No Half Measures: Why the CBD Industry should join the fight to re-legalise ALL cannabis.

NO HALF MEASURES

Why the CBD industry should join the fight to relegalise ALL cannabis.

By Simpa Carter

As Iamsurethe vast majority of you reading this will already be aware that cannabidiol (CBD) has exploded onto theUK market and into the collective consciousness of the British public in recent years. With thousands of online retailers, wholesalers, resellers, and whitelabel companies popping up likeweeds.

It is difficult to turn around and not trip overanother emerging brand seeking to capitalise on the continuing confusion around cannabis legislation and itsincredible medicinal, industrial, and spiritually enlightening properties and uses.

As with all wars,the first casualty is always the truth and the warondrugs is no exception. Nearly 50 yearsafter the commencement of the waron cannabis and the averageconsumer remains as ignorant and confused as ever.The truth thathas been so carefully hidden from the public is thatthereisnorealdifference between Hemp,Marijuana, skunk, cannabis etc.

They are after all the same plant,Cannabis Sativa L.The only real difference is in the compounds this sub-genus’produce. Through decades of selective breeding, cannabis was divided into these arbitrary distinctions. Hemp became the name for tall plants typically Sativa that have thick fibrous stalks and stems with greatly reduced levels of cannabinoids, flavonoids, and terpenes.

Whereas prohibition has lead to an increase of cannabinoids prominently THC in typically Indica strains that are being bred to be stronger and stronger –a direct consequence of prohibition and over half a century of no regulation or consideration for the other compounds or the effects it could have on the end consumer.

This division is alive and well today as increasingly we areseeing moreCBD companies proliferate lies and propaganda about THC in an attempt to keep the morepowerful cannabinoid from being made freely available to the public. This includes demonising THC, perpetuating the skunk myth, and declaring thattheir CBD is safeasits from Hemp and notfromthe dangerous demon plant cannabis,

This is afirm kick in the teethfor activists,patients, and consumers that today still face 14 years locked away in a cage with rapists,murders, and paedophiles for daring to try and provide themselves with aplant thathelps to improve their daily lives.

The white-washing and gentrifying of the cannabis scene and especially the CBD industryisnothing new. Cannabis culturehas been being co-optedfor decades by allowing

middle-class whitekids to freely consume while members of improvised and ethnic and minority communities still face extreme prejudiceand discrimination. This has led to a postcode lotteryinterms of whether you will be oppressed by the local constabularyfor taking autonomy of your healthcareand well being.

Aquick snapshotofthe British Cannabis industryshows that although CBD especially CBD derived from European hemp has gotten off to a good start,there is no doubt that it won’t outperform THC and whole plant products when the inevitable happens and cannabis is ubiquitously relegalised in the UK and across the world.

Whether the decision comes from in Westminsterorthe United Nations secretariatbuilding it is irrelevant as every single part of the cannabis plant will be globally relegalised. The full ubiquitous relegalisation of Cannabis is inevitable, it'sjustamatteroftime.

So if these companies had half of the integrity they claim to have then they would be funding campaigns and supporting activists and consumers to bring an end to ALL cannabis prohibition not actively prolonging it by perpetuating pernicious myths, lies, and propaganda about CBD and THC to ensure that their company/product remains relevant and profitable.

As an activist and consultant,I work intimately in the industry so I am well aware of the price of wholesale and component products and the cost of base materials so to see some of these companies charging triple the average price on a sub-par product disgusts me. We are now seeing CBD infused, well everything. Companies are adding the minimum amount of CBD possible to everyday products and charging a

fortune for it while missing the point of taking it altogether.

This seemingly ever-growing trend of adding CBD isolate to an ever-increasing array of weirder and weirder products doesn’t show any signs of slowing as in America, for example, you can now buy CBD infused pillowcases. “To aid in a restful nights sleep”To be honest you’d be far better off with some oxidised THC or CBN which is one of the mostsedatory cannabinoids but is unfortunately criminalised as it is psychoactive. So is coffee yet there’s a Starbucks and Costa in everycity in the country.

The UK CBD market is potentially in serious trouble as rival self-appointed governing bodies have been formed and arefighting fordominanceand

control of aminor market thatwill be dwarfed when cannabis is fully relegalised.

The CBD scene in the UK is being handicapped by ahandful of verywell connectedcurrent and former politicians, lobbyists,venture capitalists,actorvists and criminals. Whose main aims arethe complete and total domination and monopolisation of the entire regulatory authority.

If these elementsget their waythere will be no supplement market for cannabidiol at all. Only ahighly restrictive novel food source and pharmaceuticalised CBD market which will both deny access to compound thatwas helping to managetheir symptoms.

So excuse me if I feel its rather disingenuous of figures within the CBD industry when they speak about fair regulation and easy access while perpetuating damaging myths about THC in an attempt to corner the symptom management market.

Whereas we know that THC works to help treat the root causes of awide variety of conditions and illnesses. So if CBD isn’t going to be availablewithout extensive barriers to access why notjoin the rest of the cannabis activists and consumers in fighting for ubiquitous access to the whole plant

The impending sea change coming to the UK CBD industry could decimate the majority of companies that haven’t seen the writing on the wall and either revised their business model to be either pharmaceutical with a very limited amount of THC or afood source with 0.00% THC.

THC would be available on prescription alongside CBD but only “pharmaceutical grade”meaning that homegrown cannabis would still be deemed dangerous and addictive. That prescription, however, will be private as those very same elements that are seeking to monopolies and control the “medicinal cannabis”market are also the same ones carving up the corpse of the NHS to their US and Canadian paymasters.

Iimploreyou to take astand with us and defiantly break unjust and immoral laws. Raise your voicetoaroar and unite with your brothers and sisters in demanding an end to theantiquated, draconian, and fascistic waroncannabis consumers.

The entourage effect would be none existent in the food additive market as the THC limit is 0.00 forall novel food sources making them just that, a novelty.But do not panic because the sharks are circling come and join us, the activists on the front-line fighting every day to keep ourselves, our families, friends, and communities healthy and alive.

We have plenty of practice braving these dangerous waters. So please, I implore you to take astand with us and defiantly break unjust and immoral laws. Raise your voice to a roar and unite with your brothers and sisters in demanding an end to the antiquated, draconian, and fascistic war on cannabis consumers.

So should Cannabidiol be made illegal here again in the UK -other than 0.00% products for sport and food. Would you then join the activists whose tireless work and continued sacrifices laid the foundation for this industry -inthe trenches and on the front line to fight forthe liberation of the whole plant?

By Simpa.

Youcan followSimpa online at: SimpaActivist on Facebook and Instagram.