Legalise smoky weeds

There was an interesting article in todays(that is, Friday) Irish Independant. A reporter visited both Holland and Sweden - two countries diametrically opposed in relation to their stance on drugs. Before reading it - I would have leaned toward's legalising cannabis in Ireland. Now I'm not so certain.

In relaxing the rules, we risk the incursion of criminal elements that exploit the lax laws (Holland is known as the drugs baron of Europe), as well as the risk that the population will spend most of their time trying to get high.
Now *ahem* don't get me wrong. I'm in favor of experiencing different states of mind - trying to get a different perspective of the world sometimes.. such as the transitory thrill of alcohol consumption.. but I like to keep my grounding in reality. In other words, I have a pretty lax attitude towards experimentation, but I have a narrow view of substance addiction, which has demonstrated it's ability to completely destroy lives.

On the other hand we have 'squeaky clean' Sweden. Even experimentation with drugs can land a person with fines, prison sentences or therapy sessions. (As an aside - the word 'therapy session' sometimes makes me shudder - it's a little like the Chinese method of silencing dissidents with 'counseling').

It's the opposing arguments I have mooted previously... either we allow people the freedom they desire, with the potential risks and dangers that may ensue through it's abuse - or regulate their lives in a manner that authority deems most suited to the common good.

I am as yet undecided in which I prefer.. although I do feel that a people may be given as much freedom as it is generally felt that they can capably handle - that is which society as a whole can handle with responsibility. I now think of the Irish people, who have on so many occasions demonstrated their *maturity* in relation to alcohol (and this is actually a hypocrisy as I am guilty of my share of drunken antics) and wonder if we can assume the collective responsibility of a legalisation of cannabis (never mind heroin/coke)

You're all idiots.
Bar the last two.

I'd be in favour of legalising it, simply because it's not dangerous, at least compared to legal drugs.

If anything, it has been proven to be of immense benifit in the treatment of certain types of psychological depression (not clinical, or manaic!), and other psychological disorders. It can aid a threapist find the root cause of the disorder, which might remain hidden while the patient is more lucid.


So on medical grounds i'd support the legalisation definitely. But I do feel that very strict laws would have to accompany such a move, when first introducing the drug to the society.

No smoking is bad for you etc

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by scuzzy:

Have you ever been to Holland?
The place is a ****hole to put it mildly.
The crime level is sky high, not to mention the fact you're surrounded by a load of zombies 24/7. I'm vehemently opposed to the legalisation of Cannabis because it will be detremental to society whichever way you look at it.</font>

Havíng spend over 20 years in the country before coming to Ireand I couldn't agree with you more....

#mayhem

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Shinji:
Cannabis is a de-motivational drug, if you smoke it a lot, it does take away the will to work etc... You basically become a bum.

Then again, so is alcohol. Drink it a lot, you become a drunk, and end up... well, wandering around like a braindead zombie.

Yeah, you see a fair few stoners wandering around, utterly useless to society in general. Question is: would they be any better if they had no access to cannabis? No, of course not. They're like this because they're bloody wasters in the first place.

You give a joint to someone who is actually a motivated, ambitious person, they smoke it, chill out, have a laugh, eat some munchies, go to bed, wake up in the morning and go to work. And - get this - they're not hung over. They're not sitting in work stinking of beer, feeling queasy, being narky and having a thumping headache. They haven't got violent and into a fight the night before.

On the other hand, if you're a waster, you'll find SOMETHING to waste away on - be it soft drugs, hard drugs, or good 'ol alcohol.

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OK lads listen, I hail from the first country to "legalise" canabis, and let me tell you; it does not work, period.
The number of "motivated", well-adjusted people I have seen going down the drain on a canabis addiction is alarming. As far as de-crminalising it is going to sever the link with hard-drugs? Think again, any coffee-shop or house-dealer I knew (and believe me, I knew plenty) was also selling a selection of hard-drugs. Anyways I'll stop know before I go into a full fledged rant!!

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by RasTa:
mayhem,yes it is true most dutch ppl dont smoke ganja its the tourist's coming in who get wasted
i seeen it on a show on channel 4 why cannibus should be legalized
see you allways read about the badness about ganja and once ina while something comes along sayin why it should be legal
now i dotn want ireland to turn into amsterdamm with coffee shops everywere i jsut want some place were i can go and get ganja without having to worry about the pigs or anything and go home and smoke it in me house or with freinds</font>

Rasta, will you please read my other postings before you reply and completely miss the point!
I am from Holland, I lived there for 28 years an regularly go back, and let me tell you, an awfull lot of people in Holland smoke "ganja" on a regular basis. Never mind bleedin' channel 4....

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by nesf:
I'd be in favour of legalising it, simply because it's not dangerous
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what are you on about do u see how many ppl are suffering around the world from smoking alone . if this was brought in we would be back to square 1 and at the moment the goverments around the world are trying to stop ppl smoking . if you dont think they are just look at laws smoking companies have to agree to compaired to the ones they had 50 years ago .

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what type of world will we live in when there is no world ?