Ingram85 Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 There are some folks that certainly shouldn't smoke cannabis, there are some folks that shouldn't drink booze, ... neck Valium, ... snort cocaine, ...take paracetamol, ... eat peanuts etc etc There's no hard and fast rule unfortunately, everyone's different. It's a lesser of two evils situation. Though on the surface the Dutch model would seem to function better, and it's a revenue stream lost to the crims. . The best post I've read. Nail. Head. That's a bingo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrackpotForeigner Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 There are some folks that certainly shouldn't smoke cannabis, there are some folks that shouldn't drink booze, ... neck Valium, ... snort cocaine, ...take paracetamol, ... eat peanuts etc etc There's no hard and fast rule unfortunately, everyone's different. It's a lesser of two evils situation. Though on the surface the Dutch model would seem to function better, and it's a revenue stream lost to the crims. . The best post I've read. Nail. Head. That's a bingo. Yeah. And another couple of things: Making it illegal, as Xann says, provides revenue to criminals who trade in violence and threats of violence in order to operate. They are insulated from, and therefore have no interest in the need to provide a safe, uncontaminated product. Considering the popularity of the product in question, it's pretty disgraceful that so many governments prefer to simply persecute users. Another major consequence of the simplistic approach is that it gives the police effective power over people who are guilty of nothing more than a weakness for something that is, at worst, mildly self-destructive. Frankly I've never met a police officer worthy of having the power to ruin my, or anyone else's life on that basis. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legov Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 There are some folks that certainly shouldn't smoke cannabis, there are some folks that shouldn't drink booze, ... neck Valium, ... snort cocaine, ...take paracetamol, ... eat peanuts etc etc There's no hard and fast rule unfortunately, everyone's different. It's a lesser of two evils situation. Though on the surface the Dutch model would seem to function better, and it's a revenue stream lost to the crims. . The best post I've read. Nail. Head. That's a bingo. Making it illegal, as Xann says, provides revenue to criminals who trade in violence and threats of violence in order to operate. They are insulated from, and therefore have no interest in the need to provide a safe, uncontaminated product. Considering the popularity of the product in question, it's pretty disgraceful that so many governments prefer to simply persecute users. Devil's advocate here - if users are persecuted, people would be discouraged from buying illegal drugs. Hence demand for the products would drop, jeopardising the business of the criminals who deal in them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrackpotForeigner Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 (edited) Devil's advocate here - if users are persecuted, people would be discouraged from buying illegal drugs. Hence demand for the products would drop, jeopardising the business of the criminals who deal in them. That's presumably the thinking behind the policies in most of the West, and in Singapore. It's a fantasy. You're persecuting people for liking some mildly harmful, unusual cigarettes. And to discourage them properly you need to be able to hang them, like in Singapore, otherwise they fail to be discouraged, like in the US, UK, Australia, Europe, etc. Is hanging people for having a puff a worthwhile price to pay? Maybe it depends on your point of view, but I'd guess that most people would agree that it isn't. Edited April 20, 2013 by CrackpotForeigner 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 Watch this film if you can 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCforever1991 Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 (edited) Watch this film if you can That's a powerful trailer.. It is an unwinnable war. Edited April 20, 2013 by AVFCforever1991 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 That is what happens when you privatise jails - you get competition to lock people up. **** that. It has less to do with moral objections to drug taking and more to do with turning a profit. And, let's not kid ourselves, a brief stint in jail does more to ruin someone's life than a spliff now and then. Which is the greater evil? Doesn't take much to figure that out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coda Posted April 20, 2013 Share Posted April 20, 2013 Watch this film if you can I linked this on iplayer in the film thread but it's now unavailable. Powerful and depressing. I think the stat was 25% of the world's prisoners are in America, which has 5% of the population. Can't see it changing as the politicians are terrified of looking soft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legov Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 Watch this film if you can I linked this on iplayer in the film thread but it's now unavailable. Powerful and depressing. I think the stat was 25% of the world's prisoners are in America, which has 5% of the population. Can't see it changing as the politicians are terrified of looking soft. I read somewhere we have a higher incarceration rate than even America. I'm not sure how true that is, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 The US has the highest incarceration rate in the world. It's about five times higher than ours is per capita. A cynic might point out that the US have basically legalised slavery with the way their prison system works. The manufacturing output of their prison population is huge, the average wage is about 25c an hour. I'm a supporter of capitalism, but not to that extreme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 America is the most corrupt country in the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 I wouldn't go as far as that, but it's definitely not the land of the free like they seem to market themselves as. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legov Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 The US has the highest incarceration rate in the world. It's about five times higher than ours is per capita. A cynic might point out that the US have basically legalised slavery with the way their prison system works. The manufacturing output of their prison population is huge, the average wage is about 25c an hour. I'm a supporter of capitalism, but not to that extreme. Privatised prisons. Utter insanity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstonMartin82 Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 The US has the highest incarceration rate in the world. It's about five times higher than ours is per capita. A cynic might point out that the US have basically legalised slavery with the way their prison system works. The manufacturing output of their prison population is huge, the average wage is about 25c an hour. I'm a supporter of capitalism, but not to that extreme. Privitised prisons. Can't believe that this is still around in the developed world... it's something that belongs to stay in the medieval times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted April 28, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted April 28, 2013 tbf, the benefit of the $0.25/hr labor goes to the state, even in the prisons that are operated by contractors.Someone's got to make the license plates....Angola (state owned, not that far today from the plantation it was before the war) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCforever1991 Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 (edited) Like Rev said, it's legalised slavery. Edited April 28, 2013 by AVFCforever1991 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davkaus Posted April 28, 2013 Share Posted April 28, 2013 (edited) Someone's got to make the license plates.... Yes they have. What's the unemployment rate like over there? Edited April 28, 2013 by Davkaus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingfisher Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 Uruguay look like they may be taking steps to legalise Canabis. I think it's a positive step for that country, they've obviously had a more grown up debate about it over there than we get here. It's a complicated argument with no simple answers, no doubt, it's not exactly harmless, what hedonistic drug isn't? But it's not the huge danger to society it's made out to be either, nowhere near. I personally don't like the drug, it does absolutely nothing for me. But I know so many people who do use it on a daily basis that it seems like an absurd situation that its illegal. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kkr Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 Anyone tried hemp supplements or hemp seeds for nutritional purposes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted September 3, 2013 Share Posted September 3, 2013 Ok, get your heads around this... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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