The intention of this Irish Cannabis Documentary The 41st Shade is to explore the role of cannabis in 21st Century Ireland, not least due to growing usage within the mainstream, but also because of our failure to prevent its distribution. For this reason, we need to question the resources ploughed into the ‘war on drugs’ and whether both the time and manpower called upon is justifiable when it appears that all other progressive nations are either entirely decriminalising cannabis or relaxing their laws on its possession.
Maybe it is just a matter of semantics. Perhaps we should just stop calling cannabis a ‘drug’ and refer to it by its proper title, a plant, at which point the war will finally stop and we can redirect our severely stretched resources to persue those who are committing real crime.
Cannabis and Ireland: a Contradiction in Progress..?
As cannabis becomes more acceptable throughout Europe and North America we need to address the place of this substance in Irish society, not least in terms of its recreational usage but also its medicinal properties which have been known for centuries. So unlike other controlled substances like alcohol and tobacco which cannot claim any medicinal qualities what so ever, we need to confront our tentative relationship with what has been hailed by many as providing a cure for apparently the most incurable illnesses.
Every day we hear stories of grow houses being raided and people going to jail for criminal offences but we also hear of plans for the Irish government to introduce some form of medical cannabis in the near future. So is there a contradiction here? On the one hand we are being told cannabis is bad, and illegal but on the other we are being told it can be really helpful to you, but only if you are sick.
We feel there are questions to be answered and we hope to get some.
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