Dear Grandma Hippy,

Greetings from north London! Thank you for your letter! I hope both you and Grandpa Hippy are well! How are things in Denver?

I am still very envious of the legal cannabis market in Colorado, you and Grandpa Hippy are very lucky! I’ve read how legal cannabis has been embraced by by senior citizens, but I was still surprised to read how much Grandpa has been benefitting from it. And your state has so much revenue from the taxes on it. They have taken in over a billion dollars in tax, in 5 years. That could pay for so much!

And you, Grandma, getting into edibles, I am very impressed you are enjoying them so much. I live in a dry country. While we do have an extensive unregulated cannabis market here in the UK, we lack the choice, quality and safety of your legal, regulated cannabis products. 

I dream of day, in the very near future, when cannabis becomes legal and regulated here in the United Kingdom. It’s not like we would be creating a new market, but taking the existing market and legitimising it. Imagine quality checks, potency testing and labelling, a variety of products to suit all tolerances and requirements, some could even be certified organic! The possibilities are endless, as are the opportunities, if only we had a properly pro-business government. And cannabis businesses are some of the fastest growing businesses in the world right now, in a sector that is already worth billions. It is a shame the politicians here ignore all the evidence and cling to silly, discredited thinking about cannabis. “Reefer Madness” never died here in good ol’ Blighty. It is alive and well, and still seeing people put in jail for possession. We are still in the dark ages here. 

And as bad as all that sounds, it’s actually even worse because the UK is the world’s number one exporter of medicinal cannabis. That should be good news, well, it is for the people who profit from it, but it does nothing for UK citizens, whose access to medicinal cannabis is so limited as to be described as still having no access to it, at all. 

Check out this hypocrisy… either the UK government believes cannabis has medicinal properties, but lies about to its citizens, while allowing its export OR the UK government genuinely thinks cannabis has no medicinal value, but still allows companies to export it, effectively endorsing snake oil. Neither view is particularly flattering. For what it is worth, I subscribe to the former, while if the government could endorse one view, they would prefer the latter. Either way, it’s a terrible situation here, that needs urgently to change.

Thank you again for the invitation to move to Denver to live with you and Grandpa Hippy. Of course, it is tempting, especially with my health and cannabis use, but I think it is more important to stay here in the UK and fight for what is right. And what is right is to insure the people of the United Kingdom have the same access to cannabis, that you have. I know I could move someplace with more suitable cannabis laws, but I think I have a moral responsibility to help change and improve the cannabis laws here.

Write back soon, Grandma. And please send me your medicated brownie recipe! And some shatter! Just kidding, but not kidding, but kidding, but you could try if you want.

With lots of love from your Grandson,

the hippy xx

(In real life, all four of my grandparents have been dead probably longer than you have been alive. But if I did have living grandparents, and they did live in Colorado, or another legal territory, and we did correspond by letter, and I had to send a reply today, this is the letter I would send. Other than imaginary living grandparents, everything in this letter is 100% factually accurate.)

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The northlondonhippy is an anonymous author, online cannabis activist and recreational drug user, who has been writing about drugs and drug use for over 15 years.  In real life, the hippy is a senior multimedia journalist with over 30 years experience of working in the industry. 

The hippy’s book, ‘Personal Use’ details the hippy’s first 35 years of recreational drug taking, while calling for urgent drug law reform. It’s a cracking read, you will laugh, you will cry and you can bet your ass that you will wish you were a hippy too!

“Personal Use” is available as a digital download on all platforms, including Amazon’s Kindle, Apple’s iBooks and Barnes & Noble’s Nook. The paperback is available from all online retailers and book shops everywhere. 

You can also find the northlondonhippy on Twitter: @nthlondonhippy