Fkg bring it on already. I’m not allowed to have it in my own house because another householder thinks they’ll get done for MY possession and lose their job. And while very remote indeed, that is actually a possibility. Yet I can go and get it anytime I like, get stoned somewhere other than home, then drive home when I’m done. Great.
Its basically legal anyway.
Nobody goes to jail for smoking pot - they don’t even go to court anymore.
Government needs to pick a side instead of going the half pregnant approach. Either enforce the law without prejudice or legalise it.
Personally I don’t buy the taxes argument. If you tax it, then it will just become more expensive than the illegal product so why would people even bother. We’ve seen what has happened with illegal tobacco once the price point on legal tobacco had been reached. It’s now at 10% or so of the total market and there wasn’t even really an illegal market to start with.
With pot, there is already an illegal market and if the price point gets reached then users will shun the legal product as surely as night follows day.
I’m ambivalent on the whole thing. If someone wants to ruin their brain cells so they can be the most boring person in the room, then go for it.
You’re right. As evidenced by the total disinterest in dispensaries throughout states in the USA where it’s legal not to mention the booming Australian moonshine industry
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This. Also worth noting that there is evidence that legalised weed displaces binge drinking to some extent. And we have one of the worst binge drinking cultures in the world.
EDIT: Although I agree that I think people should commence taking drugs (alcohol and cannabis) later than they should, raising the drinking age to 21 is somewhat hypocritical/counterintuitive given most of us “stop the war” folk agree that heavy handed suppression being successful is pure fantasy. You can’t name me a 16 year old in the country who would suggest that it’s difficult to obtain alcohol. Do you think a 20 year old would battle? We need to fight our binge drinking culture with education. I actually would be favour in allowing 16 and 17 year olds to consume a small amount of alcohol with guardians a la Italy etc. It’s not good for the brain but it disarms the “coolness”/taboo of alcohol and I think would result in a net benefit over one’s young adulthood adulthood.
I have no doubt any kid under 21 would would struggle to get cannbis or alcohol if they really wanted it, god knows me and my mates never had trouble. But thats not the reasoning behind my point, more to so with full formation of the brain and being slightly more sensible about binging. Studies show cannabis use in teens affects short term memory , and so does alcohol abuse. Neurodevelopment doesn’t really stop until early 20’s.
IMO the USA has it right on this one.
Plus i’m over 21 so It’s an easier call to make, ande have the benefit of hindsight. If you asked me at 18 if I thought I neeeded to wait until 21 I’d be NO WAY JOSE!
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I believe thats already permitted? Isnt there some thing where if you are eating a meal and are consuming alcohol along with it, that the kid is also permitted to consume alcohol with parental consent?
could be wrong
Good question.
But that’s my point. I’m with you 100% about brain development but the whole War On Drugs is about suppression based on principles and not pragmatism, and the opposition to it is based on the opposite. So let’s be pragmatic.
The USA as your example doesn’t “have it right” because their figure means no more than ours does - and expecting people at 20 who are fully adult to actually respect a law that means they can’t drink a couple of coronas is madness. I’m sure you’re aware of their College culture etc. which is like an education in binge drinking (much like our Uni system and late teens in general).
I’m 100% with you and I’ll be encouraging my kids one day to not drink alcohol at all, and if they do limit it until they’re in their 20s. But until we have a societal change (that’ll never happen) that won’t work. So I think we should educate an minimise rather than just raise the age because that’s the best case scenario.
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yeah not swayed but to each their own…
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I was a call center agent for 2 years and a half. I worked in a graveyard shift so that’s why i am awake at night and sleep the whole day. And suddenly i quit my job because of my personal problem. And now i am having a hard time to sleep at night because i get used to being awake at night. So this is my problem now i want to sleep in a normal way but it didn’t happen, so i told my friend about this then he told me to try this marijuana thing as a medicine i did not believe him at first but i try it and it works for me and now I am sleeping at night at peace. Here is an article that i read about it https://www.worldwide-marijuana-seeds.com/blogs/marijuana-news/marijuana-the-best-solution you should read it.
Lel.
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I’ll stick with the Horlicks.
I blame Dupont.
TBF on point 5 though, the war on anything related to law and legal and cracking down on it hasn’t worked.
We still get people drink driving
we still get people every weekend punching on
we still get people taking drugs
we still get domestic violence situations
we still have people coming out on parole who shouldn’t be.
In all the instances above, including cannabis the war doesn’t work cos the legal system doesn’t back it up.
Anyway the main question i’ve started asking is, considering the health benefits of the actual plant and the getting high effect are two seperate areas of the plant, and the getting high part can be removed from final products, would the same people who “fight” for cannabis legalisation continue fighting as loudly, if there was a compromise and plants with just the health benefits were made legal ?
I’m betting not, people just wanna get high, but wanna do it legally. That’s not a bad thing, but they hide behind, oh there’s so many health benefits bullshit argument.
Legalise it.
Tax it heavily.
Invest the taxed income into mental health and drug and alcohol support.
It’s what the Dutch have done. Compared to other western countries, Holland’s cannabis usage rates are quite low. Especially for a country that turns a blind eye to it (yet tax it).
Holland also have the best Mental health resources in the world.
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No, there’s arguments for recreational use and separate arguments for health applications. That many proponents might argue for both doesn’t change that.
And you’re wrong about drink driving laws. Sure there are still people who do it, but rates of DD have fallen a long way over the last few decades, to the point where, generally, it’s now socially unacceptable.
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I’d say most people who advocate for legalisation, would be happy for it to at least be legalised for medicinal purposes. Not all, there are some people who ‘hide’ behind it as you say, but I would think that’s a minority.
It’s two separate arguments for mine. The legalisation for recreational use would be a smart decison imo, but I understand the need for debate, and the differing opinions that exist on the topic.
But legalisation for medicinal purposes? That shouldn’t even be a debate.
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Of course they want to enjoy cannabis legally without fear of incrimiation, that’s kinda the point. It’s a plant, in it’s recreational form the plant is the ‘final product’.
We already have medicinal access , it’s poorly desgined and way too bearucratic compared to other countries, but thats another argument.
Also it’s mainly the psychoactive THC compounds that gets you ‘high’, and whilst it’s compounds like CBD (among others) that are mainly focused on for medicinal purposes the THC compund also has theraputic benefits for some
See: https://herb.co/marijuana/news/maryland-lifts-lifetime-ban
So some people that use it for medicinal purposes will get ‘high’. I think some people think ‘high’ is a dirty word and equates to being passed out in a alleyway, rather than a few people sitting around socially eating a little bit too much chocolate whilst listening to music.
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The other problem is that drunk is high. People have this odd acceptance and normalisation of alcohol and drunkenness as if it’s “normal” but nothing else is. Next time you go to a grand final party, commence by announcing that you’ve kicked the drink and would appreciate if everyone would support you by abstaining from drinking too. People will laugh in your face, crack open a coldy and/or riot. Just because people are 50, educated, gainfully employed and good citizens doesn’t change the fact that you drink to “get high” ie. Alter your perceptions and state of mind, no matter how much you tell yourself you just love an expensive cab sav. You’re no different to a 15 yo getting stoned or drinking goon.
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Also, I follow Alex Wodak, head of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation on Twitter. He tweeted an interesting stat a couple of months ago. I’m not exactly right on these stats but it was something like: medicinal marijuana has been “available” for 17 months and only 118 Australians have accessed it such is the high threshold you have to meet to get any. Apparently the poster boy/girl for the campaign (presumably suffering from seizures or something) hasn’t even been able to qualify for it.
So really it’s as good as illegal as far as I’m concerned
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