Would A Successful Brexit Boost The Chances Of British Cannabis Legalization?

It is no secret that the British are in a bit of a constitutional pickle at the moment. How far the country will align itself with the US and outside of the EU is still in play, two weeks out from Halloween. 

One of the stranger vibes in the air, especially after Boris Johnson hired two cannabis reform advocates into his office of late, is the idea that chucking the relationship with the EU and recreational cannabis reform might be linked, if not a good clarion call. 

After all, Aron Banks is no stranger to the CBD call either.

Are people on the British side of the industry seriously advocating Brexit as a way to push forward recreational cannabis reform in the UK? The answer, shockingly, appears to be yes.

Burn It All Down, Baby

For those at the pointed end of the cannabis discussion (namely patients), the debate about how money laundering laws are enforced to target cannabis-themed investments or not within the UK is currently a bit of a cruel joke. For anyone invested or working in the cannabis industry, the continued stutters and starts of the British market is not part of an academic discussion. 

Also, the snail’s pace of British cannabis reform has continued to prove to be too much for just about everyone. 

Who Can Blame The Brits For Wanting Their (Medical) Spice Cake And Eating It Too?

In this environment, it is tempting to just push recreational cannabis reform ideas under the larger ideas of burn, baby, burn which seems to now be in fashion in the geography of Number 10 (Downing Street and official residence of the British Prime Minister).

However, for those who think Brexit is a quick fix – think again.

Start with the fact that the UK is an island nation, and would be required to suddenly grow and source a huge amount of its own food and medicine. Also, the NHS would, as most believe now, simply not survive. Private (American-style) healthcare anyone?

While cannabis might in such circumstances come to be lauded as the wonder drug it is, like a new penicillin for example, does anyone think that bouncing the British economy around to do it under this kind of turbulence is really in the best interests of either patients or recreational consumers that would presumably be shell and wallet shocked?

Deregulation, in other words, and certainly of the kind that seems still to be in the room with a no-deal Brexit, might seem exciting, particularly to those frustrated with the hangover of the prohibition of the past.

However, such strategies are indeed a double-edged sword, both for (certainly) the British economy as well as Britain’s most vulnerable citizens who are cannabis users either “by choice” or through necessity.