I think we are all reasonably comfortable with the idea that
there is a significant correlation between mental health and cannabis. The
argument that remains is in the nature of that correlation. Most (if not all) of
us are in little doubt that people who suffer from a variety of mental health
problems find that cannabis helps them. Consumption of cannabis, in this case,
is effective self-medication.
If you accept this premise, then logically one can conclude
that in a wide community of cannabis consumers and moreover a community of
cannabis activists/campaigners will inevitably contain a high proportion of
people who suffer from mental health problems.
Add to that those that live with chronic physical problems plus all
those who have been treated unfairly, vilified, persecuted, threatened,
insulted, arrested, abused, supressed and generally made to feel “pushed to the
fringes” for what adds up to a personal choice, then is it any wonder then that
our community contains so many personalities, egos, agendas, angles,
experiences, attitudes, approaches and beliefs?
That is a lot of angry, frustrated, sensitive and irritable
people in one community. It is also not surprising that many within the
community take their part in the cause deeply personally and can feel threatened by challenges, criticisms and/or alternatives. As a result things boil over too
frequently, too loudly, too personally and most unfortunately too publicly.
People act like people do, then other people get offended and over reach their
response and you have a perfectly vicious little circle. There’s conspiracy and
paranoia, suspicion and accusation. Not surprising, perhaps, given all the above, however
it damages us all and when I see it, I can’t help but feel disappointed and a
little deflated.
We are all flawed characters; none of us are perfect (most of
us, far from it – and yes, I am speaking for myself!) and isn’t one of the
things that we are all passionately fighting about; being judged without
reason, truth, whole truth, nothing but the truth and yet we do it to each
other. I’m not saying that challenges
should not be made or that inappropriate behaviour should not be called out,
but as people, I would have hoped that we could all show rather more empathy and
be more supportive of each other and as a group we need a professional and
credible public face to be effective and there is no way that this is going to
happen whilst ever we can be seen to be focused on attacking each other.
There is one thing that ALL of us agree on. It
is the single thing that has brought us together to fight for something
that we all passionately believe in – the reasons why are interesting but
ultimately unimportant. The
effectiveness of each of our individual methods is up for (respectful) debate,
but ultimately isn’t it the goal that counts?
“Legal access to Cannabis for Adults, Medicinal Cannabis for
all”
So, next time someone from within our community does something/says
something/produces something (or reacts to something) and you don’t like it, before
you make a judgement, try to remember how YOU would like to be judged by our
criminal justice system and apply the same criteria to your own judgement AND before you publicly (re)react, stop for a minute
and with compassion, think about whether, for our common goals, your anger,
energy and resources are best directed at an ally in our fight or at our common
enemy? If you chose the former over the latter, then aren't you running the risk of being part of the problem rather than the solution?
Jon
