
STOP Prohibition

According to Rousseau’s ‘Social Contract,’ society
arises from an agreement between the citizens and an
elected subgroup of them, the State. In exchange for
upholding their liberties by the Rule of Law, the citizens
agree to empower the State by paying it taxes.
Insufficient law yields anarchy (e.g. American firearms
laws). Excessive law yields tyranny (e.g. Iranian religious
law). Western jurisdictions have sought the optimum by
forbidding acts harmful to others but allowing all those
that are not, including any that are harmful only to oneself.
First applied officially by von Humboldt in 1810, it
is known as the ‘consenting adults in private’ legislation.
Prostitution, homosexuality, and even suicide are no
longer crimes. The only exception is that prevented by
prohibition, the taking of recreational drugs. Part of the
State’s responsibilities for the taxes it receives is to protect society from its enemies. In other words, the State needs
enemies to raise revenue and has been known to invent
enemies for that purpose. That’s why there is a war
against drugs.
Trust is not a commodity that can be bought or sold. It
has to be earned slowly, carefully, thoughtfully, and judiciously,
beginning at a young age. So one grows, learns
lessons, and determines whether the State, through its
laws, is acting as a help or hindrance to oneself and/or
one’s loved ones. One determines responsibly whether or
not it is deserving of one’s trust.
In my chosen profession, I never trusted anyone with
knowledge they didn’t need. The State, with its continually
changing legal whims, can be a friend or a foe. It has


no enduring loyalty. So my activities were kept as invisible
as possible; not only from the State, but also from my
neighbours. I had to hack my own way through a virgin
forest by trial and error. There were no guidebooks, manuals,
or role models to follow. I was not afraid to be different.
I believed in myself.
Much of the population tends to be instantly swayed, or
even brainwashed, by sensationalist media reporting.
Real news actually advances very slowly, one step at a
time. The war against drugs has been prevalent for most
of my life. I have been told my enemies were my peers,
my generation, and even myself. I was also told that the
successful ones in my chosen profession would never be
acknowledged or known, which I imagine applies to any
industry operating in a legally grey area of society, where
the easiest path for government is to make no decision;
otherwise, electoral support might be lost. Pursuit of
truth all too easily devolves into pursuit of power. In summary,
don’t trust the State, particularly if you grow recreational
drugs.
However, times are now changing as a result of the
increasing awareness of and belief in the medicinal properties
of cannabis. People take drugs for one of two reasons:
to increase pleasure or to relieve suffering. The distinction,
admittedly, is not precise; the border is blurred.
Nevertheless, my advice to a pure medical grower differs
from that I would give to a pure recreational grower.
Some states have handed out licences for growing medical
cannabis, and even though there is a strong argument
that licensing itself is merely a mild form of prohibition,
if you are in this category, it would be worthwhile to
stand up and be counted. The State does differentiate
between terminally ill patients and recreational growers.
Although occasionally, there’s very little evidence to support
this contention, the laws of the State do eventually
catch up with the wishes of the people, and one has to be
both patient and brave.
The currently interesting discrepancy between reputable
medical science supporting the use of various cannabinoids
for a wide variety of ailments and self-serving
politicians wishing to maintain the prohibition of recreational
cannabis is frustrating to say the least. There is no
clear well-defined path to a solution for all parties
involved. However, there exists some protection for certain
sections of the community, and this could be exploited.
Presently, it is by no means a clear issue, but medical
science is bringing to light revealing facts for people suffering
conditions that previously were in the too- difficult
category to help for mainstream medicine.
Not everyone benefits from the discovery that cannabis is
a helpful self-medicating herb. Pharmaceutical corporations
cannot patent naturally occurring substances: they
would prefer to invent synthetic analogues, which they
can patent. Such corporations are powerful and probably
control governments far more than governments control
them. It’s a bit like banks robbing more people than people
rob banks.
If there is to be a solution by way of compromise where
growers and users can attain a high quality taxed product
that is regulated and meets mutually accepted standards,
then all sides have to be able to operate together.
Mistrusting each other creates black markets, unreliable
and inconsistent products, and health and financial
issues. To a large extent, we have wasted the last 40 years
fighting each other unnecessarily. In the 1990s I lived in
Holland and worked closely with many cannabis workers
while American law did its best to destroy that community.
If you told anyone in Holland then that in 20
years’ time the USA would have hundreds of medical dispensaries
and a high legal tolerance for medical patients
using cannabis, you would have been ridiculed.
Why?

Why Not?

So even if change on a daily basis seems slow, let’s be patient and
bear in mind our duty to the next generation.
Undoubtedly, such a strategy will require us to go
through a series of trials and errors to grow and learn.
There will be uncomfortable times and stresses of conflict
among us. But let’s all make a good, fair, and well educated
series of decisions together that fit the majority of people
concerned.
As is clear from my earlier remarks, I am not advocating
trusting and believing all the State is going to say on these
issues, but I am advocating a show of willingness to try
to sit down together to work through these issues. I, like
many others, would love to trust and believe our elected
leaders are thinking about things properly with the
majority of us in mind, but I am not easily convinced and
remain cynical and sceptical. It is very clear for me as a
cannabis seed company owner that I can function with or
without an authority and with or without paying tax, but
I would much prefer to be like all others who work and
run a business. However, in the meantime, I shall continue
to operate as inconspicuously as possible. It is easier to
not have to explain things to people who simply cannot
fathom the idea of cannabis being an industry. I shall continue
offer my botanical knowledge to those who wish to
learn online. I shall not open my seed rooms or growing
places to anyone even if everything was legalised. Earning
the trust is still the most important moral to the story
between The State and The People, and this is rarely, if
ever, expediently achieved.