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Given that they have a genetic predisposition to habitual/dependent cannabis use and Skunk is illegally available almost everywhere in the UK then it is logical to assume they seek it out. But, as I said above, for those of them who are cannabis-virgins who might start using it after legalisation there are things that we can do to dissuade them and mitigate the risk.
Furthermore, any of them who do start using it after legalisation and develop a problem can come forward and seek medical help without having to risk being prosecuted for possession. Decriminalisation for a first-time cannabis possession charge would be inadequate protection for this addiction-prone subgroup of vulnerable users.
Smoking tobacco is a killer. If you are a regular tobacco smoker the risk of your smoking causing the disease which ultimately kills you is 50%. The flip of a coin, heads or tails! Illegal Skunk is mostly smoked with tobacco in this country by recreational users.
Raw cannabis material is probably just as likely to cause respiratory illnesses as tobacco when smoked because the tar content is not removed by processing. Smoking a single joint is equivalent to smoking 4 low-tar cigarettes according to some studies. There is some evidence (not enough to be sure yet) that smoking cannabis may be less likely to cause lung cancer than smoking tobacco, possibly due to THC and/or CBD repressing tumour growth.
I want cannabis legalisation to minimise the harm that it is doing to our society. If we legalised it and lots of new people started smoking it that could end up damaging a lot of people's health and economic situations. Commercially produced processed cannabis for smoking could have most of the tar removed, (which the tobacco industry does for its products), but it would be better not to encourage more smoking.
Therefore, I think legalised state-regulated cannabis should be available in a form suitable only for vaping, in edible products and as drinks. Eating and drinking cannabis preparations is also safer than smoking it.
The reason why Skunk causes a problem for (a minority) of heavy users who have a genetic predisposition to cannabis-psychosis etc is because of its high-THC/low(or no)-CBD ratio. It's >10% THC content is nothing special really, given that hash resins with far higher THC concentrations have been available for decades.
In a legal state-regulated market products with an equal, or higher, THC concentration to Skunk could be offered too, but they would have equal THC/CBD ratios to protect the genetically vulnerable heavy users.
Skunk has a characteristically strong smell due to its particular mix of terpenes (mostly myrcene, pinene and caryophyllene), if current users of it prefer that then there is no reason why a legal form of Skunk could not be made available here. The legal version would have just as much THC as the illegal version and the same taste profile, but it would have an equal concentration of CBD to THC (just like the old much safer Hash strains).
All of the problems you have raised are surmountable by a well designed state-regulated legalisation scheme.
Forcing high-THC/low(or no)-CBD strains out of the marketplace and putting an end to cannabis/tobacco mixture smoking would go a long way to improving the health of its users. Those things clearly will not happen if recreational cannabis remains illegal and is controlled exclusively by drug-dealers.
