Cannabis in the UK
List of contents
History of Cannabis in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has been using cannabis for centuries. Scythians, a nomadic Indo-European tribe, are believed to have introduced the plant into eastern Europe around 500BC. After this, germanic tribes may have carried cannabis into Germany, and from there the plant may have been brought into Britain with the Anglo-Saxon invasions during the 5th century (mentions to cannabis have been found in an Anglo-Saxon herbal). Over the centuries, hemp became a major source of vegetable fibre for Britain, especially for its impressive Navy. Indeed, the best ropes - and sails - at that time were made of hemp, normally coming from Russia.
Britain needed more hemp fibre, so King Henry VIII (1533) forced landlords to grow it in part of their lands. Over the years this need increased, so Elizabeth I actually fined those landlords who refused to grow hemp. Still, climate conditions in Britain were not ideal to grow it, so they began to grow hemp in Canada and other British colonies. Indeed, Canada became one of the main producers of hemp for Britain, since farmers were pushed to grow it instead of food crops with the promise that all production would be bought by the Britons. This demand remained stable during the XIX century, and even caused tensions between Britain and France, which tried to block the hemp trade between Russia and the UK.
During this century, famous physician William Brooke O'Shaughnessy introduced the therapeutic use of cannabis to Western medicine (1841). He moved to Calcutta in 1833 to work as physician, surgeon, professor and scientist. There, he discovered the medical applications of cannabis and introduced them to Western medicine in 1841 with the publication of the Bengal Dispensatory (1841) and the Bengal Pharmacopeia (1844). A few years later, cannabis was widely used in Britain to treat different medical conditions. Indeed, cannabis was prescribed to Queen Victoria by her personal physician J.R. Reynolds to relieve menstrual cramp and pain.
However, the invention of the syringe (late XIX century) and the use of opiates - which, unlike cannabis, can be injected - overshadowed the therapeutic uses of cannabis, which were left in the background. With hindsight, this was a huge mistake, since cannabis could have helped lots of patients without the harmful side effects of opiate consumption. By that time, Britain was taxing cannabis and hashish trade in India and the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission drew up its report (1893).
Legality of cannabis in the UK
After the first uses of injected opiates - which act much faster - and the introduction of acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) cannabis was left in the dark and finally made illegal in Britain in 1928, after Egypt and Turkey proposed it's ban during an international conference on drugs (Convention on Narcotics Control) held in Geneva in 1925. While in 1945 there were only 4 prosecutions related to cannabis (206 for opium), in 1950 - and for the first time ever - there were more prosecutions for cannabis than opium. The recreational use of cannabis was spreading among jazz clubs in the Soho, and both the idea of black men perverting white women with the drug and the way this news was presented to the public made cannabis to become as hated as feared.
During the sixties, the hippy movement offered a different image of cannabis, and its use spread among the youth of almost all western countries. Soon, by the late 60s, prosecutions for cannabis possession had increased dramatically, and harassing black people and 'longhairs' was common practice for police officers. On the other hand, and at the same time, organizations like SOMA were pushing for a reform on cannabis law. During the 70s - and despite the conclusions of the Wootton Report (1968) - cannabis was classified as class B drug, along with amphetamines and with less severe penalties than heroin or LSD, although maximum penalties were increased instead of being reduced (up to 14 years for cultivation or supplying, up to 5 years for possession).
During the 80s and 90s this situation didn't change, partially thanks to the apathy and ignorance shown by the government (as well as the work done by anti-drug campaigners). Actually, both sentences for drugs and maximum fines for cannabis were raised again in 1994, with 72.000 cannabis-related prosecutions that same year. Five years later, in 1999, the Legalise Cannabis Alliance was formed in Norwich, a new political party in defence of people's right to grow and use cannabis. In 2004 cannabis was re-scheduled to class C drug, with much lower sentences for growing, supplying or possession, although in January 2009 it was re-scheduled again as class B drug by the Labour party. Today, plenty of organizations like NORML UK, LEAP, ENCOD, CLEAR and many others are pushing for law reform in regards to cannabis (and other unregulated substances) in the United Kingdom.
In 2015, an economics student called James Richard Owen started an online petition on the UK Government's website in order to fully legalize cannabis. The petition gathered 236.995 signatures (when 100.000 were needed) so the Parliament debated it on 12th October 2015, unfortunately without a positive veredict. Doubtless, this kind of initiatives of popular pressure and the change in the attitude of some politicians towards cannabis legalisation could bring some positive results in the near future.
There is also a considerable number of Cannabis social clubs in the UK (which are united by the UKCSC), non-profit organisations that spread information on cannabis and campaign for the legalisation of this plant. While they are not the same as cannabis clubs found in Spain, they represent another step forward towards the normalization and decriminalization of cannabis. People can join in the clubs and discuss growing techniques, genetics, legality, medical use, etc.
Cannabis strains and breeders from the UK
Despite the law, UK is home to hundreds of homegrowers and collectives of cannabis lovers, such as the renowned Exodus Collective, which selected and/or shared some of the best cuts found in the United Kingdom, awesome plants like Exodus Psychosis (90s, some say it is an old Superskunk pheno, others claim that it is NL#5xHaze), which was used to create Sick Meds' Psycho Crack and UGORG's Psychosister, or the legendary Cheese (1988-1989), a selection of Skunk #1 from which strains like Cheese by Greenhouse Seeds, Blue Cheese by Big Buddha Seeds or Cheesy Auto by Philosopher Seeds - a prize-winning automatic version of the Exodus Cheese - have been developed.
The Blues/Livers cut has been also used by both Verge and OT1 from UGORG for their breeding projects. As happens with the Psychosis, its origins are uncertain: for some people it is, as the Cheese, an old Skunk #1 pheno, while others say it might come from a Northern Lights x Big Bud cross. Casey Jones (Truecannabliss cut) is another famous clone from the UK used to develop several hybrids like, for example, Dazey Jones by The Devil's Harvest.
The list of UK-bred strains goes on and on, and only demonstrates the passion and love that many Britons feel for this plant. We can also find UK-based fertilizer brands on the market, like the renowned Growth Technology or the guys from Evoponic, who have developed a range of very interesting nutrients and biostimulators for plants.
GW Pharmaceuticals, a major company which is developing a product portfolio of cannabinoid prescription medicines, is also based in the United Kingdom. They are world leaders on the research on cannabinoids and their possible therapeutic applications, also on developing medicines and plant-based products.
Cannabis celebrities from the United Kingdom
A large number of British celebrities have been caught smoking cannabis or have openly acknowledged using cannabis. One of the most famous cases involved Prince Harry, when he was caught smoking pot and drinking alcohol at age 17. The Beatles, perhaps the most renowned British music band, used to smoke cannabis after Bob Dylan let them try it in the USA. George Michael also acknowledged to smoke cannabis during an interview in 2009, the same as Lily Allen, the Gallagher brothers, Amy Winehouse, The Sex Pistols, and many more.
Even Richard Branson - owner of Virgin Group - or Boris Johnson - former Mayor of London - have confessed using cannabis, and Johnson isn't the only British politician to acknowledge using it. It seems, then, that people are starting to come out of the cannabis closet, something that should have an impact on the future decisions of British politicians about the cannabis issue. We hope that the legalisation of cannabis in the United Kingdom will soon be a reality, since it doubtless could become a domino effect on other European countries.