THE last section of your “Issue of the day” on the possible decriminalisation of cannabis (The Herald, July 31) seems to me to be alarming and misleading. The otherwise worrying 2018 statistics on Scottish deaths that involve drug-taking does not record a single death from the use of cannabis.
Talk of cannabis being a “gateway drug” is just that, talk. Alcohol on the other hand, a drug which is perfectly legal, was incriminated in the same statistics as being involved in 156 cases in combination with other drugs. In 2017 alcohol was directly responsible for 1,200 Scots dying prematurely. Perhaps some balance is required in the debate and it's time legislators accepted the reality that current policy in relation to cannabis is out of step with the wishes of the significant minority of Scots who use the drug regularly and at odds with experience abroad in the likes of Portugal.
It is time that the law covering the use of a drug that was criminalised a century ago simply to harmonise UK drug policy with that of the now-defunct League of Nations was also consigned to history. We have independent judicial and policing systems here in Scotland, so the choice is ours not Westminster's; all we need do is to decide not to prosecute. What could Westminster do, send in the tanks again?
David J Crawford,
Glasgow G12.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel