Cannabis report: 'There are a huge number of professional people who use cannabis'

Speaking anonymously, two people who enjoy marijuana say it should be taken out of the hands of violent crime gangs

Bob (not his real name) says the conversation in the US, Canada, and some European countries is moving beyond the simplistic idea that 'drugs are bad'. Picture: iStock

As a successful businessman in his 50s, Bob [not his real name] does not fit the typical profile associated with drug use.

But he is a regular user of cannabis — to help him relax, to relieve arthritis-related joint pain, and simply because he enjoys it.

And while Bob worries about being caught by gardaí, he believes his demographic profile helps him to escape detection.

He says: “It helps with arthritis related joint pain, I find it extremely effective for insomnia. As an adult with attention deficit disorder (ADD), it provides me with a way to relax, socially engage with others, slow down and be introspective. I also thoroughly enjoy it.”

Bob says ADD leads to him having some social anxiety issues, for which he finds “modest consumption of cannabis” very effective, allowing him to enjoy events. During his 30s, he was mainly abstinent from cannabis, and had a young family.

He explains: “I internalised some of the ‘drug war’ propaganda around harms and as I was also building up my business I was afraid of the impacts of being caught.

This article is part of a series in the 'Irish Examiner' — in print and online — outlining arguments for and against regulating cannabis as a medicine.  Click here to read the entire series.

“It was also during this time that issues with insomnia and anxiety became more acute for me. I was for a while prescribed sleep drugs for insomnia and SSRIs [selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors] to assist with anxiety/depression.

“I engaged in cognitive behavioural therapy and recognising that my cannabis use was a positive part of my life, I took it up again.”

Bob also found it very helpful at that point to be able to access information from the US where, he said, the medical market was already well established and the conversation had moved beyond the idea that “drugs are bad”.

He believes that, in the past, it was harder for cannabis to be detected when being smoked in social settings because of cigarettes. But he says the smoking ban made it difficult to cloak cannabis use in social settings.

He says: “These days I use a dry herb vaporiser when I’m out and wish to be discreet. I’ve been using it [cannabis] on and off since 1987.

“Most of my close friends know, and quite a few of them use cannabis whilst also being productive and happy members of society.”

But he says he does not tell people that are not close friends about his cannabis use because of fear of being detected, or being blackmailed about his usage.

“There are a huge number of professional people who use cannabis but keep very quiet about it due to the risks to one’s career and family life from the intrusion of gardaí into a personal matter.”

Cannabis cultivation is occasionally featured in a gardening programme on Canada's CBC Radio One. Stock picture

And so he is frustrated that there are no plans to legalise it here, and believes there is a “complete unwillingness of our elected representatives to engage in any discussions around policy reform” at present.

“Polling in recent years indicates that a majority support policy reform. 

"The Government are now significantly adrift from public opinion on this matter and are ignoring the ample evidence in favour of policy reform that is now coming in from countries that have embraced policy change with clear positive benefit to both individuals and society.” 

Legalisation worldwide

Bob has researched the global approach to cannabis use and says many countries are moving on with reform.

“Canada has been nationally legal since 2018. In the US, 19 states and Washington DC are now adult legal, 37 states have functional medical cannabis systems.”

In Europe, he points to Malta, where the parliament voted last December to legalise the cultivation and personal use of cannabis. Malta is the first European country to do so.

In Germany, cannabis legalisation is included in the programme for government, with the support of all three coalition partners. A draft bill is due later this year, after a consultation process takes place.

In Switzerland, patients no longer have to apply for a permit, and can now get medical cannabis with a prescription. Only products with high levels of CBD and less than 1% THC are permitted. The country is considering decriminalising it for recreational use, and is conducting a pilot scheme in Basel involving 400 people.

Bob says that, in South Africa and Mexico, legalisation has been passed “because personal drug laws were found to breach fundamental human rights”.

He continues: “Here in Ireland we are now two years waiting for a date for a citizens’ assembly. Progress is glacial and 16,000 people are arrested every year.”

In recent years, Bob has began growing cannabis for his own use, which he says is a “wonderful hobby and something that many people both in Ireland and in legal countries choose to do”.

He adds: “Growing gives you great control over the end result and also allows for repeatability which is desirable if one is using medicinally.

“In Canada, cannabis gardening gets covered from time to time on CBC Radio One’s gardening programme. 

Bob says that growing cannabis is the only way to opt out of a black market for the drug, which he says is run by “gangsters” in countries where cannabis is illegal, such as Ireland. He points out that the black market model is focused on making a profit, with no emphasis on quality control.

Unregulated, contaminated

“In recent years, the Irish black market has become very dangerous with many contaminated products. There are virtually no edible or vape products on the Irish market that are not contaminated with ‘spice’.”

He says there is no up-to-date Irish data on this because there is no systematic collecting of data or drug testing at festivals, for example. But he says data from other countries shows that lives are at risk because of contamination of edible and vape cannabis products.

An updated warning on the HSE website Drugs.ie from May 2021 highlighted synthetic cannabinoids as being an issue, and said they can present as e-liquids for use in e-cigarettes.

However, Bob says that none of his friends have suffered any health harm from cannabis use.

He also does not believe he has become addicted to the drug but acknowledges that some people do.

“When I take a break from cannabis consumption, the symptoms of things that I am normally using cannabis to mitigate return — sleep issues, joint pain, anxiety — but this is not ‘withdrawal’.” And he says: 

There are substantial problems in Ireland at the moment with young people accessing ‘spice’ and other synthetics — black markets don’t do age verification. 

Bob believes that alcohol-related harm to users and to society are much more significant than that cause by cannabis.

He points out that he has been employed since leaving college and has been a company director for the past 17 years of a company he co-founded.

“I serve as a voluntary board member of an arts organisation. I’m involved with my local community and do charity work,” he says.

“Unlike alcohol or my prescribed Z-drug [for sleep], cannabis has never affected my ability to get up in the morning or do my work effectively. I find the hangover I get from three pints of beer far more debilitating the next day than any reputed cannabis after-effects. 

"However, I do not mix cannabis with tobacco and I mainly vaporise rather than smoke.”

Both 'Bob' and 'Edwin' have used cannabis to ease symptoms from anxiety to post-surgery pain. But both also say they use it just because they enjoy it. Stock picture

As a regular user, Bob wants to see a change in Ireland’s approach to drug law, believing that gangland drug crime is a result of this country’s drug policies.

And he says the State’s policy has resulted in the smaller players being removed from the drugs trade in the past five decades, “leaving only the largest and most violent organised crime groups in charge of production and supply”.

“In other words, today’s violent, exploitative drug markets are as a direct result of prohibition. Until the State follows the evidence from elsewhere and embarks on policy reform, violent criminals will be in charge of ‘age verification’, production, quality control, and supply.”

Edwin [not his real name] also believes prohibition of cannabis is not fair. The 26-year-old first tried cannabis at 17 and became a regular user when he was around 19, when in second year of university. He underwent surgery a number of years ago which led to a lot of pain but he says that has much improved now.

If he does get those pains now, he uses cannabis to help him manage it and “forget about it and lie down or go to sleep for a while”.

But he says his main usage of cannabis is recreational. He says: “I have a regular dealer for three or four years. I don’t know where he is getting it from.”

His typical spend is around €140 every six to eight weeks and he admits to never thinking about the link between his habit and crime.

Edwin says: “I know crime is obviously in some aspect of it along the line but it does not come into my mind.” He believes the current prohibition of cannabis is unfair, and “promotes the whole crime thing”.

If it were grown by a farmer and sold in a shop, none of us would ever have to think about crime.

He believes drug users should not be blamed for the crimes associated with drugs and he also feels that drug driving laws are unfair.

“It has been proven that a person can test positive days or even up to a week after smoking a joint and you are not being affected by the cannabis but, in the eyes of the law, you can have your licence taken away from you.”

He adds: “When people are losing their licences and sometimes their livelihoods because of that, it is a flawed logic. I do a lot of cycling and I am always seeing people on their phones and texting. To me, that is a lot more dangerous than someone who smoked a joint a week ago.”

Edwin has come to terms with the possibility of getting caught for drug driving but he says that if he knows he will be using his car, he opts not to use cannabis for a few days beforehand. He has considered growing his own but never did so.

However, he says: “I have an interest in gardening as a whole, in vegetable and food growing. It is something I have read about, looked into and thought a lot about.”

No hangover

For Edwin, cannabis usage is enjoyable and he welcomes being able to wake up the morning after without a hangover, unlike alcohol.

“Within my social circle, people tend to drink a lot but I have never been a big drinker. I prefer to have one or two drinks but I am not really fond of getting drunk.” He typically uses cannabis at least five times a week and his parents are “relaxed” about his usage.

They found out because his mother guessed he was using drugs when he came home “stoned” regularly.

“I was honest and told them and they were pretty OK about it. My father actually uses cannabis from time to time as well. I think my mother accepts my cannabis use more than she does my father’s!”

But he says there is still a “huge stigma” around cannabis use and accepts that there are concerns around impacts of cannabis on mental health. However, he believes that in some cases, underlying mental health problems are exacerbated by drug use.

Edwin ponders whether minimum unit pricing for alcohol is responsible for pushing young people who cannot now afford alcohol to turn to illegal drugs instead, He says: “A random pill off a stranger in a nightclub for €8, or €20 of cannabis, will start to look more attractive as alcohol gets more expensive.”