A recent investigation by Al Jazeera revealed that hundreds of children, mostly Vietnamese, are victims of slavery in the United Kingdom. These children are doubly oppressed, because not only are they forced to work for drug traffickers, but when they are found by police, they are treated as criminals themselves, rather than victims of slavery.
The documentary “Children Of The Cannabis Trade” reveals that UK police have known since 2004 that children from poor families were being sold by their own parents to gangs who take them to elaborate, illegal marijuana farms and force them to work tending their plants.
This all came about because of the great demand for cannabis in the UK. In the past ten years, thanks in part to the free labor provided by these slaves, the UK cannabis market has changed drastically from 90% imported to 90% grown domestically.
And, needless to say, this black market and slave trade would not exist at all if cannabis were legal.
The most heartbreaking thing is that everyone exploits these children: the gangs, the police, and finally and most importantly, their own families.
And the most ironic thing is that we hear from the government constantly how we must keep drugs illegal to “protect the children”, yet this state of affairs isn’t exactly protecting anyone except the gangs themselves. One wonders, as with the British phone hacking scandal, how many of these police are corrupt, since they’ve known about this slavery situation for seven long years and it’s still going on.
Let’s legalize cannabis worldwide. Do it to protect these children, and all others, from the effects of dangerous drug laws.
The documentary “Children Of The Cannabis Trade” reveals that UK police have known since 2004 that children from poor families were being sold by their own parents to gangs who take them to elaborate, illegal marijuana farms and force them to work tending their plants.
This all came about because of the great demand for cannabis in the UK. In the past ten years, thanks in part to the free labor provided by these slaves, the UK cannabis market has changed drastically from 90% imported to 90% grown domestically.
And, needless to say, this black market and slave trade would not exist at all if cannabis were legal.
The most heartbreaking thing is that everyone exploits these children: the gangs, the police, and finally and most importantly, their own families.
And the most ironic thing is that we hear from the government constantly how we must keep drugs illegal to “protect the children”, yet this state of affairs isn’t exactly protecting anyone except the gangs themselves. One wonders, as with the British phone hacking scandal, how many of these police are corrupt, since they’ve known about this slavery situation for seven long years and it’s still going on.
Let’s legalize cannabis worldwide. Do it to protect these children, and all others, from the effects of dangerous drug laws.
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