There can be little doubt. If an industry was ever in need of a large portion of positive public relations, the cannabis industry is it.

At this stage its probably worth answering the glaringly obvious question which will have manifested as a result of the first paragraph. The question?

“How can there be an industry when the commodity we refer to is illegal?” And its the answer to this question which throws up a world of opportunities for the frustrated hedge-fund manager looking for an industry to get rich on in these times of global economic catastrophe.

Because the fact is its only the cannabis which is illegal. Therefore any trade in cannabis is setting you up for a long stretch.

Upto 5 years for possession, and a head-spinning 14 years for dealing the class B drug in the UK under the new cannabis laws which were implemented on January 26th 2009.

In the meantime there are literally hundreds of small business’s which have been set up in the last four years since the original reclassification back in 2004, who are going to be forced out of a world-wide trade which is worth millions of pounds every year, and whether you or I like it or not.

Head-Shops
Head-shops are often seen as the sole domain of the cannabis smoking hippy. They will regularly be seen with coat hangers filled with T-shirts embellished with gaudy, hippy, trippy designs and motif’s displaying aging rock legends like MotorHead. Led Zeppelin or AC/DC. Which paradoxically, creates something of a stereo-typical image of your average cannabis smoker, and whilst there’s no doubting one or two cannabis users could well do with a trim and a shave, its by no means an exclusive for this demographic.

Visiting the London Hemp Expo which ran for three days in London recently, it came as quite a shock to see what a large cross section of society has an interest in cannabis and hemp issues. The Canna Zine cannabis news portal spoke to business men and women who had travelled across continents to be there.

Grow Shops
Hydroponic growing has been a science which seems to come in fits & starts. Everytime a mention is made in the news regarding the Epcott Center in America and their wonderful hydroponic gardens there comes a warm feeling of anticipation as I wait for hydroponics – “The science of growing plants without soil”, to be hailed as the next bleached denim or sliced bread.

Unfortunately it never seems to come, and I often wonder whether the obvious attraction of hydroponics by cannabis growers sometimes works against the very industry itself.

I’ve often wondered just what it would take to bring hydroponics into the lives of more of the general public. As there’s no doubt its a spectacular and explosive way to grow your own produce, and regardless of whether you consume that produce in a green salad, or a cigarette paper.

So much so in fact, there’s a formula already in place which could bring hydroponics to more of the population. Its very simple and straightforward, and if you are a hydroponics wholesaler or manufacturer, and you would like to know more feel free to get in touch.

In the meantime the hydroponic industry spends so much time trying to distance itself from growing cannabis it ends up upsetting a huge percentage of the market it would really like to talk to. What a head-job!!

But here’s the thing.

As soon as 1 single person is legally entitled to grow or to consume cannabis, by way of a government who is perhaps starting to consider the cannabis vote suddenly has some clout, there will be business’s created to supply that market.

And that day is now!

As things stand currently, over 25% of the United States (pop 303 million) have legal access to cannabis, as well as umpteen European states I could mention, with Holland, and the successes they’ve experienced as a result of a liberal policy on cannabis the shining star in the bunch.

Registering far fewer drug users admitting to using cannabis in their lives (19%) as opposed to 45% and 38%, for the United States and United Kingdom respectively. And these figures, according to a poll by the United Nations on behalf of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

So its quite clear. A liberal policy towards cannabis and its users, really does reduce user-figures in the long-term and brings associated crime down by removing cannabis users from the daily “to-do” list for our nations police force. Hopefully leaving them to fight the drugs which can actually kill people the first time they experiement with it?

Moving the classification of cannabis will play absolutely no part in whether people decide to experiment with cannabis or not. To be honest not a single person I know, has told me they intend to give up cannabis, and quite a few have said they intend to smoke more as a result of it seeming “twice as much fun”.

In the meantime thousands of head shops and grow shops across the nation will pretend to have nothing to do with the cannabis users, and the cannabis growers of the nation. Which is a real shame because for those that take the time to look, they will see that if a cannabis grower needs a bag of compost or some pots. He’ll buy them, and regardless of what the current economic forecast is.

The fact is while every single economic measure points to a global downturn of cataclysmic proportions, there are still multi-billion dollar deals going down. We just dont get to hear about them. If an industry was seen to be performing too well whilst the rest of the world is in shambles, it might cause the cry, “The natives are revolting,” when people start to ask how that can be?

No matter how you look at it the world needs drugs. Its been announced only in the last few days that GlaxoSmithKline have recently bought up a Belgian competitors interests in what were termed “emerging markets”. So the markets don’t even exist, and Glaxo have paid out £486 million to be in on the ground floor just in case they do.

In the same period its been announced the worlds largest drugs maker, Pfizer, looks set to acquire competitor Wyeth, in a deal likely to be worth as much as $60bn (€47bn).

A combination which would create a drugmaker with annual sales of more than $70bn, and best-selling medicines that include Pfizer’s cholesterol pill Lipitor, the world’s top-selling medicine with $12.7bn in 2007 sales, and Wyeth’s Prevnar vaccine against pneumonia.

How important are such deals to entire countries? They’re huge.

The two pharmaceutical firms are major employers in Ireland. Pfizer employs over 2,000 people there, while Wyeth employs over 3,000 at five different locations. Both firms have signaled relatively small job cuts here over the past few months.

Showing once and for all that whilst the pharmaceutical drugs industry is enjoying rare growth at this time, its an absolute certainty that the illicit drugs manufacturers are enjoying a similar boost in trade, as people attempt to forget just what a hole its government has left them in.

The facts remain the same. Cannabis is a lot less dangerous than either alcohol or tobacco. And yet these two substances continue to kill tens of thousands of our friends, our relatives and our neighbours every single day.

In the meantime, cannabis, which has a truly remarkeable safety record, continues to be outlawed. And it just doesn’t make sense.
Clearly the drugs laws are not achieving what they’re meant to achieve. So they must be changed.

The act of decriminalising cannabis would create a market almost overnight, that would go a long way to shoring up the leaks which the old lady of Threadneedle Street seems to have sprung of late, and whilst making access to cannabis a government responsibility is far from the ideal situation for all concerned, it does go someway towards dismantling the trade in illicit cannabis, which the police would have so much more trouble in dealing with, without the use of informants in the community.

The trade in cannabis continues and regardless of what the Home Secretary or the prime Minister think, say or want. And whilst both may know this to be true, they will never acknowledge it in public.

Isn’t it about time we followed Canada’s lead and embraced the whole “Hemp” culture again?

The way the world is currently, on an environmental, an ecological and an economic level, heaven only knows some radical solutions are needed in answer to what are some quite radical problems. Something needs to change.

Simply rehashing the same old anti-drug mantra’s isn’t going to be allowed in President Barack Obama’s reign.

Polticians; You have been warned.

Red Dragon
CannaZine Cannabis News
http://cannazine.co.uk

C For Cannabis on F For Facebook
A new facebook group called “C For Cannabis ” has been set up to present information which has been gathered from around the world, in locations which support medical marijuana, to show what a truly beneficial move the decriminalisation of cannabis actually would be once the Daily Mail and its hullaballoo dies down.

The laws concerning cannabis were changed with absolutely no public consultation so please, join us on C For Cannabis, and register your interest in forcing government to bring about evidencial, science based drugs policies which actually reflect the danger to society each individual drug poses, and not how much tax revenue the government can make.

No one is saying cannabis is a harmless, inert substance, but a superpower such as the UK should be able to differentiate by now, between lies and deceipt, and giving the British public common sense drugs policies.

And if its struggling to do so, perhaps its time for a new government to tackle the drug scourge?

See you there? Click the link to join C For Cannabis

http://cannazine.co.uk/cannabis-news/united-kingdom/cannabis-industry-shows-green-shoots-of-growth.html

Pick 'n' Mix Seeds - single cannabis seeds from all the top seed banks.

Tags: