POT, should it be legalised???
Discussion
. Should it be legalised? Festive with ale and high (proof) spirits or hallucinogenic with wierd effects? Just asking don't shoot me I'm the Ginger Bread Man.I smoked lots of cannabis when I was younger, only stopped when I stopped smoking tobacco. Main reason was that I came to realise that happiness isn't something that comes from outside of you and can be ingested. At that point I stopped.
For those that still like it, I think they should be allowed to do it. Doesn't harm anybody else, although I understand there may be some health risks
For those that still like it, I think they should be allowed to do it. Doesn't harm anybody else, although I understand there may be some health risks
I'm a liberal in the old 19th century meaning of the word.
Something should only be a crime if it hurts another person. Taking drugs hurts only the person taking them. There should be safeguards to prevent children getting access to drugs but apart from that all currently illegal drugs should be legalised.
and by the way i have never taken any illegal drugs myself and i wouldn't take any if they became legal.
Something should only be a crime if it hurts another person. Taking drugs hurts only the person taking them. There should be safeguards to prevent children getting access to drugs but apart from that all currently illegal drugs should be legalised.
and by the way i have never taken any illegal drugs myself and i wouldn't take any if they became legal.
JULIANHJ said:
Yup. Not that I partake. And while they are at it significantly up the penalties for smack/crack dealing and trafficking. Total confiscation of assets would be a good start.
>> Edited by JULIANHJ on Friday 24th December 08:55
Restrictions and oppression leads to revoltion, the key is the eradiction of such drugs like how we destroyed small pox,but no stores in secret hideouts.
Well, you're never going to eliminate hard drugs, but at the very least you could detain addicts to dry them out, hand down 20 years to life for the really nasty barons out there, confiscate all assets of the offenders (rather than a modest fraction). In other words, make the risks outweigh the benefits for the importers - take them guilty to the f
king cleaners 
As for dope, well, it's bad for you, but so are ciggies. It can lead to mental health problems in those with underlying issues, but then so can alcohol. It could very well be a big revenue earner. All my mates who regularly indulge are law-abiding, high earning, well-balanced average people.
Oh yeah, and the only raids your likely to be carrying out when high on dope are on your local 24 hour garage!
king cleaners As for dope, well, it's bad for you, but so are ciggies. It can lead to mental health problems in those with underlying issues, but then so can alcohol. It could very well be a big revenue earner. All my mates who regularly indulge are law-abiding, high earning, well-balanced average people.
Oh yeah, and the only raids your likely to be carrying out when high on dope are on your local 24 hour garage!
Never seen someone on pot get violent, alcohol on the other hand...
Pot is less addictive than coffee, less toxic than tea (if you make a brew out of it) and aside from the incredibly small ammount of people who get addicted i cannot see any reason why it is illegal.
The only reason it was made illegal in the first place (someone please check this out, I am unable to locate an unbiased site and cannot find the snopes listing) was because of the american newspaper industry, controlled by its papermills who saw hemp paper as a serious threat to their industry. I wont go into the full story as we have heard it all before.
Pot is less addictive than coffee, less toxic than tea (if you make a brew out of it) and aside from the incredibly small ammount of people who get addicted i cannot see any reason why it is illegal.
The only reason it was made illegal in the first place (someone please check this out, I am unable to locate an unbiased site and cannot find the snopes listing) was because of the american newspaper industry, controlled by its papermills who saw hemp paper as a serious threat to their industry. I wont go into the full story as we have heard it all before.
Before this or any government in the UK will legalise it, they have to overcome the problem of how to deal with progressive generations of dysfunctional kids being stoned through their formative years before they have a chance to develop their senses and abilities. It's for this reason alone that I would never vote yes.
Anyway, I think the answer to the question is looming. I predict it will never be legalised, not for the above reason, moreover because the day will surely come when smoking ciggies will be made illegal (once the minority is small enough to disenfranchise from the electorate).
Anyway, I think the answer to the question is looming. I predict it will never be legalised, not for the above reason, moreover because the day will surely come when smoking ciggies will be made illegal (once the minority is small enough to disenfranchise from the electorate).
It never will be officially legalised.
The ramifications would be too enormous. Once someone is selling a "legal" product you then have to allow them the right to sell, advertise, promote and distribute it without undue interference from the authorities. If it was fully legalised, large corporations would want to get involved because of the potential large profits they could make. Soon, there would be rafts of new government legislation covering the extent of advertisinng allowed, the nature of the sales outlets, the taxation of the product, the qualifications and controls over those who grow it and the health and safety regulations covering those who work in the related industries or establishments where the products can be legally used.
We already have all this infrastructure in place for the recreational drugs legally available now (nicotine and alcohol).
And to say that drugs only affect the user is nonsense - as anyone who has ever had the misfortune to be involved in a road accident with a drunk driver can testify. As we can see, this year, the police have been given new powers to test people for driving under the influence of "non-legal" drugs. If these additional drugs were made legal, the incidences of people trying to drive having used them would increase significantly making our roiads even more dangerous than they are.
The ramifications would be too enormous. Once someone is selling a "legal" product you then have to allow them the right to sell, advertise, promote and distribute it without undue interference from the authorities. If it was fully legalised, large corporations would want to get involved because of the potential large profits they could make. Soon, there would be rafts of new government legislation covering the extent of advertisinng allowed, the nature of the sales outlets, the taxation of the product, the qualifications and controls over those who grow it and the health and safety regulations covering those who work in the related industries or establishments where the products can be legally used.
We already have all this infrastructure in place for the recreational drugs legally available now (nicotine and alcohol).
And to say that drugs only affect the user is nonsense - as anyone who has ever had the misfortune to be involved in a road accident with a drunk driver can testify. As we can see, this year, the police have been given new powers to test people for driving under the influence of "non-legal" drugs. If these additional drugs were made legal, the incidences of people trying to drive having used them would increase significantly making our roiads even more dangerous than they are.
Dr Strangelove said:
Legalise it, localise it, tax it and control it. There's no quicker way to kill a blackmarket/smuggling trade.
I'm afraid that will not work. You cannot eradicate a commodity based market that way. Particularly the Cannabis market.
If only it were that simple...
I'm not saying that the market would be eradicated, rather it would no longer profiting criminal organisations. Look at Holland and Belgium - because you can go into a coffee shop to buy hash or grass, you do not buy these drugs from dodgy dealers down dark alleys. I consider this to be an improvement, quite apart from allowing the cops to stop wasting their time doing the paperwork to prosecute someone carrying a rabbit's dropping of hash.
It is also worth noting that the use of heroin among residents in Holland has been dropping ever since the acceptance of the coffee shops - so much for the slippery slope.
NO
Eric
To say that Drugs should remained banned because of the effects on Road Traffic accidents is rather beside the point.
Drink has a very big effect on Road Traffic accidents and this is dealt with by imposing a legal limit on how much alcohol is in your blood. Exactly the same could be done with drugs.
To say that Drugs should remained banned because of the effects on Road Traffic accidents is rather beside the point.
Drink has a very big effect on Road Traffic accidents and this is dealt with by imposing a legal limit on how much alcohol is in your blood. Exactly the same could be done with drugs.
nel said:
Look at Holland and Belgium - because you can go into a coffee shop to buy hash or grass, you do not buy these drugs from dodgy dealers down dark alleys.
Where do you think the coffee shops get there wholesale from?.
it's not going to happen here, for umpteen reasons. See EricMc's comments, he's on the money. Combine that with my original reasons, and there's not much more to debate.
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