SKUNK

in yesterday's observer snoozepaper
there's a piece about reclassifying ye olde can o' bliss
from class b to a
or is it a to b
or even b to c?
whatever
those letters are so damn unmemorable
anyway
the long and the short of it is
gordon the moron might just have found
something he doesn't need to dither over
an issue he can show his leadership on
it appears our great leader
intends to fly in the face of recommendations
produced by the advisory body he commissioned
in order to show those drug-dealing meanies who's boss
gordon upping the anti against the evil weed
and placating the middle england ninnies
who are baying for a 'tough stance on drugs'
talk about limiting the debate
talk about an utter distraction from the main event
as if gordon's tinkering will make a blind bit of difference
for years britain has maintained a policy of prohibition on cannabis
while simultaneously making that completely harmless drug alcohol
freely available to all adults
the result of this policy?
cannabis driven underground
an uncontrolled trade plied by criminal gangs
an unpredicatable and wildly fluctuating standard of product for users
including stuff adulterated with boot polish
and all sorts of other nasties
a loss of tax revenue of billions of pounds...
in these circumstances
one has to ask why gordon and his fellow morons
are so keen to restrict the debate
to irrelevant tinkering in the margins
does cannabis use cause psychotic illness?
well hard to separate the facts from the hysteria
from what i've seen of the effects of alcohol on certain people
its use doesn't exactly promote positive mental health
what's driving people to use drugs in the first place?
could it be that everyday life in 21st-c britain
is so meaningless and alienating
that many feel the need to use cannabis simply to escape?
or is it something more sinister?
something to do with control?
could it be that cannabis isn't the thought-limiting drug
our political masters want us, the stupified masses
to consume?
perhaps they're afraid
afraid that one or two mind-expanding mental voyages
into uncharted territory
might have a little too much of a liberating effect
on the minds of the malleable drones
perhaps they're fearful
fearful that the downtrodden
the disenfranchised
the dispossessed
might reject their role in society
expect more
and demand more