Wednesday, January 25, 2012 -

    The Commercialisation Of Cannabis

    By Victor Hamilton

    Commercialisation is seemingly, a dirty word amongst cannabis activists.  Some find it hard to comprehend the concept of a legitimate business making an income from selling cannabis to the general public.

    Many in the cannabis using community believe that the way forward is to give everyone the right to grow cannabis for their own use.  There are positive and negative aspects to this.

    On the positive side it woould mean that someone with an illness for which they use cannabis would be able lawfully to cultivate enough for their own use.  However, not all medicinal users would necessarily want to grow their own or indeed, are physically capable of doing so.  So this opens the door for businesses to develop which supply clean, safe medicinal cannabis for those who cannot provide for themselves.

    The negative aspect of permitting domestic cultivation is that is open to abuse.  There may be a large number of people who would fall to the tempation to make a profit from selling what they have grown.

    Commercialisation is the only workable method through which the legalisation of cannabis will be achieved.

    The millions of cannabis users in Britain need to come to their senses and realise the enormous financial contribution they can make to the population as a whole. We are worth somewhere between £7 billion and £9 billion per year to the exchequer.  That could and should be of vital importance to the economy and the wellbeing of the entire country.  Cannabis users need to get off their backsides, stop going round and round in circles talking to each other and tell our politicians and government what the facts are.

    All of us, whether we use cannabis medicinally or for whatever purpose, can play a huge part in pumping much needed funding into the health service.  We could insist that all of the tax income from a regulated system of cannabis production and supply be ringfenced for the NHS.

    To be honest, if all you cannabis users out there can’t see the the common sense in this, then you are as bad as the government.

    The only practical and viable route to legalisation is through the commercialisation of cannabis.

    The sooner all of us in the cannabis using community can agree on this, the sooner it could become a reality.

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    • http://www.peter-reynolds.co.uk Peter Reynolds

      You tell him Vic.  You are an example to all medicinal users and everyone who faces chronic health problems.  I feel sorry for Stuart because he’s very unwell but mostly because he’s allowed himself to become bitter, angry and abusive towards others.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Tim-Morton/100002114691648 Tim Morton

      What about cooperatives, to supply those with a medical need who cannot grow?

    • Anonymous

      I see no differences between this proposal and what happens with alcohol and tobacco on a commercial basis.  The brewers, distillers and tobacco barons run a multi billion pound industry but I can still brew my own if I so wish and grow my own tobacco if I so wish. If the commercialisation of cannabis (in the widest sense) goes down the same route then I don’t see a problem.  The one big difference of course is that cannabis can bring nothing but positives to society whereas alcohol brings a massive amount of negatives.  Bring it on – I know at least four young people who desperately need a job. 

    • http://www.facebook.com/stuwyatt Stuart Wyatt

      Vic, you make a lot of assumptions about me without actually knowing me. You have no idea how many times I myself have tried to come off of benefits and go back to work. I have no problems with you trying to do the same.

      My issue with you Victor is that you have tried to hijack the UK cannabis legalisation movement with Peter Reynolds so that you can promote your business, while at the same time trying to create a monopoly for said business – restricting others to do the same as you. (I read yours and Jim’s business proposal).

      As for the ‘creating 100,000 jobs’ – I don’t think you have thought this through. BP has the same amount of employees globally. I may have given yours and Jim’s plan too much credit, and I have since discovered that all of the businesses you hold directorships in have been long-since disolved. 

      But it still doesn’t mask the fact that you have tried to steer the UK cannabis legalisation movement for your own agenda.

    • Anonymous

       I, like a lot of people using this site have looked into legislation of cannabis for decades for my own medicinal use.  Long before this website/forum was established, long before Peter Reynolds started on clear and long before the LCA was disbanded I conducted my own campaign. That campaign was to highlight to the government the four to six billion pounds in revenue that could be collected from the decrimialised/legalised sales of cannabis through a network of cooperative outlets namely the ‘Happy Hog coffee shop’ and other distributors.   It would be near impossible for the operators of a business selling cannabis to cultivate all that they require, it would open the marketplace to individual growers and subsequently give them a distributor for their product. 
        My interest in medical cannabis is the hope that one day to have in production a cannabis product that could be used by the widest number of people.  Something so safe that it could actually be used to treat some chidren.   The name for that product is Canniderm and to produce this product I would also need to recruit a large number of independant ‘licensed’ growers.
        Stuart, you are correct that my UK registered companies are ‘technically’ dissolved however this is due to the cost of keeping these active.  You, like me, know the little amount we recieve in disibility living allowance and I see little point in reactivating these companies until legislation supports this action. 
        Things have changed since I made my original submission, I have the offer from the U.S to help me in setting up these companies but that help will only come when we achieve some legislation in this country in relation to cannabis for all its uses and reasons.  
        That is what you should be supporting me with.
        I have offered concrete business solutions to the government which is alot more than others have.  I have stated my claim to be able to provide the number of jobs mentioned and as you have seen from the article you have read how some of this could be achieved.
        There are also other interests where a large workforce would be required such as; The biproduct of hemp (fuel, feed and fibre to name just a few). 
        I have campaigned for over 10 years to try and bring this fact to the farmers of the UK and Ireland.  I am glad to see that at least some are listening and starting to cultivate hemp. 
        Yes, my interests are business orientated but then I am sick of living off the bullshit that goes with living off of benefits as I am sure those reading this may also be.
        I am offering tangible hope, can this be said of the rest of the cannabis campaigners throughout this country?

    • http://www.peter-reynolds.co.uk Peter Reynolds

      You are paranoid, obsessive and destructive Stuart.  Go get a life and do something positive eh?  Being an internet troll is not the career choice of a rational and sane individual.  You contribute nothing.  All you ever do is attack and abuse people.

    • Anonymous

      Peter Reynolds taking over at Clear was one of the best things that happened to the Cannabis movement in this country.   The movement had become stagnant.
       My involvement is simple:
      I stand for the Full Legalisation of Cannabis for ALL its uses and purposes.
      I dont believe that one section of society should have more rights to cannabis than another, all should be treated equally.
      I believe that there is equal opportunity for the medical and social sides of cannabis to work together to provide clean safe cannabis for all who use it.
      I believe in these days of economic uncertainty the financial benefits from any sound business idea should be given the full consideration and support of the government.
      You shouldn’t damn me for persuing an economic path to the distribution and legalislation of cannabis, afterall this is the only realistic way of pleasing every demographic especially those opposed and as yet unexposed to its incredible benefits both medicinally and economically.
      There should be less infighting and more consentious on the full economic and social benefits of cannabis cultivation thoughout the United Kingdom. 

    • Anonymous

      Like most people of my age my first real contact with Cannabis came about in my late teens. I have now been using cannabis for 30 years or more. What started out being as a pleasure over the years has in more ways become necessity. Like all of you who have smoked cannabis and enjoyed its effects I have continued to use cannabis on a daily basis.

      Over the years I have developed a number of medical conditions, all of which are painfull and debilitating. None of the illnesses that I suffer from have been caused by my use of cannabis, they are caused mainly as adverse effects of having to undergo surgery on a number of ocassions. Every procedure I have had to endure has left me with worsening conditions.

      I first tried to highlight to the government the case for ending the prohibition of cannabis. My initial proposal was intended to show to the government the savings in costs that where being spent on enforcement and to highlight the vast amounts of revenue that could be gained from the legal cannabis market in the UK from independent growers supplying a number of licensed outlets like The Happy Hog, similar to the outlets that exist in Holland. The overall gain to the government could be somewhere in the region of 4 – 6 billion pounds each year.

      Through time I have furthered my education and knowledge on the many benefits to be gained from the sales and uses for cannabis. Along the way I made some very interesting discoveries about the medical benefits of cannabis. Facts that I believe the wider population should be made aware of and in a civilised society be given the right to choose.

      As some of you will know cannabis is being recognised and accepted as a medicine now with the approval of the product Sative. I believe wholeheartedly that other methods or ways of medicating with cannabis should be accorded the same approval, this is why I came up with the idea for Canniderm, a transdermal method of medicating. To cultivate and supply a company manufacturing this type of medication would require quite a large workforce.

      My interests in all of the uses for cannabis also include the cultivation of another variety of the cannabis species, hemp. My original proposal only touched on the uses of this plant, not least its use as a valuable source of biofuel, feed and fiber and it is sustainable. Over the years I have learned even more about the multitude of benefits to be had from the cultivation of this plant. Where hemp surpasses all other species of plants is in its ability to clean up most of the environmental mess we have all made of our planet. Better more qualified than me have been writing about this for years.

      When you look at the fact that there are as many as 25,000 uses or products that could be made using hemp and its cleaning, healing effect on the environment wouldn’t you agree that it was time for farmers in this country to take up cultivation of this valuable crop? By the time the plant has reached maturity it will have done more to clean up our mess than any other plant.

      ENVIRON is the company name of a business idea that was intended to bring these facts to Britain’s farmers and to show them that there could be a good market for all the hemp they cultivated. It would provide Britain’s farmers with guaranteed income in these times of uncertainty in farming, something they cannot rely on in this day and age.

      As I said at the beginning of this statement, my goal, first and foremost, was to seek the legalisation of cannabis in the UK for all users. I made no bones about the the ammount of revenue the government would make from the decriminaliseing of cannabis. I had hoped that like minded, responsible cannabis users would feel the same way and wake up to the reality of just how large and important their contribution could be to the whole of the country and not just the black market. Putting all of my ideas together into companies was to try and highlight the enormous employment potential to be gained from the full scale cultivation of hemp by our farmersand the financial gain to the government by ending the prohibition of cannabis for all who use it.

      The employment potential in all of this is of great importance and I am finding it very difficult to understand why there are some of you who object to these ideas. Something that could bring well paid, long term employment to this country is something that should be supported not criticised. I have been ill for most of my life. I’m sick of being sick but I’m still willing to get off my backside and do something not just to better my life but to better the lives of many people in this country by giving them hope and an income. If there are still some of you who find fault in this, all I can say is I’m sorry for you.

    • Whenthestigmaclears

      I think that we are in bed with America and big pharma will be dinning at number 10 and tipping several figure sums to Cameron for a meal his buttler cooked. Cali has a medical stand point does it not and the Dutch are banning thc above 15% due to psychosis. Plus at the recent drugs commission hearing withn russel brand there were some folk with very different hopes from all of us. So I think all us pot heads need to fight for freedom like the blacks women and gays do. Yes there would be huge gain to the economy but do the gov really want that. Poverty makes us work harder. Yes there would be illegal and hazardous grows, people doging tax and stealing electricity, but we would also ha e a drug tourism issue. The big positive is it would give an alternative vice for society to indulge in, one that offers a different image to binge drinking an vomit. Intellectuals in cannabis cafes and bistros, health spas ect…. We don’t have to just smoke it hemp has so much more value than the THC. If Cameron wants a big society he should legalise take the stigma away from cannabis use and watch a sub culture flourish. After all it’s only natural.

    • Whenthestigmaclears

      I think that we are in bed with America and big pharma will be dinning at number 10 and tipping several figure sums to Cameron for a meal his buttler cooked. Cali has a medical stand point does it not and the Dutch are banning thc above 15% due to psychosis. Plus at the recent drugs commission hearing withn russel brand there were some folk with very different hopes from all of us. So I think all us pot heads need to fight for freedom like the blacks women and gays do. Yes there would be huge gain to the economy but do the gov really want that. Poverty makes us work harder. Yes there would be illegal and hazardous grows, people doging tax and stealing electricity, but we would also ha e a drug tourism issue. The big positive is it would give an alternative vice for society to indulge in, one that offers a different image to binge drinking an vomit. Intellectuals in cannabis cafes and bistros, health spas ect…. We don’t have to just smoke it hemp has so much more value than the THC. If Cameron wants a big society he should legalise take the stigma away from cannabis use and watch a sub culture flourish. After all it’s only natural.

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