good excuse to change my clothes. I’m now told that this is not called ‘going to sleep’ but rather ‘passing out’, a phrase that carries a distinct hint of judgment. David Sedaris, Me Talk Pretty One Day
I had one of the presidential children tell me that they were the first person to light up marijuana in the White House. Doug Wead, presidential historian
Purple haze is in my brain
Lately things don’t seem the same. Jimi Hendrix, Purple Haze, 1967 song
Legalise cannabis and ecstasy now. Panel of distinguished world figures calls for an end to the 50-year war on drugs. The Independent front page 2nd June 2011
Herb is the healing of a nation, alcohol is the destruction. Bob Marley
When you smoke the herb it reveals you to yourself. Bob Marley
The more people smoke herb, the more Babylon fall. Bob Marley
The Government’s Chief Adviser on Drug Policy has been sacked after insisting alcohol and cigarettes are more dangerous than cannabis and ecstasy. BBC News
Since decriminalisation, the consumption of drugs here in Portugal has gone down. BBC news report
And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass. Genesis 1:11
Marijuana may also have incredible medical benefits. Penn & Teller, Bullshit! s2e4: The War on Drugs, Showtime 2004
Cannabis: the most widely used illegal drug in the world. In the UK this stronger strain is called Skunk and it’s being grown here on an industrial scale. Super Weed
Between April 2007 to March 2008 police raided over 3,000 cannabis farms across the UK. From the outside they look like normal suburban homes. Inside they have been converted by organised gangs into specially hot houses. Designed to grow the most potent strain of cannabis there is: Skunk. ibid.
The cannabis trade in America is even bigger business. In California growers plant their illegal crops deep in the national park forest. The only way to police them is from the air. ibid.
The mind-altering part of cannabis – its psychoactive compound is called Tetrahydrocannabinol known as THC. And the marijuana grown today has been cultivated to contain the optimum amount. ibid.
The US classifies cannabis as presenting the same threat as heroin and cocaine. Meaning the harshest drug penalties apply and are regularly enforced. With support from the US government, America’s first drug Tsar targeted the marijuana market – the smugglers, the dealers and the growers. Today US law enforcement spends billions of dollars a year to combat it. Over 800,000 Americans were arrested last year because of it. Almost 90% of them for simple possession. ibid.