These are the results of my poll on cannabis legalisation, stemming from my earlier post. As you can see, there’s almost a two-thirds majority for complete legalisation. With some reservations, this is the option I voted for.
However, as discussed before, the various issues around the comparison with tobacco are a major stumbling block on the path to legalisation. Many in public health believe that the complete eradication of tobacco use is a desirable long-term objective. Would the same be true of cannabis?
As Cooking Lager said in the comments on the earlier post, the question of “passive intoxication” means it’s unlikely that cannabis use would ever be widely accepted in pubs and pub gardens. It would need to confined to dedicated clubs and cafés.
I’ve also suggested in the past that legalisation might not quite be the nirvana some people imagine, and for current users the status of it being illegal but widely tolerated may in fact be preferable. Legalisation, regulation and taxation could take all the fun out of it.
Crime rates in Colorado and Alaska have shot up very high shortly after they legalized marijuana. Be careful what you wish for, it's not only public health the concern.
ReplyDeletehttp://naturalsociety.com/colorado-crime-rates-14-6-since-legalizing-marijuana/
ReplyDeleteFebruary data now in: Crime continues to explode in the legal pot metropolis of Denver
Deletehttp://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/03/february_data_now_in_crime_continues_to_explode_in_the_legal_pot_metropolis_of_denver.html
Alaska legalizes pot, crime explodes in Anchorage
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/03/alaska_legalizes_pot_crime_explodes_in_anchorage.html
Violent crime rate rises in aftermath of Alaska's medical marijuana legalization
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/03/violent_crime_rate_rises_in_aftermath_of_alaskas_medical_marijuana_legalization.html
Study: Chronic marijuana use leads to psychopathic features and crime
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/03/study_chronic_marijuana_use_leads_to_psychopathic_features_and_crime.html
Legal American weed is not leading to a major drop in Mexico's violent crime rates
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/03/legal_american_weed_is_not_leading_to_a_major_drop_in_mexicos_violent_crime_rates.html
Poll or no poll; I can’t see any government legalising the stuff. Cannabis isn’t quite the harmless recreational drug is proponents would have us believe. I have seen, at first hand, the way in which heavy users of this drug become lethargic when using it, and quite anxious and agitated when they can’t get hold of it. There is also the psychotic effect which stronger versions, such as “skunk”, can have on certain susceptible individuals.
ReplyDeleteI have smoked the occasional spliff in the past, and whilst the relaxed feeling it induced was pleasant enough, there are other far more enjoyable and more sensory ways of achieving the same state. I am talking about a well-crafted pint on beer, of course; enjoyed in a decent pub and in the company of friends.
Passing a smelly old joint around just doesn’t compare!
What's to stop someone drinking 10 pints of well crafted beer and subsequently damaging themselves and/or others? After all, dope smokers are much less likely to kick off after a skin-full. Or, more accurately, a skin up!
DeleteAnyway, if they legalise it they'll tax it, so there'd still be an underground market.
Alcohol has similar effects on people who drink large quantities on a regular basis.
DeleteAs I've said, this is an issue that doesn't affect me personally, and which, while I support it on an intellectual level, doesn't arouse much passion.
The current situation is an unsatisfactory halfway house that offends orderly minds.
I do also wonder whether regular cannabis use "mongs you out" (as the phrase goes) at levels where an equivalent consumption of alcohol wouldn't remotely affect your ability to function effectively in normal society.
I guess alcohol and drugs affect different people in different ways, more often than not re level of tolerance, physically and psychologically (perhaps rather than just level of consumption). A sound reason not encourage minors to do either.
DeleteAddressing "dope smokers are much less likely to kick off after a skin-full": Do a little research and you will find that the perpetrators of nearly all the recent terrorist attacks have been heavy cannabis users. (The murderers of Lee Rigby; the Paris attackers etc.)
DeleteI suppose one could say that terrorists are more likely to be cannabis users, given that alcohol is prohibited in a culture that is most likely to pursue terrorism. Anyway, most drinkers and dope smokers aren't a threat to third parties.
DeleteOverall, if one is opposed to cannabis legislation based on violent crime statistics one should also be calling for tougher laws on alcohol consumption. For example, by reducing drink drive limit or raising legal age of purchase - perhaps we can agree that younger people are more likely to commit alcohol related crime (and indeed, drug related crime).
http://www.ias.org.uk/Alcohol-knowledge-centre/Crime-and-social-impacts/Factsheets/UK-alcohol-related-crime-statistics.aspx
Righto, do we need a campaign for real pot to give this mistake a veneer of middle class respectability? I don't want common pot, I want discerning pot, me.
ReplyDeleteCannabis probably already has a veneer of middle class respectability; certainly amongst the chattering classes – the luvvies, the Islington set and other champagne socialists.
DeleteIt’s still illegal though!
Cookie's right of course, there's a heap of difference between that nice, safe (middle-class) pot which nice folks used to puff on at college and the filthy skunk that the plebs get binned on. You legalise one, you'll get the other, also. Is that what you want? Is it? Incidentally, anyone remember old enough to remember "Thai stick"? Those were the days, etc.
Deleteyeh, Muddge. Define Craft Pot or some sort of dispense and serve conditioning we can argue the toss over. We don't ant no chemical filth. I wanna toke on a bifta an old codger has told me is "smoking well today"
DeleteI find it somewhat contradictory that a doctor can prescribe opiates for analgesia but not cannabis despite cannabis being well known for easing some chronic conditions.
ReplyDeleteBTW what is the difference between legalising something an decriminalising it?
Decriminalisation means you make it legal to use and to have small amounts of drugs. However, it remain illegal to profit from their sale or supply. Legalisation means it is also legal to sell or grow drugs.
DeleteWhen you think about it the former makes little sense. If it is illegal to profit from drugs, where exactly do they think people are going to get their drugs from?
A couple of years back I had a crack at growing cherry tomatoes. They were delicious. Better than anything you can buy. I worked out the cost per punnet was about a fiver. You can buy then for 50p in Aldi. The supermarket ones are not as sweet but good enough and less faff.
DeleteHomebrew beer is a lot of faff and mess for something you can get in Tesco for buttons.
With cannabis, if you are thinking this can be taxed like fags then there is a point where, like the tomatoes or the homebrew beer, a few plants, a heat lamp and some kit from the garden center and all you are doing is legalising a little agricultural shed based hobby.