Most cannabis users and growers would know that feeling every time they hear a police siren, or a knock at the door late at night, for it to only be your best mate ‘Dave’.
Cannabis related worries are Norml. Hide your stash, find hidden away places to do your thing and quite frankly be forced to feel like a criminal. An unfortunate position that prohibition puts us in. However, there are a few things that we can do to avoid putting ourselves in the situation where the opportunist police officer may wrongly mistake us for a crook.
We can start our argument off by agreeing that we do not see ourselves as criminals. Most of us cannabis users would agree that we pose no danger or threat to society. In my eyes, we’re not criminals.
As the movement continues to gain momentum, it is critical that people are aware that surveillance from investigative journalists and the police is a very real possibility.
It is important to consider the safety and anonymity of yourself and those close to you.
Being responsible means drawing a line between paranoid speculation and clear observation of your situation and your surroundings.
If you drive a motor-vehicle, the law says that driving after consuming cannabis is illegal. Obviously impairment of any kind, behind the wheel, could put yourself and others at harm.
Keeping your car clean and road-worthy is very important if you don’t want to be picked up by Automatic Number Plate Recognition. If you have seen any of those “cop, camera, ACTION” programmes then you will appreciate that a lot of people get busted when being stopped for something as trivial as a number-plate light being out.
Keeping up appearances doesn’t end with your wheels. There is no need to change who you are to fit in with social stigma, however the media, if they feel like it, could at any moment pull out the “hoodie” pictures from their archives. Don’t give them a reason to!
We are all responsible cannabis consumers.
It has been alleged that authoritative figures are told to look out for suspicious characters acting “too nice”, or “too friendly”. Whether you want to believe that is up to you, but being a good citizen will go a long way to assist you in portraying the image that you need the media and such to see.
It is also your civic virtue to not be a wolly.
Maybe at this point I sound a little like Jason Bourne but if these things are considered beforehand you will be doing yourself a favour.
“The first requisite of a good citizen in this Republic of ours is that he shall be able and willing to pull his weight.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“One who breaks an unjust law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.” – Martin Luther King, Jr
If you live your life in a routine, change it slightly. Routines can be followed and mapped and are the most likely cause that anyone will get picked up by the wrong people.
We do not need to change who we are, but we must adapt to our surroundings, like the chameleon on a cannabis leaf.
Yours,
The Sensible Cannabis Consumer
* “Civic virtue is the cultivation of habits of personal living that are claimed to be important for the success of the community.”
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