YOUR GUIDE TO CANNABIS IN THE UK
Cannabis has many names:
Marijuana, grass, hash, weed, bud, pollen, skunk, ganga, dope, herb
What is cannabis?
Cannabis is a product of the marijuana plant. It contains some chemicals called cannabinoids. It is the cannabinoid called tetrahydrocannabinol (THC for short) that makes you feel high or stoned.
You will see cannabis in three forms:
Grass
This looks like dried herbs and is green-brown in colour. It is made by drying the leaves, flowers and seeds of the female plant.
Hash
This is a sticky brown substance. It is soft or hard and black or brown in colour. It is taken from the female buds and flowers of the plant.
Cannabis oil
This is a sticky light-coloured liquid that comes from cannabis resin. It is not common to use it as an oil.
How is it used?
In the UK, cannabis is usually used in three different ways:
Smoked
Cannabis is mixed with tobacco and rolled into a cigarette called a joint. Or it is burned in a water pipe or ‘bong’ to cool and filter the smoke. Most people smoke cannabis because you feel it quickly.
Vaped
Cannabis is inhaled through a vape.
Eaten
Cannabis is mixed with normal ingredients to make biscuits (also known as cookies) or cakes.
How cannabis makes you feel
Using cannabis affects people differently. It depends on many factors: the type of person you are in general, how you are feeling at the time, and where you are and who you are with when you take it.
Many people feel relaxed, happy and ‘chilled out’. Others might feel anxious, paranoid and confused.
If you feel down, cannabis can make you feel worse. This feeling usually goes as the cannabis stops working.
Research tells us that cannabis can make a mental health problem worse or make it visible if you did not know you had one.
How to reduce the risks of using cannabis
To stay safe, it is best to stop using cannabis. If you do not want to stop, this advice can help to reduce some of the risks to your health.
Do not mix cannabis with tobacco
Tobacco causes serious health problems, such as cancer and heart disease. The nicotine in tobacco is also bad for your health and very addictive. You could find it hard to stop using cannabis and to stop smoking cigarettes.
Do not hold cannabis smoke in your lungs
Chemicals that are bad for your health will stick to your lungs. You will not get more stoned if you hold the smoke inside you.
Do not use a cigarette filter
More tar collects in your lungs. Tar causes cancer and increases the risk of lung disease. Use a plain, rolled-up card instead. The smoke will flow easily.
Do not use too many papers to roll the cigarette
Use one to three so you do not breathe in too much burnt paper.
Do not use plastic bottles, rubber hoses, PVC, foil or aluminium as part of your wate pipe
These produce toxic fumes when hot. Glass, steel or brass pipes are safer.
Do not drive or operate machinery
Smoking cannabis makes you slow to react and can cause accidents.
Do not buy more than your normal amount for ‘tomorrow’
You are likely to use it all today.
Be in control
If you have a bad time with cannabis this advice can help you to be in control.
Vape it rather than smoke it because vaping releases the THC but not the tar.
Have something sweet to eat or drink because cannabis lowers blood-sugar.
Use less, have a break from it, or stop using cannabis if you do not feel good, you cannot concentrate, study, remember things or motivate yourself when you use it.
Avoid places and people where you normally use cannabis if you are trying to use less or stop using it.
The law
Cannabis is a Class B drug. That means it is illegal to possess, produce or supply.
Possession can get you up to 5 years in prison, an unlimited fine, or both. Supply and production can result in up to 14 years in prison, an unlimited fine or both.
It is illegal to drive with over the permitted level of cannabis in your system. If you test positive, you can receive a driving ban, large fine, or go to prison.
Some police forces will deal with possession for personal use by steering you away from the criminal justice system, especially if you’re under 18. Instead, they pick from the following options:
Issue a warning. •
- Make you pay an on-the-spot fine.
- Give you a ‘community resolution’ (e.g. make you do an educational course on drugs). You won’t get a criminal record, but it will show up on an enhanced DBS check.
- Issue a ‘conditional caution’ (e.g. a rehabilitation course, unpaid work, or a fine). A conditional caution will go on your criminal record.
If you’re under 18, the police are allowed to tell your parents or carers. A persistent offender will be prosecuted.
Find out about penalties here: gov.uk/penalties-drug-possession-dealing
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