Originally posted by @pap
_ Iâd love to see how much we actually spend on investigation, enforcement and incarceration. With the role of Police Commissioner becoming politicised, weed busts are great for whacking onto the front page of the local rag. _
Bankers gamble other peopleâs money, commit fraud and crash the economy. No punishment.
Politicians, celebrities etc rape children for years, cover each others backs. No punishment.
Kid smokes a bit of weed. Criminal.
Ridiculous.
Yeah legalise it, Iâd much rather deal with someone high on cannabis than someone out of their face on drink. Drink tends to bring out aggresiveness, dope tends to put you to sleep and make you very hungry (I swear this is why 24 hour garages were more common in Uni towns when I was younger!).
However we have to be very aware of the potential risks and the fact that it *IS* and can be a gateway drug.
I knew a lot of people at Uni that were heavy cannabis users and their lives did take a turn for the worse, lethargy, general donât care attitude, being stoned during the day etc. etc.
There has been mention of the cost of drinking to the state, accidents, fights etc but cannabis runs the same risk. How many people will drive stoned because theyâve only had 1 joint??
Can we add a âsitting firmly on the fenceâ option to the vote??
My balance is way too fucked for that.
Originally posted by @BTripz
However we have to be very aware of the potential risks and the fact that it *IS* and can be a gateway drug.
This isnât an argument Iâm hugely sold on. I know people that have used things that are much worse and not touched cannabis, I know people that have smoked cannabis and never touched anything else and most things in between. You can just as easily argue that alcohol is a gateway drug, which will usually be the first thing anyone tries.
Always reminds me of this
There has been mention of the cost of drinking to the state, accidents, fights etc but cannabis runs the same risk. How many people will drive stoned because theyâve only had 1 joint??
Yeah, obviously driving stoned should not be encouraged and should be punishable in the same way to drinking. But again, itâs a weak argument for banning the substance out right. How many substances can you buy/be prescribed that mean you canât drive? To link to another point you made, Iâd rather someone was driving after a joint than after drinking. Not condoning either at all, but one is certainly more dangerous than the other.
You could argue that alcohol is a gateway drug to cannabis. Many people try their first joint when they are pissed.
Originally posted by @KRG
You can just as easily argue that alcohol is a gateway drug, which will usually be the first thing anyone tries.
Originally posted by @pap
You could argue that alcohol is a gateway drug to cannabis. Many people try their first joint when they are pissed.
Alright, echo.
I did read your point, KRG - but I was looking to make the direct link between the two.
I smoked my first bifter when tanked up and hurled my guts up two hours later. Put me off weed for life.
I reckon legalise it. It canât be any worse than being on the turps. Except for late night trips to the nearest garage to clean them out of wagon wheels and cheddars.
Biff & Booze are a bad combo.
Originally posted by @KRG
Originally posted by @Numptyboi
Originally posted by @pap
You could argue that alcohol is a gateway drug to cannabis. Many people try their first joint when they are pissed.
I smoked my first bifter when tanked up and hurled my guts up two hours later. Put me off weed for life.
Biff & Booze are a bad combo.
Depends which way round you do it.
Anytime anyone says âI tried weed, but I felt sickâ I ask them if they were drunk beforehand. 99% of the time they were.
Yeah, I was. Absolutely cunted.
Takes the edge off the smack cravings.
Legalise it. Iâll make my own mind up, thanks.
I think that your personality more than âgatewayâ products is what will lead to drug and alcohol use and abuse. As far as weed goes there is a lot to say for the relief it can bring to MS sufferers plus there have been very positive links between light cannabis usage and controlling fits in children. As with almost anything, overuse can give you problems, not just limited to staring into the fridge for minutes on end. Its all about balance.
I am (was) a big fan of the âhighâ that you get from good quality weed but not once mixed with tobacco, it changes everything, the nicoteen rush is way too intense. I think on balance I would like to see it legalised if only to annoy the filth and remove the possibilty of looking into their smug faces when getting nicked for having a dusty old hash lump the size of a pea unknowingly hidden in the bottom of your backpack.
The boy Farron speaks sense, from this Huffington article
This week, Farron said cannabis should be legalised. The policy shift was accompanied by an admission that he had smoked the drug while at university. Did he enjoy it? âI donât remember,â The MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale laughs.
But he says it is his experience as an MP, not his youthful experimentation, that informs the decision.
âI donât think my position on this issue is affected by that at all. I think itâs just right to honest about it. For what itâs worth, I take the view that as a liberal you should be against everything that robs you of your liberty and that includes stuff that youâre addicted to,â he says.
He attacks the âpolitically easyâ decision of many MPs to ignore evidence that, he argues, shows legalisation is the way forward. âWhen you look at the damage done by drug-related crime in so many of our communities even in a pleasant place like the Lake District, itâs real and itâs heart breaking. To ignore the evidence for a change in regulation that could make that better, I think thatâs really reprehensible.â
Before he became Conservative leader, Cameron famously held a more liberal position on drugs. âI think itâs focus group driven rather than evidence driven. The same applies to his position on refugees,â Farron says of the prime minister. âHe is a follower not a leader.â
âAs an MP you see the damage drugs do to families and communities and my motivation is about that. And you see very talented people brought very, very low. Families which were otherwise stable brought to their knees by addiction.â
Legalisation, he says, will enable the government to regulate the strength of the drug so people know what they are smoking while at the same time âcompletely kicking the legs from underneathâ criminals.
âYou also take away cannabis from the same marketplace as harder drugs then you significantly reduce the chances of people moving from one to another because youâre just not in the same place when youâre buying it,â he says.
Farron also argues it would mean people who have problems are treated as people with a health problem rather than a criminal one and therefore are more likely to come forward to seek help.
To âcap it allâ, he adds, a legalised cannabis market would raise ÂŁ1bn in taxes which could be ploughed back into police, healthcare and education.
Fuck me, a british politician talking sense on drug policy. Thatâs nearly knocked me off my chair. Fair play Tim.
Cheers for sharing BBB.
The more I hear from him, the more and more impressed I am by Farron.
Originally posted by @Chertsey-Saint
The more I hear from him, the more and more impressed I am by Fa,rron.
And yet, the thrust of his points have been made by others, including me, and you havenât been moved.
I donât mind Farron, and I donât usually have a great deal of time for evangelical Christians.