HMS Marijuana

A couple of days ago what looked very like HMS Marijuana, one of His Majesty's customs cutters, was spotted turning left, just in front of Culver Cliff, as seen from the beach at Shanklin. Orange marks the spot.

Previous sightings noticed at references 1 and 2. Sadly, the close-up, possibly when we were visiting Poole, was not noticed.

PS 1: and while we are on marijuana, the piece at reference 3 suggests that Thailand is about to recriminalise the stuff and the footnote to reference 4 talks of problems in New York. Not as easy as one might have thought or hoped.

PS 2: I had thought that Portugal had more or less legalised the use of recreational drugs, but reference 5 suggests not. In the face of a serious problem with heroin abuse, they seemed to have stopped using criminal sanctions against people caught with modest quantities of recreational drugs, but they remain illegal, as is their production, distribution and sale. A nicely soggy compromise?

PS 3: and this (Thursday) morning there is more, with the NYT running another piece (at reference 7) about retreat from decriminalisation, this time in British Columbia. While I wonder whether the Anglo countries, with their focus on individuals and competition, were always going to have more casualties - in this case drug addicts - than countries which are more into community and cooperation?

References

Reference 1: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2022/07/a-half-lobster.html.

Reference 2: https://psmv3.blogspot.com/2017/07/customs-and-excise.html.

Reference 3: Thailand Prime Minister Seeks to Criminalize Weed in Reversal: Thailand had decriminalized marijuana in 2022, but the country’s new government is pushing for stricter drug laws - Amanda Holpuch, New York Times - 2024.

Reference 4: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/04/machine-and-other-intelligence.html. 

Reference 5: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_policy_of_Portugal. My source for the figure snapped above.

Reference 6: https://www.euda.europa.eu/about_en. Their source. An outfit the UK no longer appears to play with.

Reference 7: Bold Experiment or Safety Risk? Canada Is Divided on How to Stop Drug Deaths: British Columbia’s partial retreat from an experiment to decriminalize drug possession reveals a political shift in Canada over combating the opioid crisis - Vjosa Isai, Alana Paterson (photographs), New York Times - 2024.