The Firs 18 Beechwood Avenue Aylmerton NR11 8QQ 21st August 2019

The Editor EDP Letter & News FOR PUBLICATION

Dear Sir

Cannabis Legalisaiton

A friend of mine once asked a nurse working in a city hospital how busy the waiting room would be in A&E on a Saturday night if alcohol wasn't a factor. The nurse replied that the waiting room would be 'virtually empty'. We can't escape the fact that often exhausted professionals - doctors, nurses, paramedics, the police and many others - are all too often picking up the pieces in situations where the destructive problem the patient is presenting is entirely self-imposed. We also must factor in some other people - the victims who end up being injured by someone who has indulged too much.

There is a huge industry around alcohol, there is also a huge remedial structure around alcohol dependency, and there are numerous examples of how alcohol can blight the lives of families. Alcohol can also be the root cause of violence and psychological chaos.

But, here's the fact. Alcohol is legal.

In recent months the retiring MP for NN, Sir , has been promoting the idea that the legalisation of cannabis would be better than its current, illegal status. The main reason given for this justification is that because the police feel overwhelmed by the policing of it, we should just give up pursuing dealers.

There are also arguments in favour of the so-called regulation of cannabis, that by legalising it, we somehow make it safer. But as I have pointed out already, alcohol is 'regulated' and legal and yet it can cause chaos and expense and even kill people.

Legalising something does not make it safe, as most A&E departments in busy city hospitals on a Saturday night demonstrate. Every time someone is wheeled in as a result of a drink drive incident, we must remember that the root cause of the harm has been the taking of a legal substance.

I am not convinced that legalising cannabis will guarantee that all takers will have one or two puffs of an innocent little cigarette and leave it at that, as the justification from Mr. Lamb and his colleagues imply. This isn't the 1960's, we are living in harsher and more cynical times and the threat of County Lines dealing in rural towns wipes away the naive belief that the path taken in drugs is guaranteed as safe. I don't want a lenient view taken on any illegal drugs.

In the same way that a drinker will rationalise 'one more for the road', a regular cannabis smoker can rationalise the temptation for a stronger drug one day. Only in special medical circumstances do I support cannabis as a prescribed substance. For instance, I would support epilepsy research where cannabis medically prescribed can ease pain and suffering.

More is the case that Sir Norman is out of touch about the idea of legalising a drug for recreational use at a time when young people are now turning away from excessive alcohol consumption, and thinking about healthy living, the environment, and 'mindfulness.' We need to follow their example and be more positive about living with a clear mind and a healthy body - not rationalising that making something legal somehow eliminates risk.

It isn't true of alcohol, it isn't true of cigarette smoking, and it isn't true of cannabis.

As a father of two young daughters, I'd prefer it if the young people of North Norfolk go outside, run along the beach, or sit looking at a brilliant North Norfolk sunrise. Go cycling, swimming or walking. I want as your next MP to promote healthy living for the next generation, not add another substance to the risks in our children's lives.

We shouldn't be referencing some old hippie culture based on some old mantra about getting 'high'. Because I think it's better to promote a truly natural 'high' - living healthily in beautiful North Norfolk.

Yours sincerely

Duncan Baker, Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for North Norfolk

www.duncanbaker.org.uk [email protected] 07971 980 422