Category Archives: cannabis

The Problem(s) with British Medicinal Cannabis

by Doug – the northlondonhippy

This hippy opinion piece takes a deep dive into the dismal state of British Medicinal Cannabis.

The subject is divisive, and there’s bound to be an opinion in here that pisses off nearly everyone.

Introduction

Cannabis was legalised for medicinal use in the United Kingdom in 2018, under a ridiculously rigid, and poorly implemented regime for a substance that is quantifiably considered extremely safe. And it is all the medicinal users of cannabis, whether legally sourced, or reliant upon the legacy market, who have continued to pay the price for the mess that is legal cannabis in Britain today. 

The general standard of the products legally available isn’t great, nor is their continued availability. And the customer service side of this industry is even worse, from the initial tidal wave of bureaucracy, to chasing your regular, monthly prescription renewals. It’s been a disaster. 

Improvements are constantly promised, yet rarely ever seen, but the issues are even deeper, and more systemic than that. The entire set up is not fit for purpose, and needs to be overhauled from the ground up, using other country’s superior implementations as a guide. 

The First Elephant in the Room

It seems ridiculous that I even have to point this out, as I rarely see it mentioned, but to me it is the biggest, dumbest accommodation made, in the entire British legal cannabis system. And the way everyone just rolled over on it, continues to boggle my mind. That accommodation is this: 

Medicinal herbal cannabis has to be vaporised. This is a mandatory restriction, because if you smoke it, somehow it magically invalidates your prescription, and makes your consumption illegal. WTF?

Smoking cannabis is one of the oldest, and certainly most common forms of consumption in history. It may not be the most ideal, but certainly shouldn’t that decision remain with the consumer?

It’s fine if doctors want to endorse and encourage vaporisation as their preferred method for patients medicating. I own several vaporisers myself, and I love them. But at the end of the day, when I need to finally get some sleep, nothing hits me the same way as a neat joint (no tobacco) of pure Indica flower. 

I’m sure some of you naughty legal prescription holders out there still skin-up on the QT as well, but the fact is that you shouldn’t need to hide your preference for combustion. 

By all means recommend vapes, endorse them, subsidise them even, but don’t force them on everyone with some bizarre, performative, restrictive law. It makes a mockery of the entire system that is meant to legitimise the use of cannabis as an actual medication. Questioning, and denying the medicinal value of a perfectly valid method of consuming it, diminishes much of what you’re trying to achieve. 

When the guidance, and the laws were being drafted, did anyone even put up a fight? There are plenty of people who were involved in this process, who knew better, yet rolled over anyway.

Cali Legal Weed

The US State of California legalised cannabis in 1996 for medicinal use. The system was really simple, and far superior to ours. 

After an inexpensive visit to specialist doctor, who reviewed your medical history to see if you suffered from one of the many qualifying conditions that might benefit from cannabis, you were issued with a medical cannabis ID card. With that card, you could then visit your local, legal dispensary, where you could safely purchase your cannabis flower, from a knowledgeable bud tender, who had personally sampled every strain available, and could offer useful advice on your choices. You could even smell the aroma of the bud, before you buy, which is more crucial than you might realise when selecting the right strain for you. 

Dispensaries popped up all over the state, and the sky didn’t fall in. In fact, the system was so successful, that 20 years later, they extended legalisation to include all adult usage, medicinal or not. 

It’s not just California; more than half of all US states have now legalised weed. Many countries have relaxed their approach to cannabis, and many more are expected to follow in the near future. Sadly, Britain is not one of them.

British Legal Weed

To secure a legal prescription here in the United Kingdom, your only option at this point is to go private. The NHS still refuses to accept the undeniable benefits of medicinal cannabis use, but that is an argument best left for another day. I want to concentrate the system we have now.

As with going private for anything medical, private cannabis is expensive. There are consultation costs, prescription renewal costs (with some clinics), admin fees, delivery fees, and the cost of the actual medication itself. Oh. and don’t forget you need a proper herbal vaporiser, which is not an insignificant cost. 

You need deep pockets, and for many, those pockets need to be even deeper than what they might spend for the equivalent from the legacy market. Or if they previously grew their own, it would cost exponentially more. Going legal ain’t cheap!

I don’t currently have a prescription, but I do have more than one qualifying condition, so I am eligible. And I do have a Cancard,  but more on this a little later.

I monitor the state of our legal cannabis market via the many subreddits, and forums online dedicated to the subject. While I will acknowledge that people tend to post complaints in general, more than praise, the scales of the posts I see on medicinal cannabis tip heavily towards the negative. I’m sure there are some patients happy with the system, and if it works for you, that’s great. But I am even more certain, anecdotally anyway, that the majority are not happy, and would welcome significant improvements. 

I tried to get a prescription a couple of years ago, but I lacked proof of the years of therapy I had when I lived in the states, as well as the psychiatric drugs I was force fed. Since then, I’ve been diagnosed with a rare, hard to treat form of epilepsy. And I’ve had seizures while taking lots of different pharmaceutical drugs, so I definitely have proof now I qualify, should I wish to pursue the legal route again. But for me to consider it again, the system would need that overhaul I mentioned.

Even the initial process can seem daunting to some, and quite frankly, that is because it is a huge bureaucratic mountain for many to climb. 

You need to get a summary of your care, from your GP surgery. Not all surgeries are helpful. And you need to be able to prove that you have at least one qualifying condition, and that you’ve tried two prescription medications that failed to help with it. Plus if it is a mental health issue, you also need proof you have tried therapy as well. 

And that’s just to qualify for the initial consultation, though to be fair, if you make this far, it seems most people are prescribed. 

After your initial consultation, the real fun begins… Trying to get a hold of your medication of choice. Some clinics limit, or push you to products produced by their parent companies, and they all seem to want to push people towards oils first. 

The clinic that prescribes you, then has to send your prescription to a dispensing pharmacy. Until recently, that prescription had to be on paper, but now it can be sent electronically. Either way, there will still be a delay in dispatch, assuming they have what was prescribed available, and in stock. And how many times you have to contact them all to chase it, when something goes wrong. 

Most people have to try many strains before finding one that helps, as the doctors are not that knowledgeable about the products. 

There’s an open secret regarding doctors who prescribe medicinal cannabis; they’re really only in it for the money, and very few have any useful knowledge of cannabis, beyond the 2 hour online training course available to be able to prescribe it.

Yes, you read that right. For a doctor to be able to prescribe cannabis privately, for a fee, all they need to do is follow some simple guidelines, and maybe complete a short online training course. 

Don’t get me wrong, my personal view is that any doctor should be able to recommend cannabis in the same way they recommend aspirin. And you should be able to self-refer for cannabis, the same way you can purchase aspirin over the counter. Technically, cannabis is safer than aspirin

Who would you rather have helping you choose a strain for your condition? A fully trained doctor who spent 2 hours studying cannabis, and cannabis based products online, or a bud tender, that’s tried every product they’re selling? I know whose endorsement would matter more to me, and I bet I’m not the only one. 

Legal vs Legacy

In all of my 40+ years of consuming cannabis, I have never bought mouldy weed. I’ve never found insects in a bag of weed either, and I have hardly even seen a seed since the mid 1980s. And I’ve never had to wait 2-4 weeks for my medication. None of that is true for British medicinal cannabis. Everything I’ve mentioned has been an issue for patients at some point, especially the delays. 

The legacy market has been efficiently providing quality products for decades, and continues to do so, all around the country. How it does that is yet another discussion, for another day. 

The legacy market is unregulated, so it is obviously less than ideal, but it’s still a business, reliant upon repeat custom. Selling quality products insures punters come back, again and again. 

From my perspective, the legacy market still remains superior to our legal prescription market. The quality, and standard of products is consistent for me, the prices have remained steady for years, and the customer service has always been first rate. 

The legal market is stressful. The medicinal cannabis subreddits are full of people going through all sorts of unnecessary drama to receive their medication, if they receive it at all. 

Delays aren’t just common, they are expected, as is having your first (or second, or third) choice of medication unexpectedly unavailable for weeks, without explanation. And then when it does come back into stock, there’s a rush on it, and they quickly run out again.

And if the random availability wasn’t bad enough, the products themselves can vary. One batch of your favourite strain could hit just right, and then the next prescription for the same strain, does nothing for you. There is no consistency, and much of what is sold, is very dried out, lacking any aroma, or terpenes.

Whether you source it from the legacy, or legal markets, there is a superior third option for sourcing, but you’re not allowed to use it.

The Second Elephant in the Room

In many places, where cannabis is legal, growing your own at home is permitted. This is a no-brainer, as patients can produce their own high quality medication at home, much cheaper than they can buy it from either the legal, or the legacy market. 

Growing quality bud is a skill, but it is one that most people can master given the time, especially if they’re motivated. And who would be more motivated than someone suffering medically, who wants to keep their costs down, during a global financial crisis!? 

Growing your own should be at the very heart of our drug laws, especially medicinally. It should be a cornerstone of the policy, instead of leaving greedy corporations to produce substandard products. As far as elephants and rooms go, I’d say this is a massive one. 

To sort of paraphrase Moses, “Let my people GROW!”

AI Generated, 6 fingered Moses knows where it’s at!

One Last Room, One Last Elephant

Medicinal cannabis is a divisive subject, but it is especially divisive within itself. The amount of bickering I see within the cannabis community is depressing. 

Don’t we all want the same thing? We don’t want to see anyone arrested for possession, whether they have a prescription or not. We all want cannabis use to be seen as the positive, life enriching thing that it is, don’t we? We want it legal for all. 

Having a prescription is meant to shield you from arrest, but it doesn’t, as there have been reports from all around the country of legal patients running into trouble with the law. That shouldn’t happen. Many people get prescriptions just to remain within the law, but what’s the point when the law doesn’t care?

Prescription or not, people should not be arrested for the possession of any drug. It’s not difficult. We’re all meant to be on the same side. Which is why I am even more confused by the hate for Cancard. 

Cancard is a scheme set up by another medicinal cannabis user who avoided a conviction in court by using a medicinal cannabis defence. This victory means everyone who uses cannabis, can use the same defence. Joining the card scheme means you qualify for a prescription, whether you have one, or not.

The patient’s name is Carly Barton, and a few years ago, she decided to stop using the legal cannabis market, and to grow her own instead. Good luck to her, she’s a trailblazer!

I have a Cancard myself, and have been a member of the scheme for several years. They offer police training, and in some parts of the country, that training has helped people like me avoid legal hassles, and in some cases, even keep their medication. 

Sadly, much like a legal prescription, there’s no guarantee a Cancard will prevent arrest, or prosecution. It will however, most certainly be a mitigating factor at some point. And that should result in an “NFA”, as in no further action will be taken, since a successful prosecution is unlikely, because of the medical defence. 

I don’t understand all the hate. Carly, and Cancard just want to prevent arrests, and have done in many cases. A legal prescription is meant to prevent arrest, and confiscation as well, but that doesn’t always work either. 

Can’t we all agree that NO ONE should be arrested, regardless of where they source their medication? 

And that’s the final elephant, in the final room. 

When the UK government legalised cannabis, even privately, that was a tacit admission that cannabis is medicinally beneficial. No ifs, ands, or buts, about it. 

Cannabis is cannabis, whether you grow your own, source it legally, or from the legacy market. If it keeps you healthy, and alive, that is all that matters. 

If these were your only two choices, which would you prefer? Would you rather be illegally alive, or legally dead? I’ve already made my choice. I’m still here. 

I’m actively trying not to die from a potentially fatal form of epilepsy, among other long term physical, and mental health maladies. If you take away my special private medication, and I croak, that shit is 100% on you. I’m still here because of weed. Lots of us are. 

Why can’t we be more like California, and have an actual grown-up, functional, beneficial medicinal cannabis system that’s affordable? 

Why are our politicians from both main parties, so out of step with the electorate, the medical community, and the rest of the world on the simple subject of cannabis? 

Why do we let our rabidly rightwing media dictate our health policy? That’s the real issue, but there isn’t a room big enough to contain that particular pachyderm. 

It’s your body, it’s my body. We all have the innate right to make our own significant health choices that we know benefit us. I know you know this already, but how do we convince everyone else? It shouldn’t be as hard as it has been, and continues to be. But I’m not giving up the fight, I’m still preaching the good word, till my very last breath. And I’m still breathing.

***

After a 30 year career as a journalist, working for some of the largest news organisations in the world, including Associated Press and Reuters, and 15 years as a duty news editor for BBC News, Doug – the northlondonhippy is now a full time hippy, and writer. And for the last few years, he’s been #EpilepsyHippy. His life was a whole lot more fun before gaining that new title. For real. 

Doug is also the author of “Personal Use by the northlondonhippy.” 

“Personal Use” chronicles Doug’s years of experience with mind altering substances, while calling for urgent drug law reform. It’s a cracking read, you will laugh, you will cry, and you can bet your ass that you will wish you were a hippy too!

You can also find Doug –  the northlondonhippy on Twitter: @nthlondonhippy but only if you look really hard.

And if you want even more, (and who wouldn’t?) you could always check out Hippy Highlights – which is the best of the best stuff on the site, and it’s all free to read. What are you waiting for?

Recreational Use is a Myth

By Doug – the northlondonhippy

The hippy has been giving this a lot of thought, and recreational use of any drug is a myth. You’ll soon agree.

The first drug I ever properly used was alcohol. I started drinking at the age of 13, and I stopped at age 39. Drinking was a social experience, right from the start.  

Most people have some level of social anxiety. We don’t like to admit it, but the popularity of alcohol at social events, gives the game away. Alcohol makes it possible for people to be around other people for extended periods of time. It makes us gregarious, maybe even a little giggly too. 

Could you imagine a night down the pub, or in a club, or even a dinner party, without social lubrication of some sort? 

If booze ain’t your bag, perhaps you like cannabis? Or cocaine? Maybe you’re one of those sober types, who’s just naturally friendly and happy. Lucky you!

For most people, drug use, alcohol, or otherwise, is a social experience. We do it in groups, we do it to be social.

Now, imagine someone who drinks alone. I don’t have to imagine, as after 26 years of regular, social drinking, I hit a rough patch in life, and for 6 months in 2002, I drank alone daily. Snorted coke too, and mixed in the odd MDMA tab as well. I was not having a good time, I was using it all to escape a bad one. 

I was abusing booze, and drugs, and to me that makes my use medicinal. I was using it to lift my mood, and briefly escape my troubles. This use was negative; it wasn’t good for me in the long term. My use wasn’t social, and it certainly wasn’t recreational either. It may not have been the most healthy of self medication, but I was definitely self medicating.

I was lucky. I realised the hole I was in, and quickly, and quietly climbed my way out, all on my own. I realised what I was doing wasn’t in my best long term interests, so I gave up booze completely. Cocaine too. One day, I just stopped. I haven’t had either in over 20 years. It’s not some moral victory, it was a health choice for me, and one I was glad I made. 

Recreational drug use is a myth, meant to make you feel shameful guilt about indulging. 

After thinking about this for a very long time, I’ve reached the conclusion that all drug use (including alcohol) is either social, or medicinal, once you accept that all medicinal use isn’t always beneficial, or positive. 

When I first started smoking weed, it was within a social group. We all got high together. And then I bought a bag of weed for myself. I sparked up a joint on my own for the first time, and realised it made me feel better, physically, and mentally. Without it being explained to me, I naturally worked out how to self-medicate with cannabis. I didn’t realise it at the time; it took many years to truly comprehend that I was self-medicating.

I’ve smoked cannabis for over 40 years, and I can’t recall the last time I had some recreationally. I use it to feel better, to reduce my anxiety, and my depression, and have done since I started. I take enough to take the edge off, to allow me to function like a normal person.

I couldn’t have lived my life the way I have, worked all the jobs I’ve done, or even traveled to war zones, without the medicinal benefits of regular, daily cannabis use. 

I’m old now, and I take a load of prescribed pharmaceuticals every day. I don’t view cannabis any differently from the 10 prescription tablets I take daily. They all play their part in keeping me alive. Matter of fact, cannabis helps me with the side effects from the other medications I take, and I probably couldn’t tolerate them all without it.

The school of thought on psychedelics has evolved. People are understanding that their use is far more medicinal than it is recreational. You can do a lot of good for your mental health through the smart use of psychedelics. 

When I went through my shroom phase, back in the early oughts, I think I had the best mental health of my life. There was a loophole in UK law for a few years, that saw actual fresh magic mushrooms legally available to purchase online, and in Camden Market. It was a sad day, when the government sealed that loophole, and the sales ceased. 

Shrooms helped lift my chronic depression, and pulled me out of a different hole in 2003. I was able to get my life back on track, and I kept it there until epilepsy decided to take over 15 years later. 

And even with the epilepsy, my cannabis use has helped mitigate it somewhat. I know cannabis could be even more beneficial, if I could get the right balance of cannabinoids into my system consistently. I wish the NHS prescribed it. 

If someone goes home every night after work, and downs a bottle or two of wine on their own, or even with their partner, that use is not social, is it? It’s medicinal. Alcohol dependency is real. And it’s a medical issue, not a moral one.

Alcohol withdrawal is also real, and it is just as bad as coming off heroin. Alcohol can be lethal too, and has contributed to the deaths of more people that I’ve known over the years, than every other drug combined. It’s legal status obscures these facts. 

Drop an E at a club? Medicinal. You’re doing it to expand your consciousness. Drop it with a group, it’s social too. Sometimes, it can be both. They’re not mutually exclusive. 

Shooting smack in a back alley? Does that sound like fun? Does it sound recreational? Of course not! It’s definitely medicinal, and whatever you’re trying to escape from, I hope it helps you. Is it ideal? No, not even close. That’s why many good people want to open supervised injection facilities. Medicinal again. Open them everywhere!

Addiction and dependency are medical issues. Tobacco, heroin, cocaine, and alcohol are all physically addictive. 

I’m dependent upon cannabis, the same way I’m dependent upon my epilepsy medication, or blood pressure medication to keep me alive. I couldn’t live without any of them. It’s all medicinal use. 

Whatever your drug of choice, if you share the experience with a group, your use is social. If you use it on your own, or with a close partner, your use is medicinal, whether it is beneficial or not. 

Recreational drug use is a myth, and it’s used to guilt, shame, and punish us. Don’t fall for it. As if enjoyment of something should lessen it’s significance, or usefulness. Your use is either social, or medicinal. There is no in-between, and there should be no guilt, ever. Just be as healthy as you can, for as long as you can, no matter what you have to take to get by in this life.

* **

After a 30 year career as a journalist, working for some of the largest news organisations in the world, including Associated Press and Reuters, and 15 years as a duty news editor for BBC News, Doug – the northlondonhippy is now a full time hippy, and writer. And for the last few years, he’s been #EpilepsyHippy. His life was a whole lot more fun before gaining that new title. For real. 

Doug is also the author of “Personal Use by the northlondonhippy.” 

“Personal Use” chronicles Doug’s years of experience with mind altering substances, while calling for urgent drug law reform. It’s a cracking read, you will laugh, you will cry, and you can bet your ass that you will wish you were a hippy too!

You can also find Doug –  the northlondonhippy on Twitter: @nthlondonhippy but only if you look really hard.

And if you want even more, (and who wouldn’t?) you could always check out Hippy Highlights – which is the best of the best stuff on the site, and it’s all free to read. What are you waiting for?

The Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll Collection

All Written by Doug – the northlondonhippy

These are a few of my favourite things

The Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll Collection is a loosely connected series of the northlondonhippy’s most recent written pieces. It was all produced in a 5 week period.

Think of this new, inter-linked collection of material as the hippy’s second book. Effectively it is the sequel to his first book, Personal Use.

You can read all this brand new material for free right now.

December 2023 Update:

The hippy has added another piece to the collection, called “Now, Hear This”.

“Now, Hear This” was first published in November 2023, but the original idea was conceived back in March. It belongs here with the rest of the collection, and is now the introductory piece.

Now, Hear This

The hippy looks back at the roots of his lifetime love of modern music, through the songs he grew up with, and technology of the day that played it for him.  

His journey began when he was 2 years old, and it started with the Beatles, and a couple of years later, Motown and more. 

You’ll see, these memories turned out to be a lot more bittersweet than expected, as you read, and listen to “Now, Hear This”.

My Summer of Springsteen

During the Summer of 1982, when the hippy was still living on the Jersey Shore, he ran into Bruce Springsteen regularly. 

Bruce wasn’t just a local hero back then, he was already a major, international rock god. He’d released his first five classic albums, toured the world repeatedly, and only played the largest venues available. 

That summer, the hippy saw the Boss hanging out, and performing in small bars down the shore, nearly every weekend. Some nights, more than once. And Bruce saw the hippy, too.

These are his memories of “My Summer of Springsteen.

MTV Redux

Rock & Roll

In this four part series, the hippy takes you back to a fairly amazing period of his young adult life.

In the mid 1980s, the hippy was loosely associated with MTV Music Television as an intern, and then occasionally employed by them as a freelance production assistant. 

It’s also a tale of unrealised potential, and squandered opportunity, but it has taken the hippy a while to work all that out.


Part One – What? And Give Up Showbiz?
Part Two – Name Dropping
Part Three – Crappy New Year!
Part Four – The Death of the Dream

Time Aside – A Short Story

***Bonus Content***

Let’s pause the real life nostalgia briefly, and take a deep dive into some alternative personal history.

There’s no sex, drugs, or rock & roll in this one. “Time Aside” is a twisty tale of time travel, anti-natalism, and regret that’s rooted in the hippy’s real life back story.

It’s bonus content, so check it out! Or you could wait for the movie?

Tales from the Pre-Internet

Sex

Everyone thinks of dating apps, and websites when they think of meeting people online, but before the internet, in the 1980s, some folks were already playing around online. People were meeting up, and having naughty fun too. And the northlondonhippy was one of them.

The hippy refers to this period of time as the “Pre-Internet” in his recent series called MTV Redux. Thinking about that time was the inspiration for this series. 

In the three part series, “Consenting Online Adults”the hippy overshares about many of his experiences. 

And in Bonus Part Four, the hippy shares an additional tale from the Pre-Internet that deserves to stand on its own. This piece will leave you with one big question, but in Part Four – “I’ll Never Tell”.

Consenting Online Adults

Part One – The Prologue (1975-1983)

Part Two – Connecting (1980-1987)

Part Three – All Good Things (1985-1997)

Bonus – Part Four – I’ll Never Tell (1986)

Historic Hippy

Here’s a short selection from the hippy’s archive, if you want to know more…

I was a Background Artist on the BBC 10 O’Clock News – That’s who he was for the longest time

Piecing It All Together – This is why he is not that guy any more. TLDR: Epilepsy

Countdown to the End of the World – This is what the hippy would like to be doing next, if he had a choice.

Doing Some Good

The Ceasefire Initiative

While we’ve got your attention…

The Ceasefire Initiative – It’s just a small, simple idea to begin the process of finally putting an end to the pointless, useless “war on drugs”. We’re not seeking donations, just your support.

Follow us on Twitter: @ceasefire4good

#ceasefire4good #ceasefire4ever

(All words © Copyright 2023-2024 – Doug – the northlondonhippy. All rights reserved)

My 40th Cannaversary

On the 21st of June 1981, I got high for the very first time. It was the night of my high school graduation back in New Jersey . I wrote about it in my book, “Personal Use”, it’s the first chapter.

As today is 21st June 2021, it marks the 40th anniversary of this very significant event in my then, young life. Here is that first chapter of my book, reproduced in full.

If you dig it, you could always pick up a copy, you glorious mofos!

All the best,

Doug, the northlondonhippy

Personal Use Cover

Chapter One 

A Toe in the Water

Picture it, the late 1970s.

Hair was long, queues for petrol were even longer and disco music was king.

I was a dumb kid, living in a small beach town on the east coast of America.

Burt Reynolds was the biggest film star in the world, Jaws and Star Wars were immensely popular and the BeeGees were dominating the music charts.

The 70s were weird.

I went to a small high school, there were only 200 students in my year. I wasn’t one of the cool kids, which I am sure will shock you. I wasn’t one of the uncool kids either. I was just a kid, trying to figure out my place in the world.

I‘m still trying to figure out my place in the world. Some things don’t change.

The very first drug I experimented with was tobacco.

Legal, readily available and used by just about every adult I knew at the time, tobacco was the socially acceptable drug of choice for millions. Smoking was cool, smoking was popular, smoking was a favourite pastime for many people when I was a child. Smoking is also potentially fatal, but no one seemed to care back then.

Smokers today still don’t.

Getting hold of cigarettes was easy, one of my friends acquired a pack of Marlboro Reds and a group of us went out into the woods near a local park. I was probably about 12 years old at the time. That would make it 1975.

We gathered in the woods, this small group of pre-teens, and we all lit up.

None of us really knew how to smoke, so we inhaled into our mouths and quickly exhaled. The unlucky amongst us, drew the thick smoke deeper into their lungs and were rewarded with convulsing coughs.

The taste was disgusting, but look how cool and grown up we all were! I wouldn’t smoke a cigarette again for seven years. This experience was not enjoyable.

I started smoking cigarettes properly at the age of nineteen and didn’t stop until a few years ago, at the tender age of fifty.

Cigarettes are stupid and I regretted getting hooked on them, but I still looked cool smoking them. Everyone does and that’s one of the reasons why anti-smoking campaigns don’t work. Smoking is cool, smoking is sexy. Emphysema and cancer, much less so, but they are decades away from your first smoke, so it’s a hard sell.

These days, I am still hooked on nicotine, but I use an electronic cigarette, which is a much safer, healthier way to get that sweet nicotine buzz.

The next drug I experimented with was alcohol.

My parents, like the parents of all my friends, kept well- stocked bars in their homes, so we were all exposed to liquor at an early age. Booze was normal, acceptable and readily available, much like tobacco.

I used and abused liquor for years, but I don’t drink any more.

I was 13 years old, the first time I got properly drunk. It was at a party at a friend’s house.

I learned a couple of valuable lessons that night. One: that booze can make you sick. And two, if you swiped a small amount from every bottle in your parents’ liquor cabinet, no one would notice.

Bug juice. That’s what we called it. Bug juice. You would mix a small amount of every liquor in your parents’ bar, into a bottle or jug, add something to kill the taste, like orange juice or fizzy pop and away you go.

One of the ingredients was always Creme de Menthe, a foul, minty mouthwash-like liqueur with a deep green colour. It was a popular gift, so everyone had a bottle of this, practically untouched. It became a staple ingredient in our bug juice. It always ensured a bright green colour that was the trademark of this foul swill.

A small group of us polished off a large pitcher of bug juice and proceeded to get loud and lairy. We went outside to smoke cigarettes and run around. That’s what drunken 13 year-olds do.

At some point between going outside and getting collected by my parents, I realised I was unpleasantly drunk and a bit dizzy. And then I threw up and magically felt better.

I would repeat this routine on and off, for decades. Drink too much, throw up, and feel better.

As an adult, I drank like I meant it and could polish off copious amounts of spirits. Vodka, tequila and cognac were my favourites.

I stopped drinking completely, well, around 26 years later, in 2002. And I don’t regret stopping at all, though it shocks me it took as long as it did to realise what a bad drug booze is. Live and learn. Eventually.

Tobacco and alcohol were part of my life, directly and indirectly, from my formative years right through to adulthood and middle age. And they are two of the worst drugs around in terms of harms to an individual and society.

While tobacco use has fallen, it still accounts for a shocking number of preventable deaths every year. And alcohol is one of the most damaging substances around, with many experts proclaiming it worse than heroin and cocaine due to the immense damage it continues to cause to individuals and society as a whole.

And it might have been the 1980s when the anti-drug hysteria reached its peak, but even back in the hippy- dippy 70s, the message was still clear: Drugs are bad, m’kay.

My mother was terrified by drugs, even though she was a heavy cigarette smoker and social drinker. She didn’t see herself for the drug user she really was. She tried to pass this mixed message on to me, and it was surprisingly effective. I thought booze and cigarettes were acceptable, but drugs definitely not.

Only losers were users, I once thought. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

My parents, like the parents of my friends, didn’t discourage teenage drinking. In their view, drinking was OK, because ‘at least it wasn’t drugs’. Except it was a drug, but that distinction was lost on them back then. Just as it is now.

Alcohol and cigarettes are drugs, no doubt about that that, but they’re legal, so that’s OK. And they’re deadly, which is also apparently just fine too.

Back then, keg parties were the done thing. Your parents would get half a keg of cheap beer and let you have your friends over. They enabled under-age drinking as a defence to drugs. Clever, eh?

At around the age of 16, I tried weed for the first time. I didn’t get high, I didn’t come even close, but the experience taught me a lot about my own fears and perceptions.

It was early evening, after school and post extra- curricular activities. I was invited to join a few of my friends on the school playing field, to sample the devil’s weed for the very first time.

I remember being extremely nervous, worried that I would be out of control and stinking of dope, but I overcame my fears by asking my friends questions. What is it like? What does it taste like? Would people know immediately that I was high? They were all very reassuring.

We sat in a small circle, maybe half a dozen of us. A small, single skin joint was lit and passed around the circle. When my turn came, I really didn’t know what to do, so I took a puff and passed it on. I coughed a lot and everyone laughed at the newbie.

I had several turns on the joint and I didn’t feel any different. I had no idea how to smoke or how to get the smoke into my lungs. And I had no idea what I should be feeling, but I was fairly certain I wasn’t feeling anything.

But I had finally tried weed and that was the main thing. I was part of a peer group, and my green cherry was well and truly popped… except I wasn’t even slightly high.

They say weed doesn’t make you paranoid, it’s the illegality that does and that was certainly true for my first experience. I was absolutely terrified of being arrested, or worse my parents finding out I had dabbled in drugs.

We smoked another doobie, or rather my friends did, while I wasted more smoke and coughed. And when we were done, we all went home.

I remember walking into my house convinced my mother would take one look at me and know I was on drugs.

You don’t just take drugs, or rather, once you take them, you are ‘on drugs’, presumably, for life.

I said a quick hello and went straight upstairs to my bedroom. I took off all my clothes, which I was convinced reeked of weed and stuffed them into a bag. I got dressed again in clean clothes and quietly took the bag of old, stinky weed-clothes out to the trash and threw my them away. Better to have one less outfit than have my shameful secret uncovered, now that I was ‘on drugs’.

I didn’t go back downstairs after that. I can remember, even now, lying in bed, in the dark, worrying about the risk I took. I wasn’t even high, just scared.

Would I be craving acid next, or smack? Would I be stealing to support my new habit? Would I be grounded until I was 25, because I was dumb enough to take a few puffs from a joint only to end up ‘on drugs’?

Of course not! But in my less than worldly wise, 16-year- old brain, a series of horrible outcomes awaited me.

Weed was very popular in my high school. This was the late 70s, in a beach town on the east coast of America. Weed was everywhere.

I remember watching a burnout surfer kid in one of my classes, rolling joints inside a textbook, our teacher completely oblivious to it. I saw kids, stoned out of their gourds, eyes red, lids drooping, attending other classes. And there were rumours about teachers, getting high in their cars before class. They were probably all true.

My brief brush with marijuana didn’t put me off, exactly, but nor did it inspire me to try it again, at least not soon. I was still curious, but my curiosity was somewhat sated, because I could say with confidence that I had tried weed. I wouldn’t smoke again for a couple of years.

In my senior year of high school, I fell in with a different group and they were proper, hardcore stoners. They were always high and while there was never any pressure to try it again, they certainly made it look more enjoyable.

They bought it by the quarter ounce, half ounce or ounce. It was what I would now call Mexican dirt weed: darkish brown, full of twigs and seeds and dry and dusty. This was known as commercial weed at the time. It came in by the plane or boatload, from south of the border. Some people called it Colombian Gold, but those in the know said it was from Mexico.

It never looked like much in the bag, that’s for sure, nothing like the beautiful, manicured green buds we’ve grown accustom to today.

I observed the rituals of dope smoking, 1970s style. You would start with a gatefold, double album cover, opened and spread out in front of you. Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti was always a popular choice.

You would take the dirt weed and crumble it between your fingers on to the album cover, reducing it to dust. You would pull out the twigs and sticks, then sift with the edge of a pack of rolling papers, usually EZ-Widers, so the seeds would collect in the hinge of the album cover. You didn’t want the seeds in your joint, as they would explode like popcorn with a loud snap.

Joints back then were thin, single skinners, rolled neat without tobacco. In America, we always smoked it neat, mixing with tobacco was something I would pick up when I moved to the UK and started smoking hash.

Headshops were everywhere, selling pipes, bongs, power hitters, doob-tubes, roach clips and any other bit of paraphernalia you can think of and more. My friends had a wide selection to try.

On the night of my high school graduation in 1981, I ended up at a pool party with my stoner friends. They were passing around joints, hitting bongs and generally having a very good time. We were also drinking.

One of my friends had a power hitter, a piece of paraphernalia that was popular at the time. It was a squeezee plastic bottle, with a screw cap on the end and a draw hole in the side. You unscrewed the cap, inserted a lit joint into the cap, then screwed it back on the bottle. When you squeezed the bottle while covering the draw hole, smoke was forced out the end of the cap in a steady, heavy stream. Hence putting the power into a power hitter.

My friends explained to me that I needed to get the smoke into my lungs and hold it, if I wanted to get high.

I did. I did want to get high, so I followed their advice.

I took a couple of long draws from the power hitter, getting the smoke deep down into my lungs and then I coughed. The smoke was harsh and burned my throat, but I was persistent and got used to it quickly.

Before long, I was taking great lungfuls of smoke and holding it for ages.

And then it happened,
I was high.
For. The. Very. First. Time.

Wow!

Wow! WOW!

It was as if for the first time in my life, I actually felt normal. I felt complete. I felt like I had found the one thing that my life was missing. All of my existential angst and creeping anxiety just melted away. The world made sense, the universe made sense.

I made sense.

I knew in that moment that my life was about to get much better. I knew in that moment I had found something special, something that would help me to become the person I am today.

And I knew that I needed to have more of this wonderful substance. Lots more.

I turned to my friend and asked if he could help me get some for myself?

He said: ‘Yes.’



After a 30 year career as a journalist, working for some of the largest news organisations in the world, including Associated Press, and Reuters, and 15 years as an overnight duty news editor for BBC News, Doug – the northlondonhippy is now a full time writer, hippy, and drug law reform campaigner. 

Doug is also the author of “Personal Use by the northlondonhippy.”  “Personal Use” chronicles Doug’s first 35 years of drug use, while calling for urgent drug law reform. It’s a cracking read, you will laugh, you will cry, and you can bet your ass that you will wish you were a hippy too!

Doug’s next book, “High Hopes” should have been published by now, but it is hard to write a book about remaining optimistic in the face of adversity, during a global pandemic. Try it yourself!

For the last year, Doug has spent most of his time hiding away from a killer virus. Bet many of you have too. 

You can find Doug –  the northlondonhippy on Twitter: @nthlondonhippy, but only if you look really hard.

Medicinal Cannabis, and Me

clear glass jar filled with kush
Photo by Add Weed on Unsplash

I have been wanting to write this up for a while, it all happened before Xmas. It’s a good story, with some fun twists and turns, a few unexpected personal details, a flashback to the early 1980s, and a surprise ending. Here we go. 

Part One

Medicinal cannabis was legalised in the United Kingdom a couple of years ago, but it’s uptake, and availability until recently, has been limited. 

Professor David Nutt’s organisation, Drug Science, created Project Twenty21 which has the ambitious aim of registering 20,000 medicinal cannabis patients by the end of 2021, to assemble a database demonstrating the efficacy of medicinal cannabis treatment for a wide variety of conditions. It is a very noble aim.

The first hurdle one must leap to access medical cannabis in the U.K. is financial. Medicinal cannabis is expensive, in many cases more so than black market equivalents. Plus there are additional costs associated, including consultant fees, which are also not cheap. 

Project Twenty-21 approved products, and clinics aimed to keep these costs down for certain selected products, but this subsidy doesn’t cover the entire range of products available domestically. Additionally, there are admin fees, prescription admin fees, and postage, or delivery fees. It all adds up. Many people reconsider at this point, as it can be cheaper to medicate via the black market, or to just grow your own. 

https://cannapedia.org.uk/Prices

The other barrier to accessing treatment is that you must meet the following criteria. You need to suffer from a qualifying condition. There are a wide range are on that list, including chronic pain, and anxiety. And you need to have tried two licensed pharmaceutical medications that were ineffective in improving your condition. 

I was initially sceptical of all of this, but Project Twenty21 caught my attention. I have used cannabis medicinally for nearly 40 years, to cope with crippling anxiety, and varying degrees of suicidal depression. My mental health has benefitted greatly from my cannabis use, it has saved my life countless times over the years. It still helps me to this day.

If you would like more information on how to become a patient yourself, and learn more about the costs of consultations, and the available products, check out Cannapedia. It’s a great place to start. There is also a very lively subreddit on Reddit for UK Medicinal Cannabis patients. You can peruse many posts from patients, sharing their real experiences, both good and bad, of accessing treatment.

It was interesting to read about the experiences of others,  along with the hiccups people were encountering. 

For example, even though the United Kingdom is the world’s number producer of medical cannabis, nearly all the products currently prescribed here are imported. That’s meant that people have had long waits to receive their medication. Availability is slowly improving, and soon, more domestically produced products will be licensed. 

Besides costs, there were also some complaints around the clinic admin side of things, many were slow to respond, or weren’t that helpful.  The industry really is in its infancy here, and there is definitely a learning curve for patients, and practitioners alike. The system is far from perfect, but it is the only one we’ve got. It is certainly a step up over having no legal options, but of course it could be improved.

Much of what I read was positive, especially about the doctors who staffed the clinics. They are all experts in treating people with medicinal cannabis, something you will not easily find anywhere in the NHS. I am not going to name the clinic I contacted. 

I have been speaking to my current GP about my medicinal cannabis use for years, much to her amusement. The Endocannabinoid System wasn’t discovered until the 1990s, it wasn’t in medical school textbooks when my doctor was in medical school. I’d bet you there isn’t much in those text books about it, even now.

I am fairly certain that underneath many, if not all of my physical, and mental health issues, is a cannabinoid deficiency. It’s why I feel, and function better when I nourish my endocannabinoid system. The NHS is way behind in understanding this, and Project Twenty21 aims to provide evidence to change their views. 

Having read about obtaining a prescription, I decided to pursue one myself. I rationalised that it would be worth the additional expense to finally explore legal options, and the legal protections of a prescription. And I was certainly curious about trying legal products. 

Currently, legal cannabis dispensaries provide various strains of cannabis flower, and cannabis oils, in various strengths, and THC/CBD ratios. Nearly all the flower, or bud, have black market equivalents, and names, but the idea is that medicinal production maintains quality, and consistency.

I met the criteria for access via Product Twenty21. The easiest condition to pursue treatment in my case, is anxiety. My GP would not argue with that diagnosis. And I had tried two licensed medications to treat my anxiety a very long time ago, so that box was ticked as well. My only concern was that I had tried them in the early 1980s, when I lived in America. 

I did some research into the clinics and they all seemed fairly similar. Some of them are owned, and run by the medical cannabis producers themselves, and they are known to try to steer you towards their own-produced products. As long as you are aware of that, it didn’t seem to be a big issue, so I chose one based on cost. 

When I applied, I contacted them directly to confirm that my US medical history wasn’t accessible, and was told as long as the two licensed medications I tried were mentioned in my medical history from my current GP, it would not be an issue. It didn’t matter when or where I tried those two medications, so my concern was unnecessary. 

I booked a telephone appointment with my GP to discuss all this, and told her I wanted to access medical cannabis. She immediately, almost like a reflex, told me she can’t prescribe cannabis. Sigh. I know that, I told her. I wanted to access a private prescription, and all I needed from her is a summary of my diagnosis, and care regarding anxiety, which included a mention of trying two licensed medications when I was living in America in the 1980s. My GP was happy to provided this, but it took a couple of weeks. 

I was excited, for the first time in my life, I was going to have access to legal cannabis. No more hiding In the shadows, I could finally speak up, and be a very public advocate without fear of arrest or judgement. I was going to be respectable. And first the very first time, fully legal. This was going to be life changing. This was going to be good.

End of Part One.

Part Two

brown and white padded armchairs
Photo by R O on Unsplash

A couple of days after I submitted my summary of care to the clinic, I heard back from the patient coordinator. It was the same one that told me everything would be fine when I spoke to her initially. 

I thought she was ringing to book my first consultation. She wasn’t. She rang to tell me because I had no proof of trying those two medications, they could not offer me a consultation. This was a gut punch, and a complete contradiction of her earlier advice. 

She went on to explain that the clinical director reviewed my application personally, and said it was too much of a risk for them to help me, because if they were ever audited by the regulators, the paper trail demonstrating my suitability could be questioned. 

The patient coordinator said I could try to get my 40 year old records from America. Or there was still one other way they could help me, and that is if I got my GP to write a recommendation that my condition may benefit from medical cannabis. 

Thinking about my medical records from 40 years ago, sent me on a little detour journey into my ancient US history, from my own distant past. You can come along too. 

I grew up in America, and between the ages of 17 and 19, I saw a psychologist, and then a psychiatrist, for anxiety, and depression. 

I am 58 now, I was 13 years old when I had my first suicidal thought. Cool, huh? Quite frankly, it is a minor miracle that I was able to make anything of myself in life, but a couple of things helped me early on. Discovering cannabis at the age of 18 was one of them, and another was the first psychologist I saw. 

The first shrink I saw, the psychologist, was a really cool guy who helped me lot. He was a big, boisterous, physically imposing man in his 60s, with a sharp sense of humour, and a great approach. I really liked him, he was super progressive. He treated me like an adult, and listened to me. I made progress under his care. And he gave me great advice, that still helps me to this day. I wish I kept seeing him, who knows how much more I would have improved?

So why did I stop seeing him? Even now, the reason makes me laugh, because you have to laugh, don’t you?

Periodically, my parents would join for a session, and at one of these meetings, the psychologist pretty much told my mother that her overbearing, controlling nature, was my biggest problem. And just like that, almost to prove his point, she stopped my weekly sessions with him immediately, and found me a different doctor. Told ya it was funny. 

I didn’t like this second shrink nearly as much. He was a psychiatrist, meaning he was a medical doctor, and could prescribe. 

He was also very cold, and Freudian, so his response to almost every question was this. “Well, what do you think?”. I think for a hundred bucks an hour, you should answer my goddamn questions. I did not get much out of my sessions with him, but he was far more acceptable to my mother, so there was that.

He prescribed me Xanax for my anxiety. I did not like it, it made me feel nauseous, and dizzy. He then prescribed Valium, which I did like, maybe a little too much, but the dosage was way too high, they were 10mg. They made me too sleepy, and weren’t a viable long term solution because I couldn’t function on them. 

two woman sits on sofa chairs inside house
Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

I was lucky, as both drugs are extremely addictive, and I could have ended up hooked on pharms at age 19. Instead, they put me off all psychiatric meds, and I have not agreed to a psychiatric prescription since. That psychiatrist was also the first to offer me antidepressants, back in 1982, but the other drugs had already put me off, and I declined, as I have countless times over the years.  

It amazes me, even today, how quickly doctors offer people antidepressants. Go to your GP, tell them you’ve been feeling down, and see how quickly they offer you a prescription. No, don’t. I know they help some people, but I also know they harm others. Cannabis is a lot safer, and can be much more effective. 

In 1981, I tried cannabis for the first time. I was still seeing the first guy, the psychologist. I remember talking to him about it, telling him how good it made me feel. He was never judgemental, he just told me not to get caught. Excellent advice!

I didn’t know it at the time, I didn’t understand it at the time, I didn’t even have the vocabulary to express it at the time, but I was self medicating with cannabis before I even knew it was a thing. All I knew was that if I smoked it daily, I felt normal. I could function. So that’s what I did, that’s what I have done, and that’s what I still do today. Back then, I worked full time, and went to college full time, at the same time, all while smoking weed to cope. All I can say is it worked for me, and still does. 

I hadn’t thought about my early mental health history, in a very long time, but when I was dealing with the medicinal cannabis clinic, I went there. I had to.  Turns out it is a key part of telling this story, of my experience in trying to access medical cannabis treatment. And that story is not done yet.

I decided to try to access my medical records from the early 80s in America. 

I remembered the name of the second shrink, the psychiatrist who prescribed the two medications in late 1981. That’s nearly 40 years ago, what were the chances the doctor was still practising? And would he still have my files? I was about to find out. 

I googled his name, and the name of the town where he practised. And I found him, and his phone number, and even a photo. I recognised him, though obviously he was a whole lot older. 

I had no idea what I was going to say to his receptionist. “Hi, I was a patient 40 years ago, and I am trying to access medicinal cannabis in the backwards United Kingdom. They need proof I was prescribed a couple of drugs that were useless back in the day. Can you help?” At least they would be accustom to a bit of insanity in a shrink’s office. It definitely felt insane. 

End of part 2

Part Three

happy birthday to you wall art
Photo by Andy Holmes on Unsplash

I dialled the psychologist’s phone number in New Jersey.  Immediately, I was greeted with a recording, telling me the number was no longer in service. 

My old psychiatrist must have retired, he would have been in his mid to late 70s. In that moment, getting my old records went from being incredibly unlikely to definitely impossible.

My absolutely last chance, according to the patient coordinator at the clinic, was a recommendation from my doctor. Having had it take weeks just to get a summary of my care, I was not optimistic at all, but I felt I had to try.

I booked another telephone appointment with my GP, the first of several in this round, to discuss it further with her. She did not feel comfortable recommending medicinal cannabis, though I explained to her repeatedly that what she was actually recommending me for was an assessment, from someone whose speciality is medical cannabis. 

I like my GP, a lot, but my experience in dealing with her regarding all of this, is precisely why Project Twenty21 is so vitally important. The NHS still has a lot to learn when it comes to medicinal cannabis. The stigma, and ignorance needs to be replaced with data, and facts. 

Finally, I sent my GP a letter. An abbreviated version is below. I’ve removed some personally identifying info, and some boring bits.

Dear Dr. – ,

It was good to speak to you yesterday, thank you for phoning. 

I didn’t feel like I put my case for a referral to you very well. As this is all complicated, and in a new area of medicine here in the UK, I thought it would be best to put it all in writing to clarify the situation.

I am trying to join Project Twenty21, which is run by Professor David Nutt’s organisation, Drug Science.

Project Twenty21 aims to register 20,000 medicinal cannabis patients within the next year, to gather more data on the effectiveness of cannabis for a wide range of conditions, including Generalised Anxiety Disorder, which is my diagnosis. 

As I have told you, I have used cannabis medicinally for nearly 40 years, and it has been remarkably, extremely beneficial to me for my entire adult life. The majority of patients accepted into the study have previously self medicated, so I am far from unique in that regard. To join Project Twenty21, I would be assessed by a specialist from the private clinic, and if deemed suitable, I would be prescribed a cannabis product precisely calibrated to my condition and needs.

At present, I source my medication via the black market, which means consistency and quality are often issues for me, and those would vanish, if I had a prescription for a medicinal product.

At this point, my only route to an assessment is a referral from you, I am not asking you to prescribe cannabis. All I am asking you to do is provide a referral to the clinic for an assessment by their specialist. It would be up to them to decide if I am suitable to join Project Twenty21 and receive a prescription. 

While I appreciate you may have some scepticism regarding medicinal cannabis, I can assure you from decades of personal experience and research, that it is extremely effective, which is why the laws have finally changed in the UK. Rather than try to convince you myself, you should look into Dr. Raphael Mechoulam, one of the world’s leading experts on medicinal cannabis. He is an amazing and fascinating man. I hope you will read this article, I think you would enjoy it.

For me, this isn’t about getting high, I can do that now. This is about treating my anxiety (and depression, though that is not part of the study yet). It’s about finding the exact right balance of THC, CBD, CBN and terpenes, and being able to reliably ingest the correct dose daily. It’s also about harm reduction, as the prescribed products will be of pharmaceutical quality. And as this is a private prescription, via a private clinic, it will actually be more costly to me than the black market initially, but my health and well being are worth it to me, which is why I am trying so hard to make this very beneficial life change now.

In my conversations with the patient coordinator at the clinic, they have all but told me I am exactly the sort of patient they wish to study in Project Twenty21. All that is holding me back is bureaucracy. I understand the NHS is behind the curve when it comes to medicinal cannabis, and that is what Project Twenty21 is trying to address, by amassing a wealth of patient data as quickly as possible. I very much want to be a part of this study,  so I can help bring the NHS into the 21st century on cannabis. It can help many more people, it’s not expensive, and it is extremely safe. And the UK is already the world’s largest producer/exporter of medicinal cannabis. It is quite frankly shameful that it is not in wider use domestically. 

As of this writing there are only 2 patients in the United Kingdom with prescriptions for cannabis provided by the NHS. Both had to fight hard to receive them. At present there are around 2,000 patients receiving cannabis privately in the UK, I very much wish to join them. This is all still fairly new ground to navigate, so I totally appreciate your position and situation. 

If you’re interested, here is a summary of the state of UK medicinal cannabis, from the industry itself.

I have tried to lay out my case for a referral as clearly as possible, and with as much detail as possible. I already know cannabis helps me. I know that a prescription would allow me access to proper products, manufactured to a consistent pharmaceutical standard, and it would eliminate all of the biggest risks of my present cannabis use.

You mentioned you wished to discuss this matter with your colleagues, I hope this letter reaches you before you do. Please feel free to share the contents with them. 

I spoke to my GP again the following week, and she agreed to add this single line to my summary of care: “In view of all of the above, I am happy for (him) to be assessed by the medicinal cannabis clinic”.  That was it, that was exactly what the the patient advisor at the clinic said I needed.

I submitted the updated summary of care to the clinic. For the second time, I thought I had met the requirements set out for me. Only this time, for sure!

End of Part Three

Part Four

green kush with black container
Photo by Ndispensable on Unsplash

The astute amongst you may have already deduced where this story is going. You won’t be disappointed. Unlike me. I was very disappointed. Still am.

The clinic said no, again. The patient advisor gave me very bad advice. Again. 

A doctor’s referral is of no use without proof that you tried two licensed medications. Where have I heard this before? I tried two licensed medications, Xanax, and Valium, and they were not effective in managing my long term condition. What I lack is a piece of paper from 40 years ago confirming this in writing.

I appreciate my situation is unique, and unusual. I have lived in London for 30 years, and this is the first time I have felt penalised for growing up in America. 

When I moved to London in 1991, I was 28 years old. It never occurred to me to get my doctor’s notes from my GP, never mind a shrink I had seen 10 years before that. It never crossed my mind, I was young, and reasonably healthy back then. No GP here ever asked for my American medical records. It never came up. How was I supposed to know something I never thought about would come back to bite me in the ass when I least expected it?

Clearly the rules to access medicinal cannabis in the U.K. are arbitrary. Why not three ineffective drugs? Why not one? Why any at all? Cannabis is hardly an experimental treatment for anything. Why do there have to be any barriers to access it in this system, if all the barriers do is prevent you from even speaking to a clinician?

I wasn’t refused a prescription after a considered consultation with a doctor specialising in cannabis. I was refused the chance to even discuss the possibility, because of these arbitrarily constructed rules. I never spoke to a doctor. And it looks like as of now, I never will.

Let me put it another way. Because I can’t prove I that I really tried two pharmaceutical medications that were ineffective, I am not being allowed to speak to a specialist doctor about a safer medication, that I already use, and  know from 40 years of continuous use, is extremely safe and effective. That’s just crazynutsykookoo.

Like I said in the letter to my GP, this isn’t about getting high. I can do that now. This is about accessing an appropriate treatment, that I already know is 100% effective, in the safest way possible. 

I was given really bad advice. The clinic’s patient advisor advised me poorly. Maybe she was inexperienced, or badly trained. Perhaps they work on commission? I have no idea, but I would like to think that it was simply her enthusiasm to help me, that resulted in me being twice misled. 

I ended up wasting not only my own time, but my GP’s time as well. I even apologised to my GP, when I had to speak to her about an unrelated matter recently. She was gracious about it, but I doubt it left her with a good impression of the our domestic medicinal cannabis industry. And that’s a shame. The sooner the NHS backs medicinal cannabis, the better for everyone. 

If the clinic had said straight up, your records are abroad, and you don’t have them, so you don’t have a chance, you wouldn’t be reading this now. My expectation was to be turned away, and I would have accepted it then without question. 

Instead, the clinic gave me hope, twice, and then snatched that hope away. I was really looking forward to trying what is available legally. I was really looking forward to seeing what a specialist would recommend. 

Though I had a bad experience, I still 100% support anything that helps people, and decriminalises them too. One legal cannabis patient in the U.K., or one million, or ten million, it is all positive progress in the right direction. 

Just because I got burned by a weirdly arbitrary system, doesn’t mean thousands of other people aren’t being helped every day. They are, and I can still be happy for them.

I could try to game the system. With my mental health history, it would not be difficult to get my GP to prescribe me a couple of drugs for anxiety. Heck, I thought about asking her to prescribe me one Valium tablet, and one Xanax tablet, just to prove a point. Yep, took ‘em, and they still don’t work. But no, that’s not me, that’s not how I roll. 

I approached this, as I approach everything, with total honesty and transparency. I don’t think the clinic thought I was lying, the point for them was if they were audited by their regulators, it could leave them exposed. The industry here is still very new, they don’t want to give anyone the slightest excuse to question anything. I understand that. I understand their caution, that’s why this was literally the first question I asked the patient advisor. I anticipated this, and was repeatedly assured it was not an issue. Turned out to be the only issue.

My own reality hasn’t changed. I still self medicate, I’m still an outlaw patient. That won’t change, much as I would prefer to be legal. I am dependant on cannabis, the same way someone with diabetes is dependant on insulin. And I take far worse drugs for other chronic conditions. Hey ho.

The system is entirely too restrictive, anyone should be able to have a private consultation with a cannabis specialist, if they, the patient, believe they would benefit from a private prescription. Wouldn’t that just be considered, sensible compassion?

You can buy aspirin over the counter. Aspirin is more dangerous than cannabis. People sometimes die from taking aspirin. No one has ever died from taking cannabis. Almost everything is more dangerous than cannabis. Cannabis is safe and effective, I know this from decades of Personal Use. There is no reason why cannabis shouldn’t be a first choice treatment for many conditions. 

And on the off-chance that someone from one of the many cannabis clinics in the U.K. happens to read this, might you be so bold as to offer me a consultation? I have been as transparent, and honest here, as I would be in real life. Though my first experience was less than satisfactory, I still have an open mind regarding the future. Can you restore my faith in this system?

I hope you enjoyed my sorry tale of medicinal cannabis woe. I think the system will improve in the future, and become less restrictive. My own personal anecdotal evidence is all well and good, but when Project Twenty21 has 20,000 detailed case studies, no one will be able to ignore the evidence any longer. Here’s hoping that day arrives soon.

Doug

the northlondonhippy

@nthlondonhippy

After a 30 year career as a journalist, working for some of the largest news organisations in the world, including Associated Press, and Reuters, and 15 years as an overnight duty news editor for BBC News, Doug – the northlondonhippy is now a full time writer, hippy, and drug law reform campaigner. 

Doug is also the author of “Personal Use by the northlondonhippy.”  “Personal Use” chronicles Doug’s first 35 years of drug use, while calling for urgent drug law reform. It’s a cracking read, you will laugh, you will cry, and you can bet your ass that you will wish you were a hippy too!

Doug’s next book, “High Hopes” should have been published by now, but it is hard to write a book about remaining optimistic in the face of adversity, during a global pandemic. Try it yourself!

For the last year, Doug has spent most of his time hiding away from a killer virus. Bet many of you have too. 

You can find Doug –  the northlondonhippy on Twitter: @nthlondonhippy

I was a background artist on the BBC’s Ten O’clock News

(Photo taken Sept 2012, on my first NBH nightshift)

I have worked in the media for the past 35 years, the last 30 as a journalist. But the role I am most proud of, is my work from 2013 to 2019, as a background artist on the BBC’s Ten O’Clock News.

I didn’t start out at the BBC as a human prop in the background of the network news. From 2004, I worked there as a senior broadcast journalist too.  

(TVC at dawn)

When the network news teams moved from Television Centre, into New Broadcasting House, in the spring of 2013, I got to make my on-air debut as a background artist. We don’t like to be called extras. Using that word only diminishes us. 

There’s a good chance you might have spotted me during one of my many recurring appearances. I played “journalist rushing between desks”, a role I put my very heart and soul into, night after night.

I joined the BBC less than a year after I left Associated Press Television News. I worked at AP for around a decade, as a field producer, cameraman and news desk editor. 

When I left AP, I had only one career goal, to work for BBC News. I eventually wangled an introduction via an old friend to the right person and started freelancing in the Spring of 2004. I got my first contract in the autumn of that year and was a member of staff until earlier this year, when I left their employ. 

BBC News initially hired me as a World Duty Editor, working on the foreign desk, and I started out on the nightshift. Fifteen years later, I was still only working nights, and still working in effectively the same job. That’s half of my thirty year career as a journalist. Go me.

It wasn’t easy, joining the BBC later in life. There was so much jargon and BBC-speak, that I felt lost for the first 6 months I was there. And it is just so big. There was a lot to learn to do my new job. I was lucky that a couple of people, and one in particular, helped me get up to speed in those early days. Otherwise I would never have lasted long enough to become a background artist, when the time finally came to have that very small, yet vital on-air role. 

(That’s BBC News foreground artist/newsreader Huw Edwards on-set, with background artists/journalists behind him)

If you’ve watched BBC News on TV in the last 7 years, you no doubt noticed that behind the main set where Huw Edwards sits, is the actual BBC newsroom. That’s where I worked, that’s where I sat. If you think the CCTV surveillance is bad where you work, imagine having it broadcast to millions of people, night after night, in high definition. 

When we first went live from NBH, everyone was extremely uptight about what those of us in the background might do. Journalists are notoriously unpredictable, just ask any politician. 

We were discouraged from standing up and we were told not to wear bright colours. On one of the early broadcasts, someone had a hi-vis vest on, as they were preparing to depart and cycle home in the dark. It stood out, like hi-vis yellow is meant to do. But it was noticed by management, and hi-vis clothing was quickly banned from our shop floor. I think it still is to this very day. I hope that’s not a trade secret!

For the first couple of weeks, a squad of spotters patrolled the newsroom floor during BBC One network news broadcasts. They were in direct contact via radio headsets, with managers watching screens in the gallery. It was the spotter’s job was to quickly rush over on command from the gallery, to point out when people violated the rules of behaviour in the background. Mainly they just barked at us to “get down”. A lot. It was weird. I bet they had experience working as baby wranglers on a nappy advert before this gig.

As I mentioned, I only worked nights, and the Ten O’Clock news went out within the first 90 minutes of my arrival. In that time, I really would be rushing around, trying to speak to people who had been on all day, asking them questions, about what happened while I slept. Once they went home, that was it, I was on my own, so it was always good to get as much info as possible from them.

I had an actual, operational need to be in constant motion. So my character, “journalist rushing between desks” had motivation and a rich and complex backstory. I hope you agree it allowed my performance to be more multilayered, nuanced, and convincing.

The patrolling spotters didn’t like me, or care at all, why I had to move around during the news. I was yelled at more than once, to “get down”. It was about as much fun as it sounds. 

When they told me to “get down” I had to constantly resist the huge urge to jump up on the desk and shout “gimme a beat!” and then do my best choreography.  But then I would remember I was a short, fat, bald, middle-aged guy, with zero dancing skill. It was always a crushing blow. 

What was worse, is for maybe the first 6 months of being in the new building, my colleagues were constantly telling me they spotted me on TV during the news. 

It was always the same. My shift would finish around 7am, I would pass someone on the spiral stairs, or near the revolving doors, or outside on the piazza, and they would say, “I saw you on TV last night”. Or “you sure looked busy buzzing around behind Huw”.  Or my personal favourite, “you looked like you were in a hurry last night.” Of course I bloody was! I was “journalist rushing between desks”!

As nice as it was to be complimented by my peers for my convincing performance, in truth I would have preferred to have never been spotted. I never asked to be a background artist. I was happy enough, just doing my real job as an overnight, duty news editor. 

My specialty at BBC News, if I can call it that, was breaking news. When something unexpected or unforeseen occurred in the middle of the night, that was when I got to shine. Earthquakes, plane crashes, any disaster really. And high profile deaths too. Good news never happens in the dead of night. Only bad.

In my job as a duty news editor, I was responsible for organising the BBC’s initial response to big, breaking news and I’ve dealt with a huge range of stories, from the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami in Asia, to the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 and many, many more. If you watched any TV news in the last 30 years, there’s pretty good chance you saw something I had a hand in covering. That’s not a boast, it’s just a fact. 

And even though I’ve lost track and count of the number of major and minor events I have covered in the last 30 years, they have had an accumulated effect on me. How could they not? Professional detachment can only get you so far. 

I still find it hard to let go of the enormity and horror of Grenfell, and I still have the occasional nightmare about it. And it still hurts many years later, to think about friends I’ve lost in the line of duty. There is a personal cost to my former line of work, and everyone ends up paying for it, eventually. 

After a period of ill health last year, and my subsequent recovery, I decided to leave the BBC. It wasn’t an easy decision, but I know it is time for me to move on. I’m a full-time hippy now, something I have secretly wanted to be for a very long time. 

I will cherish my time at BBC News, and as a journalist. It was great place to work, full of smart, dedicated, hard-working people.  And even though new challenges and adventures hopefully await me, I know I will miss that very special time when I was a background artist on the BBC Ten O’Clock News. 

I understand they have had to recast my role. It wouldn’t be the BBC News without someone portraying “journalist rushing between desks”. I wish my replacements nothing but success and all the best, as I do to all my former colleagues. I will miss you all.

Doug – the northlondonhippy

4th March 2020

(That was me, 15 years ago)

After a 30 year career as a journalist, working for some of the largest news organisations in the world, including Associated Press and Reuters, and 15 years as a duty news editor for BBC News, Doug – the northlondonhippy is now a full time writer, hippy, and the United Kingdom’s very first cannabis evangelist. Hallelujah and amen to that!

Doug is also the author of “Personal Use by the northlondonhippy.”   “Personal Use” chronicles Doug’s first 35 years of drug use, while calling for urgent drug law reform. It’s a cracking read, you will laugh, you will cry, and you can bet your ass that you will wish you were a hippy too!

“Personal Use” is available as a digital download on all platforms, including Amazon’s Kindle, Apple’s iBooks and Barnes & Noble’s Nook.  The paperback is available from all online retailers and book shops everywhere. 

You can also find Doug –  the northlondonhippy on Twitter: @nthlondonhippy but only if you look really hard

Personal Use – Book Montage

Copyright: All words and photos are copyright the northlondonhippy…

except the screen-grab of BBC News, which is used fairly without permission, but with affection. 

Another countdown

[wpcdt-countdown id=”714″]

Sixteen years ago, on the 4th of March 2004, I posted my first ever entry on the original northlondonhippy Blogspot blog. It was a long, rambling piece, introducing myself. It didn’t get seen by many people, but it kickstarted this thing that I am somehow, still doing. Sixteen years later, I am still pretending to be a make-believe hippy online. The pretending ends, next week.

On 4th March 2020, exactly sixteen years to the very day, I will be publishing a piece online that pretty much identifies me. It’s an extract from my forthcoming book, “High Hopes”, which is the follow up to my first book, “Personal Use”.

Personal Use

If you know me in real life, then you will learn I am the hippy. And if you know me online, then you will find out who I really am. Everybody’s finding out something, even me. I’m going to find out if I can really be a full time hippy.

I’m ready to start working again, so once this piece goes live, you can hire a hippy. Details will be available here on my website of what I can do for you, and your media organisation. Yes, you can hire a hippy. Everyone should have one on retainer, because you never know when one will come in handy. I’m a handy hippy, and I represent real value for money. Ask me about my loyalty scheme and hippy reward card.

While I am still expecting a collective “so what” from the wider world to my public revelation, should there be any media interest, I will be available to any and all media organisations that might wish to speak to me. Don’t all queue up at once! 

Doesn’t matter how big or small your outlet might be. For the first fortnight after publication, I will say yes to any legitimate requests that I can physically do, in person, on the phone, or via Skype. But check this, as it is really important. After the two weeks are up, I won’t agree to just anything, and will only say yes to things that meet my new criteria for life.

What’s my new criteria for life? Simple, I will only turn up if I can have some fun, or do some good. No good? No fun? Then no hippy. No joke.

From now on, I will be writing and campaigning full time. This is what I do now. I will have more to say on this, once my piece goes live, but I will remain open to any and all opportunities. If I do this right, you will all be sick of me in no time. Maximum effort for maximum exposure. 

I will also be offering all media organisations in Britain free training for their journalists with my new course called “Covering cannabis accurately in the age of legalisation”. Having spent the better part of three decades in British newsrooms, I can tell you that the general standard of cannabis knowledge is extremely low and woefully inaccurate. I aim to change that. I’m not going to teach any controversy, as the great British press manufacture plenty on their own. I will teach facts, science, and history, and I will give them an introduction into what a legal, regulated market looks like.

The UK is way behind the rest of the world when it comes to cannabis, and I don’t want to see us be the last country on earth to sort this out. If we really want to unleash the true power of global Britain, then the legal cannabis industry needs to be a part of it, for us to reach our true potential. Why do you think so many other territories are jumping on the cannabis bandwagon?

You might have noticed the countdown clock near the top of this page. When it hits zero, at midnight on Weds 4th March 2020, my new piece will go live online, here on my site. You don’t need to stay awake to read it, it will still be there in the morning, when you wake up. And so will I. And you all will know a lot more about me than I ever expected to tell anyone. Things change, I changed too. Wish me luck, I am going to need it. And I apologise in advance for the disappointment.

Hippy Highlights

While you wait, you can check out some of my recent output on this list of hippy highlights:

Dangerous tea!

REVEALED: The Shocking Link Between Tea and EVERYTHING BAD! – If you only read one thing on this page, read this one. It’s one of my most popular recent pieces. 

The night Princess Diana died (Extract from “Personal Use”) – I didn’t kill her, I only felt like I did

Surviving the Climate Apocalypse – Great news, you can survive the end of the world, if you are rich enough

Politi-hippy 3 – The death of Polti-hippy – There is a part one, and a part two, but this is the best part.

A Question of Character – Or lack of it, in the case of our current Prime Minister. 

Branding Jo Swinson’s Liberal Democrats – They made some mistakes, and paid for them on election day

Hating String Beans – They are now my favourite vegetable, but that’s not really what this is about

The Personal Risk of “Personal Use” – After my appearance on LBC, I wrote about being interviewed by James O’Brien

Why I Suck at Twitter – You should still follow me anyway

I Live in a Dry Country – I mean the UK, because weed is still pointlessly illegal

The northlondonhippy is an author, cannabis evangelist and recreational drug user, who has been writing about drugs and drug use for 16 years.  In real life, until recently, the hippy was a senior multimedia journalist working for a large company. With over 30 years experience of working in broadcast news, the hippy’s now left journalism to embark on a career as a full time hippy. 

The hippy’s book, ‘Personal Use’ details his first 35 years of drug use, while calling for urgent drug law reform. It’s a cracking read, you will laugh, you will cry and you can bet your ass that you will wish you were a hippy too!

“Personal Use” is available as a digital download on all platforms, including Amazon’s Kindle, Apple’s iBooks and Barnes & Noble’s Nook. The paperback is available from all online retailers and book shops everywhere. 

The hippy’s next book, “High Hopes” will be published in autumn 2020.

You can also find the hippy on Twitter: @nthlondonhippy but only if you look really hard.


I’m a full time hippy now

It might not seem like it, just yet, but I am now a full time hippy. Yay! The countdown clock has ticked down and for the first time in a decade and a half, I am now unemployed.

I spent the last 30 years working as a journalist, mixed media really, but mostly TV news. The last 15 years was for the same company. It’s one you’ve heard of. but I’m not revealing it, yet. I’m not revealing much of anything, now. I’m still waiting for my final pay cheque. Once that’s banked, then I can pull back the curtain. I’m crazy, but I’m not stupid. 

I will be publishing a piece in the next couple of weeks, which reveals my identity. Somewhat.

Spoiler alert: You will get my first name, and you will find out where I used to work. I’m still a nobody, my name won’t make a difference. I will still be the northlondonhippy, but I want to claim my real-life identity publicly, anyway. I have wanted to do this for a long time. 

There will be a companion piece, which lays out my goals in my new role as the UK first self-proclaimed, cannabis evangelist. It’s not a crowded field, but I still want to make my mark. Hallelujah and amen to that!

Now that I have the freedom to operate a bit more openly, I want to spend the next  few weeks getting some advice, I want to contact some people I admire who fight to reform our drug laws, plus some campaigners in other fields, and some media folk too. I want whatever I end up doing to have some impact. 

Personal Use – Book Montage

When I wrote and published “Personal Use”, I had no expectations. It was a fun, secret side project. I used to joke if I sold a million copies, I would quit my job and be a full time hippy. I haven’t sold a million, not even close, yet here I am.

So while you wait for me to do whatever it is I am going to do, here’s a selection of 10 hippy highlights to keep you entertained:

REVEALED: The Shocking Link Between Tea and EVERYTHING BAD! – If you only read one thing on this page, read this one. It’s one of my most popular recent pieces.

The night Princess Diana died (Extract from “Personal Use”) – I didn’t kill her, I only felt like I did

Surviving the Climate Apocalypse – Great news, you can survive the end of the world, if you are rich enough

Politi-hippy 3 – The death of Polti-hippy – There is a part one, and a part two, but this is the best part.

A Question of Character – Or lack of it, in the case of our current Prime Minister.

Branding Jo Swinson’s Liberal Democrats – They made some mistakes, and paid for them on election day

Hating String Beans – They are now my favourite vegetable, but that’s not really what this is about

The Personal Risk of “Personal Use” – After my appearance on LBC, I wrote about being interviewed by James O’Brien

Why I Suck at Twitter – You should still follow me anyway

I Live in a Dry Country – I mean the UK, because weed is still pointlessly illegal

The northlondonhippy is an anonymous author, cannabis evangelist and recreational drug user, who has been writing about drugs and drug use for over 15 years.  In real life, the hippy was a senior multimedia journalist until Feb 2020. With over 30 years experience of working in broadcast news, the hippy’s now left journalism to embark on a career as a full time hippy, writer and cannabis evangelist.

The hippy’s book, ‘Personal Use’ details the hippy’s first 35 years of recreational drug taking, while calling for urgent drug law reform. It’s a cracking read, you will laugh, you will cry and you can bet your ass that you will wish you were a hippy too!

“Personal Use” is available as a digital download on all platforms, including Amazon’s Kindle, Apple’s iBooks and Barnes & Noble’s Nook. The paperback is available from all online retailers and book shops everywhere. 

The hippy says his next book, “High Hopes” will be published in 2020. The hippy says a lot of things.  

You can also find the northlondonhippy on Twitter: @nthlondonhippy but only if you look really hard.

Hating String Beans

String Beans Photo by Sonja Langford on Unsplash

The first time I ever saw a string bean, I was 13 years old. I was dining with my family in a small, local restaurant, when a plate containing string beans arrived at our table. 

When I say string beans, I mean long, thin, immature runner beans, you may call them something else, fine beans, green beans, you might even call them haricot vert. I’d never seen them before, because my father absolutely detested them and they were banned from my childhood home.

I don’t think I can overstate just how much my father hated string beans. He hated them with the sort of passion usually reserved for ex-wives, rival sports teams and politicians. He despised them, hard. 

So when his steak arrived at the table and he gruffly ordered the server to return it to the kitchen to have the ‘green vegetable’ scraped from his plate, I didn’t understand, because I didn’t know what string beans even looked like. It wasn’t until my mother explained that I realised it was the aforementioned and disgustingly offensive, string beans. My parents had a good laugh at my ignorance, even though they were the direct cause of it.

I tried to understand why my father, a grown man, could find a vegetable so repulsive. He eventually explained that when he was in the army, he was forced to eat them on a regular basis. A tinned, tasteless, mushy version of them was slapped onto his mess tray, day after day after day. He said he made a promise to himself, that once he was out of the military, he would never, ever eat or even look at another string bean for the rest of his life.

Because of my father’s hatred of the dreaded string bean, that was my only encounter with them, that fleeting glance, before I reached adulthood. I hated string beans by proxy. My dad would eat almost anything, he ate pickled pigs knuckles, for God’s sake! If he didn’t like string beans, they must be foul and disgusting. It was the only sensible conclusion and I accepted it as gospel and never questioned it. It was the gospel of vegetables according to my sainted father.

Flash forward to years later, and I am a guest at a friend’s home for Sunday lunch. We sit down for the meal, and guess what was on my plate? That’s right, the evil green beans, which I hated only by reputation. 

As an adult, I had a more open mind, and I had worked out that my parents weren’t always right, so I decided in that instant, to taste the string beans.

I loved them. They were crisp, flavourful and delicious. I took another forkful and savoured them. These are good, I thought. These are really good. And I spent my whole life until that point, avoiding them, because of my father’s insane dislike of string beans. String beans are now one of my favourite vegetables, lightly steamed with a little butter, salt and pepper. Yum! 

Bud Photo by Get Budding on Unsplash

There’s another vegetable with a bad reputation that is also undeserved: The  Devil’s Lettuce. How’s that for a segue? This was always really about cannabis. Everything for me is always about cannabis.

Chances are, if you are anti-cannabis, you are hating it by proxy. You have learned to hate cannabis by channelling the hatred of others and have no first hand experience of it yourself. Lucky guess?

More likely, you have been force fed anti-cannabis propaganda your entire life. But unless you’ve experienced it for yourself, tried it yourself, you won’t really know the truth.

Perhaps I am wrong and someone you respect, someone with authority on the subject, has told you the truth, that cannabis is extremely beneficial for a variety of reasons. And if that is not true, let it be true from this point onwards. You just need to respect my authority on the subject, because I have been a daily cannabis consumer for nearly 40 years, a journalist for 30 years and I am the author of the book, “Personal Use”. This is exactly what I am telling you, that cannabis is good.

You have been lied to repeatedly, for your entire life, about cannabis. We all have, and the lies continue to dominate any discussion about weed. The only difference, is now it is easier to call out these lies, because some more sensible governments have taken steps to change their laws. We know with certainty that cannabis decriminalisation and legalisation improve things, and more importantly, doesn’t make anything else worse. It’s a win-win. Yes, yes.

I didn’t know how good string beans were until I tried them for myself. It seems obvious on the surface, but I was indoctrinated from an early age to hate the little green wonders.

We’ve all been indoctrinated to hate cannabis, to fear it, to expect the worst of it, and none of it is true. Cannabis is analogous to coffee, a mild drug that can be consumed safely on a regular basis. That said, you can die from caffeine poisoning, but you would need to consume an amount equivalent to your body weight in weed to do the same. And even then, it would probably be easier to just drop it upon your head from a great height to kill you.

Cannabis is safer than aspirin. I say that a lot, but for only one reason. It’s true. Yet no one complains if you self administer an aspirin, but self administer some cannabis…Oh wait, you can’t, because it is not legal for very much right now. 

One of the many mistakes made in pursuing medical cannabis in the UK, was insisting it be on prescription. I prefer the California model, of therapeutic use with a doctor’s recommendation. Or without a doctor’s recommendation, I’m easy. You wouldn’t need a doctor to recommend taking aspirin, would you? So why would you need one for self-administering cannabis?

Some campaigners have tried desperately to exaggerate the harm cannabis can cause, trying to offer legal, medicinal cannabis as the solution. The only harm actually caused, has been by this mendacious stance and it has set the legalisation movement back. 

Cannabis is cannabis, medical cannabis and recreational cannabis, are both the same cannabis. And if you grow your own, at home, that is cannabis too.

You will get no argument from me regarding the quality of some black market cannabis vs cannabis cultivated in a legal environment. I would much prefer something that has been safely grown, tested and certified as being good. I’d also be willing to pay tax on it. But please don’t lie and try to tell us that there is a genetic difference between the two. 

Weed is weed, there’s good quality weed and there is shitty weed. Not all legal weed is good quality, and not all black market cannabis is shitty…but you’re more likely to get excellent weed in a legal environment and more likely to get crappy weed on the black market. It’s just simple economics and good old capitalism.

For most people, legal weed in the UK wouldn’t make much difference. The estimated 5 million people who consume cannabis regularly, would continue to do so, only without fear of arrest. And higher quality products would be available to adults. The rest of the people, those who don’t consume cannabis, are unlikely to start or notice much of a difference in their lives. 

Certainly, that won’t be universal, some people will experiment, and of those who do, some may enjoy it or find it beneficial to their health and continue to consume it, but the number won’t rise significantly. How do I know that? I know it because that is what has happened in places where it has already been legalised. 

And this will blow your minds, the demographic that comes around to legal cannabis the most, is older folks, in my age group, 40s, 50s and 60s. (My age is somewhere in the middle of that, so I am ahead of the curve.)

We already have a large cannabis market in the UK, but it is untaxed and unregulated. There is an existing customer base as well, who would be thrilled to see this black market legitimised and legalised. This isn’t about creating a new market, it is about improving our existing one and bringing it into the light. We have nothing to fear from this conversion and everything to gain.

I will let you in on a secret. I already smoke good weed, and enjoy quality edibles, some even home made. But I’m not doing this just for me. I’m doing this for you. You deserve to know how good cannabis is, you deserve to discover for yourself, how beneficial it can be.

Let me put it another way, I am a dual national. I don’t make much of it, but I am, British and American. I could sell up, move to Colorado, or California, tomorrow, if all I wanted was to smoke cannabis legally. 

I want more than to just consume cannabis legally. I want the country I’ve lived in for more than half my life, to benefit from a legal, regulated cannabis market. London is my home, I want to give something back to the city and nation that has given me so much. I could easily jump ship, and save myself, but I don’t want to do that. I want to see the laws changed here, for the good of everyone. That’s all I’ve ever wanted, but I am planning on trying a whole lot harder in the near future. This is my calling, like a vocation, just a really cool one. I want to make it my life. 

Don’t let cannabis be your string beans. Don’t hate it because others hate it. If you want to find out for yourself what the fuss is all about, go for it. If you don’t like it after trying it, that’s cool. But if you do like it, that’s even cooler. And if you don’t want to try it, that’s cool too. All I ask is that you please kindly be supportive of the millions of us who do dig it. And please educate yourselves, learn how to spot the lies. I promise to do what I can to help with that. 

The northlondonhippy is an anonymous author, online cannabis activist and recreational drug user, who has been writing about drugs and drug use for over 15 years.  In real life, the hippy is a senior multimedia journalist with over 30 years experience of working in news.

The hippy’s book, ‘Personal Use’ details the hippy’s first 35 years of recreational drug taking, while calling for urgent drug law reform. It’s a cracking read, you will laugh, you will cry and you can bet your ass that you will wish you were a hippy too!

“Personal Use” is available as a digital download on all platforms, including Amazon’s Kindle, Apple’s iBooks and Barnes & Noble’s Nook. The paperback is available from all online retailers and book shops everywhere. 

You can also find the northlondonhippy on Twitter: @nthlondonhippy

A busy hippy

Not an actual photo of me

You might have noticed in the last few weeks, I’ve been more productive than usual.

I’ve been a busy hippy. 

I’ve had some free time, so I decided to solve some big issues.

For instance, I highlighted the truth about cannabis. Don’t blame weed, it is tea drinking that is the real cause of everything bad.

Want to survive the Climate Apocalypse? I figured out how it can be done. First, you need to be super rich.

I had a free hour, so I solved Brexit. It’s not pretty, but it gets the job done. You can thank me later.

I shared my memories of the first moon landing. I was 6 and a half when it happened, but I still came up with a few obscure details.

I wrote to Grandma Hippy about living in a dry country. She is imaginary, and she lives in Colorado. She digs edibles. I do too.

I received my first 12 hour Twitter ban. I tried to fight the power, but the power of stupid prevailed.

And, my fellow earthlings, I tried to convince everyone that we are all Citizens of Everywhere. It’s our only hope.

There’s not a lot to be optimistic about these days, but we can all distract ourselves from the mess we’re in. My distraction, ironically, is hope. Don’t lose hope, we can all help make things a little less miserable. This is my attempt to do just that.