When I say “ganja is not a drug” on social medias many they become very upset and they begin to become like mad and send bad words to me.
So I like we bring the discussion here where we can have it in a civil and relaxed manner.
This are the two statements that have allowed Thailand to remove all plants (and shrooms) from the Yellow list:
1- A plant itself is a living organism, not a drug.
2- The accurate way to look at it is that plants contain chemical compounds and some of those can act as drugs. So only compounds that are extracted trough a chemical reaction can be considered drugs.
I think the issue might be the usage of the word ganja. I’m assuming (correct me if I’m wrong) that when you say ganja you’re referring to the whole plant. The plant itself is not a drug, and has many uses that have nothing to do with consumption. What I’m assuming is happening is that when most people hear ganja they immediately think of dried cured cannabis flower, specifically for smoking which IS a drug. So when a stranger on the internet hears you say ganja isn’t a drug they most likely think you’re either misinformed or actively lying.
As a rule of thumb I use three different terms depending on how I’m talking about cannabis. I use the term ganja when speaking respectfully about the end product. Weed, pot, etc for when I’m talking informally. When I’m speaking clinically, scientifically, or about the plant as a whole I use the term cannabis.
I think the way we talk about things is as important as what we’re saying. Especially when we’re talking to and trying to educate other people.
Ganja , Cannabis, etc.. are all names for the plant. The plant and any of her parts are considerables drugs. Even THC is not anymore considered a drug by some rersearchers. THCa certainly is not.
The legal status of THCA varies depending on the jurisdiction. In many places, THCA extracted from hemp is legal to use as long as it contains a concentration no more than 0.3% THC. However, regulations surrounding THCA from marijuana plants can be more stringent due to its potential to be converted into psychoactive THC.
It is essential to check the local laws regarding the possession and consumption of THCA products to ensure compliance with regulations
Tecnically all ganja is already legal all aorund the world. The problem is that the police and the legislators they don’t know. Is time to learn and inform them.
In my opinion, we should before anything else be able to define in which context the word “drug” is used , and what exactly mean. Here some examples:
CONTEXT 1 - Drug = chemical substance
A drug is any chemical substance that alters how the body or mind functions. This broad category includes both legal substances—such as prescription and over-the-counter medications used to cure or treat diseases—and illicit substances or recreational drugs that affect the central nervous system.
Source
I like this website because it perfectly mirror what Prempavee pointing out and how the same “doctors” seems not to notice the discrepancy on their own statments. For example this publication expressively says "any chemical substance " but if you read the article they make a list:
Now we can notice that in this list are effectively all "chemical substances, but with one exeption: “marijuana” (ganja)
So why a plant has been inclued in the list?
I belive is because most of medical publications are completely controlled and corrupted by big pharmas that they want to place plants and natural remedies on the same plan of their chemical medicine when is the time for regulations and repression but they do not want to place them in the same level when is the time of effectivness
Why they do this?
Well, the most probably, is because plants cannot be patented and their production cannot be controlled unless they enstablish laws and regulations and to justify this regulations they classified plants same as drugs (but they are not.
CONTEXT 2 - Drug = any natural or chemical that can be used as medicine and is addictive and if misused hazardous for the health and for the life.
In this second context for me is obvius that Ganja including all the possible compounds naturally present or mechanically extracted cannot be considered a “drug” because is not addictive and is not hazardous even if misused..
I also say this because the reason the Thai Health Minister was able to remove all plants and mushrooms from the narcotics list was exactly this point:
Drugs are chemically obtained man made unanimated substances
Plants and mushrooms are living creatures so they cannot be classified as drugs
This was the secret of the Thai “legalization”!!!
So why to criticize and make philosophy against this statement of has precedent to work on international laws and diplomacy?
In my opinion all other nations and activist groups interested to end the war on drugs or at least the war on naturals classified as drugs must take as an example and copy and reproduce!