Cannabis is far from legal in the UK despite the vast social progresses the movement has seemingly made. And thanks to its continued prohibition there are many incidents where people going to purchase their cannabis either don’t get what they are looking for, or worse, end up with more than they bargained for.
This weekend at the end of July, a member of the newly formed Kent Cannabis Social Club was unable to find something from his usual source, so he resorted looking online for a “reputable” vendor thinking that he would get someone he can trust, after all, a friend with weed is a friend indeed…but not in this instance.
So there I was awaiting a dealer I had recently spoke to from a renowned place that advertises bud for sale because as everybody knows, it’s really easy to get a quality strain from the streets when you don’t have a decent and honest supplier…not!
Made arrangements to meet, car pulled up, four guys in a Focus, showed me a bag of basically what was best described as what would be left in the bottom of a bag after anything good was taken out, said I didn’t want it and It wasn’t suitable for me as a polite way to say jog on.
Next thing you know mateys jumped out his car and taken my car keys and demanded payment.
So here I am on my own and four guys ready to do whatever necessary to get cash out of me. What do you do? Do you stand your ground and have police called by passers by because of a fight that breaks out over an illegal exchange, incriminating myself? Or do I just hand £240 quid over for a so called bag of crap that was supposed to be an oz (which was half when actually weighed) just to be able to continue living normally under the radar?
Would have been a story in the papers. “Working man who pays taxes who likes to have a smoke after work to chill out with is a dangerous criminal!” This country is f*cked up.
What if I was fatally stabbed? The sooner they legalise it, the better it’ll be. There’ll be much less of this kind of scum on the streets preying on innocent victims.
Sadly, there are many of you out there that are that have been caught up in similar situations to this. And we have to say – it isn’t on and is a direct result of prohibition of cannabis, throwing the market place into a shady setting, that enables untrustworthy wannabe gangsters to dominate much of the market. This is what brings a bad name to people who use cannabis but it really doesn’t have to be this way.
Fortunately, the KCC member got away physically unscathed but felt morally robbed as well as fobbed off for such a shoddy quality product. It’s sick to think that this is happening to vulnerable patients around the country.
Saying “No” to bad weed should not nearly get you a beating. A regulated market wouldn’t allow this and we as consumers should act in a way that tries to cut out this kind of cannabis interaction. Social movements do not make progress or “movement” by inaction and continuing down the same paths that lead them to the terrible situations we find ourselves in such as this.
But what can you do?
If anything, this is a perfect example for Kent Cannabis Club to look at alternative ways for their members to get hold of their chosen herbs without the risk of being mugged, beaten or stabbed. They could do this by forming a non-profit Collective. With just 4 people putting in as much as it would cost for an ounce (£240) that would be enough to set up a grow and pay for the running costs for a crop – and in doing so probably give each of the members four or five ounces each to last them until the next crop is due. For a patient that is finding hard to keep up with the increasing costs of recreational cannabis on the market it is ideal, and it’s a great option for the connoisseur that would rather grow his own and swap his overgrow for other strains that other club members are growing – taking the greed out of weed in the process.
Take a read of our model for cannabis social clubs and non profit collectives here and if you have any questions, you are welcome to get in touch and we are happy to help.
You can also read about our Collectives in Vice.
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