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HSE Poll for/against cannabis legalisation

245

Comments

  • #32
    tommyhaas
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,100 ✭✭✭tommyhaas


    Nevore wrote: »
    I doubt it. Consider the markup an eighth of hash. It literally grows out of the fúcking ground!

    Yea but consider the cost of all the public committees involved in the process

    I have no idea about the cost of hash these days, but I just have zero faith in any public body running an efficient operation


  • #33
    Wertz
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,909 ✭✭✭✭Wertz


    tommyhaas wrote: »
    I reckon Gillegan etc run a more efficient operation then the State, and could probably supply it cheaper then the numerous public bodies that would no doubt be involved

    Gilligan flooded this country with the lowest grade Morrocan crap he could lay his paws on, bought in bulk for even more of a discount.
    Why would we import cannabis when it's as easy to grow it in the country?
    It'd be like buying bottled water when you've a spring in the back garden...


  • #34
    Bi6N
    Closed Accounts Posts: 58 ✭✭Bi6N


    Any dealers I know would stop selling the instant it was made legal.
    They only do it so that it doesn't cost a morgage, staying in smoke each month.

    The big time dealers need all the little average joes to make money, average joes are the majority of the drug workforce.
    If there is no money in it, because anyone over 18 with an ID card can get high quality bud for much less then current street prices.(not to mention its safe, unsprayed aswell as cutting out the need to get involved with someone who may sell much harder drugs).
    Then that means business is over for these crooks, I'l let you into a secrect.
    Cannabis at small amounts is the hardest drugs to make money off, due to its insane cost(Unless you grow it yourself). Goodbye avergae joe work force... goodbye massive criminal profit.

    It will take a while to grind to a halt but not as long as some people would think!


  • #35
    Amhran Nua
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,124 ✭✭✭Amhran Nua


    flash1080 wrote: »
    Drug tourism is one of the arguments put forward in support of legalisation. Why would you prohibit tourists from using drugs, one law for them, one for us? Will you stop them from drinking alcohol and smoking tobacco too?
    Learn from the mistakes of others.
    Dutch 'to ban' drug tourism
    Foreigners heading to Amsterdam's famous marijuana cafés will soon will be banned from buying cannabis in a bid to end drug tourism to the Netherlands.
    flash1080 wrote: »
    The gangs won't just disappear, they'll find another way of making money, maybe focus more on hard drugs. If someone had significant control over cannabis supply in Ireland and it was legalised, while profits would be slightly affected due to taxes, why would they let someone else muscle in on it and make the profits?
    How exactly do you propose they would stop it? You think they'll slug it out with the Defence Forces or something? They won't disappear but their power will be severely curtailed, which is unquestionably a good thing.
    flash1080 wrote: »
    "Victims of drugs" is complete bull. They're not victims, they chose to do drugs. Why shouldn't they be criminalised if they show no regard for the law? If someone breaks other laws they are criminalised.
    The focus when dealing with the problems caused by drugs must primarily be first on prevention through education, then a cure. The reasons that people might take highly addictive drugs are many and varied, its a lot more complicated than wilful lawbreaking. The only people I'd take a hard line against would be suppliers of hard drugs, it would bother me not at all if people like that never again saw the light of day.
    Wertz wrote: »
    I don't know if you've noticed but the country's broke...any tourist is a desirable one, if they're going to come here and spend money. "Drug" tourists still need to fly, still need to eat, to stay in hotels, to buy stuff, use taxis: all that good sh*t that keeps money flowing.
    Beggars can't be choosers.
    The Dutch are trying to ban drug tourism right now, because they cause more problems than they are worth, so maybe your economic benefits aren't all they cracked up to be.
    Wertz wrote: »
    I like your use of the word "We" too....you don't speak for me or anyone else so please don't claim to...
    These are the best ways as far as I can see for the country, we, as a whole to move forward, in my opinion. If you've a problem with the specific points raised, I'll be happy to discuss them with you. If you've a problem with the diction, that's your lookout.


  • #36
    Caoimhín
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,789 ✭✭✭Caoimhín


    flash1080 wrote: »
    If cannabis was legalised then the well established dealers could take control of the legitimate cannabis business and use it as a front for their illegal business activities, using for example "coffee shops" to launder money from the illegal side of their business. Or they could funnel money from the legitimate business into their pockets and avoid paying tax on it. The second way is arguably better because it means more €€€€€ for the dealers.

    Using that line of reasoning, if heroin was legalised, dealers would open pharmacy businesses to sell it.

    The only issue I have with cannabis being legalised is that the Irish people dont seem to have the maturity to deal with things like drink and drugs. In my opinion, it would only lead to people smoking it too much and making themselves ill.

    Having lived in Holland, i found the Dutch to be some of the most conservative and sober people in Europe.


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  • #37
    mikom
    Closed Accounts Posts: 16,391 ✭✭✭✭mikom


    flash1080 wrote: »
    If cannabis was legalised then the well established dealers could take control of the legitimate cannabis business and use it as a front for their illegal business activities, using for example "coffee shops" to launder money from the illegal side of their business. Or they could funnel money from the legitimate business into their pockets and avoid paying tax on it. The second way is arguably better because it means more €€€€€ for the dealers.

    What's stopping them using a regular coffee shop as a front at present.
    They don't need a legitimate cannabis business to launder money, so I don't know where you are getting that.

    Nevore wrote: »
    I doubt it. Consider the markup an eighth of hash. It literally grows out of the fúcking ground!

    Uninformed opinion is uninformed


  • #38
    Bi6N
    Closed Accounts Posts: 58 ✭✭Bi6N


    Amhran Nua wrote: »
    Learn from the mistakes of others.



    How exactly do you propose they would stop it? You think they'll slug it out with the Defence Forces or something? They won't disappear but their power will be severely curtailed, which is unquestionably a good thing.


    The focus when dealing with the problems caused by drugs must primarily be first on prevention through education, then a cure. The reasons that people might take highly addictive drugs are many and varied, its a lot more complicated than wilful lawbreaking. The only people I'd take a hard line against would be suppliers of hard drugs, it would bother me not at all if people like that never again saw the light of day.


    The Dutch are trying to ban drug tourism right now, because they cause more problems than they are worth, so maybe your economic benefits aren't all they cracked up to be.


    These are the best ways as far as I can see for the country, we, as a whole to move forward, in my opinion. If you've a problem with the specific points raised, I'll be happy to discuss them with you. If you've a problem with the diction, that's your lookout.

    http://www.nrc.nl/international/article2246821.ece/Netherlands_to_close_prisons_for_lack_of_criminals


  • #39
    AntiMatter
    Closed Accounts Posts: 447 ✭✭AntiMatter


    Nevore wrote: »
    I doubt it. Consider the markup an eighth of hash. It literally grows out of the fúcking ground!

    After the farmer is paid for growing and processing the product, it then has to be smuggled from the mountains to the coast, where the Coast Guard, Army, or Customs have to be paid off, then there is the cost of getting it across to Spain, with, usually, some of the Spanish authorities having to be paid, then it has to be transported from Spain to it's final destination.

    Factor in potential losses from captures by non-corrupt authorities, plus bad debts, and suddenly the markup is not so attractive as first it seems.


  • #40
    m5ex9oqjawdg2i
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,217 ✭✭✭✭m5ex9oqjawdg2i


    tommyhaas wrote: »
    Wouldnt say hate, just dislike. And its nothing to do with the educated, Iv no problem with graduates

    Its just the whole mayday/g8 protesting types really

    Yea, because every student protests... :rolleyes: The protesters at the G8 summit are actually every student and hippy in the world, imagine that... :rolleyes:
    Caoimhín wrote: »
    Using that line of reasoning, if heroin was legalised, dealers would open pharmacy businesses to sell it.

    The only issue I have with cannabis being legalised is that the Irish people dont seem to have the maturity to deal with things like drink and drugs. In my opinion, it would only lead to people smoking it too much and making themselves ill.

    Having lived in Holland, i found the Dutch to be some of the most conservative and sober people in Europe.

    Generalise much?

    Your opinions are contrary to the facts.


  • #41
    Caoimhín
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,789 ✭✭✭Caoimhín


    John Gorgeous Plane wrote: »
    Generalise much?

    Your opinions are contrary to the facts.

    Well the Irish relationship with alcohol would suggest a certain immaturity when it comes to mood altering substances.


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  • #42
    Amhran Nua
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,124 ✭✭✭Amhran Nua


    Caoimhín wrote: »
    Well the Irish relationship with alcohol would suggest a certain immaturity when it comes to mood altering substances.
    Not so much.
    McCoy wrote in The Irish Times that that spending on alcohol is recorded differently across the EU in contrast to Ireland. When comparisons of alcohol consumption are made, distinction is normally made between spending on alcohol in pubs on the one hand and in off-licences on the other. In most European countries only spending in off-licences is attributed to the category "alcohol" in national statistics, whereas money spent in pubs and restaurants is included in categories such as "recreation" or "entertainment".


    The Irish numbers, in contrast, include spending in off-licences and pub sales combined. A recent Drinks Industry Group of Ireland report estimated that 70 per cent of alcohol in Ireland is bought in pubs and restaurants. This is a substantially higher proportion than our European counterparts, largely due to the greater propensity for Irish people to drink in pubs and restaurants rather than at home. The inclusion of both categories therefore greatly inflates alcohol expenditure levels in Ireland in comparison with other EU countries. While there is a continuing trend towards more off-licence sales in Ireland, it is the classification distinction that significantly explains the exaggerated comparisons of Irish alcohol expenditure with other countries.


    In the context of a comprehensive measurement of alcohol spending, it could be argued that the Irish proportion of expenditure on alcohol is not overestimated; rather other countries' expenditure ratios are underestimated. The recent national accounts from the Central Statistics Office show that expenditure on alcohol in Ireland is 8.6 per cent of total personal expenditure, which has declined from 10.8 per cent in the mid-1990s. The recent EU-funded report claims that Ireland spends three times more than any other country on alcohol. However, using directly comparable data, a far different story is told.


    Between 1995 and 2004, households in Ireland spent an average of 2.6 per cent of their personal expenditure on alcoholic beverages - when measured as off-licence consumption. In Greece the proportion is smaller, at 0.9 per cent, but certainly not 10 times smaller as widely reported. Ireland was surpassed by Finland, Luxembourg and the Czech Republic, which had averages of 3.8 per cent, 3 per cent and 5.2 per cent respectively. When on-licence trade is factored back in, Ireland would emerge towards the top of the expenditure league, but by no means anywhere near the exaggerated multiples normally reported.


    Expenditure figures are a combination of the actual quantity of alcohol consumed and its price. The fact that taxes on alcohol are higher in Ireland than in most EU member states inflates the expenditure levels without necessarily implying greater consumption levels. Per-capita alcohol consumption levels in Ireland are high by international standards, but not disproportionately so. The trend over the last decade was for actual alcohol consumed to rise as income levels increased significantly, but at the same time the proportion of expenditure on alcohol declined. A number of factors led to the increase in alcohol consumed, particularly the huge growth in the numbers of people in the 18-25 age group and increased inward migration of adults.


  • #43
    mahamageehad
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,673 ✭✭✭mahamageehad


    Highly disappointed!!

    I read the title as HSE poll for/against cannabalism!!! :P :eek: :confused::D


  • #44
    Wolf Club
    Closed Accounts Posts: 417 ✭✭Wolf Club


    Most people seem to looking at this issue from a economics based point of view: "think of the money it would generate", etc. While this is certainly valid, I think ending prohibition is more important in terms of the freedom of an individual. If an adult wishes to partake in a relatively harmless act that doesn't really have bad consequences on society, then it is wrong of the government to stop them. Of course, the brain-dead "just say no" shít that is being spoonfed to us will have it's influence on the majority that are willing to accept it, so I think education on the subject is very important if prohibition is going to change.


  • #45
    Wertz
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,909 ✭✭✭✭Wertz


    Amhran Nua wrote: »
    Learn from the mistakes of others.





    The Dutch are trying to ban drug tourism right now, because they cause more problems than they are worth, so maybe your economic benefits aren't all they cracked up to be.

    As a frequent visitor I don't see the criminal problems that article claims (and as much as I like the Telegraph's journalism, I abhor some of their conservative agendas)...Drug tourism increases demand on local suppliers, who are breaking the law by growing/supplying cannabis and vistors from land-border countries who smuggle small amounts back over their own border. I don't see specfic rises in crime detaled in that article...I can only assume that drugs gangs shoot each other over there just like they do all over the planet.
    I couldn't see it creating a rise in anti social behaviour or low level street crime and certainly not in violent acts...


    Amhrain Nua wrote:
    These are the best ways as far as I can see for the country, we, as a whole to move forward, in my opinion. If you've a problem with the specific points raised, I'll be happy to discuss them with you. If you've a problem with the diction, that's your lookout.

    I took your "We" to mean that of your political party. That it's your own opinion still doesn't mean that it's the accepted one or that it's in any way more correct than mine or anyone elses. The problem we've had for too long here is the attitude of some of our "betters" thinking that their own collective opinions are the right ones.

    The nation is happy to accept people coming over on the piss here for the weekend and only delighted to have punters over for the race meetings throughout the year...so if alcohol and gambling are worthy of tourism, why not cannabis?
    Are drug tourists going to start robbing old ladies to feed their habit whilst they're here? Murdering each other in the street? Evade taxes?
    I'm just not seeing a coherent reason as to why people coming here to do one or other things is perfectly fine but another group is some of danger to the nation or any more undesirable than the other groups.


  • #46
    Badgermonkey
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,018 ✭✭✭Badgermonkey


    Amhran Nua wrote: »
    We don't want drug tourism. The Dutch have taken steps to curtail drug tourism, because they don't want it either.

    When you say 'The Dutch', you are presumably speaking of the minority coaltion of the CDA, PVV and VVD and not the wider Dutch population, who have always seemed to me fairly apathetic on the issue of soft drug sales and consumption.

    The steps taken to curtail drug tourism pertain to the peripheral border towns, where the volume of Belgian, German and even French 'day trippers' has a tangible impact on the ability of the townsfolk and traders to go about their business.

    The public nuisance argument as it relates to Amsterdam, Utrecht, Den Haag and other major urban centres is utterly spurious.

    Unfortunately, an ill judged immigration policy, which increasingly pandered to the model of multiculturalism over integration has led to the present unholy trinity of the centre right gaining power.

    It would have been fascinating to follow the career of Pim Fortuyn and what impact he would have had on national politics, a far more impressive figure than Geert Wilders imho.


  • #47
    ragg
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,853 ✭✭✭ragg


    Elevator wrote: »
    what the fcuk has that got to do with this thread?

    See the way you just flew off the handle there? thats stage one, canabis enduced paranoia - next stop psycosis


  • #48
    Absurdum
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,444 ✭✭✭Absurdum


    everytime this thread is made, another RTE Liveline researcher is literally worked to death


  • #49
    AntiMatter
    Closed Accounts Posts: 447 ✭✭AntiMatter


    Absurdum wrote: »
    everytime this thread is made, another RTE Liveline researcher is literally worked to death

    Who said cannabis doesn't kill?


  • #50
    Absurdum
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,444 ✭✭✭Absurdum


    AntiMatter wrote: »
    Who said cannabis doesn't kill?

    howya joe de pushers hang around outside de skewels and give de childers de drugs for notin to get dem hoooooked and dey shoot dem wen dey cant pay de pushers dats how it starts joe dey start smokin de hash and den its the heroin de next week joe i waz reedin abourit in se sunday wuruld de oddur week joe yer man paul williams is always writin abourit


  • #51
    goat2
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,934 ✭✭✭goat2


    OisinT wrote: »
    So sick of the ignorant old people in this country voting.

    I'm sick of dumb people voting too... old and dumb are too easily swayed by hype.
    i am not against cannabis and i would be in the catagory you would call old and ignorant


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  • #52
    Amhran Nua
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,124 ✭✭✭Amhran Nua


    Wertz wrote: »
    The nation is happy to accept people coming over on the piss here for the weekend and only delighted to have punters over for the race meetings throughout the year...so if alcohol and gambling are worthy of tourism, why not cannabis?
    Because the kind of cannabis users from around Europe that are attracted to drug destinations are quite often at best undesireables. If cannabis were legalised throughout Europe all at once, that would be a very different story. See below for more details.
    Badgermonkey wrote: »
    When you say 'The Dutch', you are presumably speaking of the minority coaltion of the CDA, PVV and VVD and not the wider Dutch population, who have always seemed to me fairly apathetic on the issue of soft drug sales and consumption.
    The democratically elected Dutch government, yes.
    Badgermonkey wrote: »
    The public nuisance argument as it relates to Amsterdam, Utrecht, Den Haag and other major urban centres is utterly spurious.
    There's an interesting perspective on it here:
    The locals, and the critics, are right that Amsterdam is now full of drug addicts. And they’re basically right that nobody wants to live in a city full of drug addicts. The pot smokers certainly don’t want to live in a city of drug addicts; most pot smokers are not drug addicts, and what a buzz kill it is to have your ephemeral mental state ruined by an angry guy shooting up in an alley. Not even the drug addicts probably want to live in a city full of drug addicts. But there are certainly a lot of true drug addicts among the people who think it’s worth traveling all the way to Amsterdam where strong hydroponic weed and peyote and mushrooms are sold legally and cheaply, over the counter.

    And so among the people in Amsterdam who abuse drugs, very few of them are Dutch. You can say this is a failure for the city itself, but you can also say that the Dutch experiment is a success: Dutch levels of hard drug abuse and addiction are low by international standards.


  • #53
    ScumLord
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 28,787 ✭✭✭✭ScumLord


    Badgermonkey wrote: »
    The steps taken to curtail drug tourism pertain to the peripheral border towns, where the volume of Belgian, German and even French 'day trippers' has a tangible impact on the ability of the townsfolk and traders to go about their business.
    I wonder how it will affect the Netherlands tourism. Amsterdam is an international hub it get's traffic anyway and many people that are touring Europe just spend a few days there on the way to somewhere else because it's an unmissable city due to it's reputation. Without drugs it's just another beautiful European city.

    How many people actually leave Amsterdam and go see the rest of the Netherlands? Not many I'd say it's not really famous for much more you can see just about as much of the windmills, flowers and flatlands as you'd want to see on the train out of the country.
    Amhran Nua wrote: »
    Because the kind of cannabis users from around Europe that are attracted to drug destinations are quite often at best undesireables. If cannabis were legalised throughout Europe all at once, that would be a very different story. See below for more details.
    I don't agree with that at all and find it a bit insulating. I've never met a scummy person or had any bad experiences in any of Amsterdams coffeeshops. It's not just that everybody's whacked out of it on cannabis either but the people that are attracted to the coffeeshops aren't bad people. Most are backpackers on holiday specifically to meet people. They're only undesirables to people that don't agree with their lifestyle.

    You do see junkies but it's the same group of junkies that prey on tourists for money they're not actually that bad either I've talked to them and they will turn nasty on you if you don't give them money but their little junkies tell them to **** off and they'll run scared. I've seen the same 5 or 6 of them that hang around the centre in the early morning, they're ran by the police during the day, there are loads of police around the "bad parts" of the centre of Amsterdam it barely manages to hold onto it's manufactured seediness.


  • #54
    Badgermonkey
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,018 ✭✭✭Badgermonkey


    Amhran Nua wrote: »


    The democratically elected Dutch government, yes.

    A minority coalition who captured less than half the popular vote.

    Robin Goldsteins article was interesting, it's an opinion piece and many of his pronouncements are very far off the mark indeed (factual inaccuracies begin in paragraph 3). I get the impression he, much like his countryfolk he mocks, never ventured beyond Amsterdam Centrum, i.e. from the Singel to Oudezijds Achterburgwal.

    As a scholar at Berkeley, Goldstein should nip over to Oakland or even downtown SFO for a glimpse of a truly illicit, seedy and downright dangerous subculture.

    Closer to home, the Dublin streetscapes are transparently scarred by drug abuse and related chronic low level public nuisance so far in excess of anything I ever witnessed as a student in The Netherlands, Amsterdam included.

    Some within the current administration wish to see the end of gedoogbeleid (policy of tolerance) but this is primarily politically and idealogically motivated.

    To portray it as a move to clean up anti-social behaviour on the part of tourists in major urban centres is disingenuous on their part and naive on yours.


  • #55
    AntiMatter
    Closed Accounts Posts: 447 ✭✭AntiMatter


    The locals, and the critics, are right that Amsterdam is now full of drug addicts. And they’re basically right that nobody wants to live in a city full of drug addicts. The pot smokers certainly don’t want to live in a city of drug addicts; most pot smokers are not drug addicts, and what a buzz kill it is to have your ephemeral mental state ruined by an angry guy shooting up in an alley. Not even the drug addicts probably want to live in a city full of drug addicts. But there are certainly a lot of true drug addicts among the people who think it’s worth traveling all the way to Amsterdam where strong hydroponic weed and peyote and mushrooms are sold legally and cheaply, over the counter.

    What a load of crap.

    I both live in Amsterdam, and frequent coffeeshops. These days you rarely encounter junkies in the city centre, unlike our own Fair City, and the notion that people travelling to Amsterdam for weed and mushrooms are drug addicts is just a little wide of the mark.


  • #56
    Wertz
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,909 ✭✭✭✭Wertz


    Amhran Nua wrote: »
    Because the kind of cannabis users from around Europe that are attracted to drug destinations are quite often at best undesireables.

    Well you and your party's opinions and general attitude are equally undesirable if you're willing to make that grossly presumptious and downright insulting generalisation about people who choose to do as they do, breaking no laws along the way.

    How do you know they (we) are undesirables? Have you been there yourself or are you basing your presumptions on what someone else has had to say about it or write an opinion piece on?

    Cannabis users by your definition are in fact even less desirable in their own countries of origin since, whilst there, they are also breaking the local drug laws...you're saying that those who decide to travel to somewhere where the law is less strict, and that the substance can be obtained and consumed in a more amenable and sociable way are more undesirable than those who wish to stay home and fund local drug gangs, make work for the police and generally play the undesirable?

    That's some messed up logic right there.


  • #57
    Badgermonkey
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,018 ✭✭✭Badgermonkey


    Wertz wrote: »
    Well you and your party's opinions and general attitude are equally undesirable

    Which Party is that Wertz? Unmask the blaggard.

    If it's this crowd, forget policies, they need a graphic designer.

    http://www.amhrannua.com/


  • #58
    Amhran Nua
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,124 ✭✭✭Amhran Nua


    Badgermonkey wrote: »
    A minority coalition who captured less than half the popular vote.
    Then I'm sure their moves to stop drug tourism will be removed by the next government, who will sweep on a tide of popular sentiment.
    Badgermonkey wrote: »
    To portray it as a move to clean up anti-social behaviour on the part of tourists in major urban centres is disingenuous on their part and naive on yours.
    I and anyone can only work with the data I have available. Have you any real information beyond your opinion to support this?
    Wertz wrote: »
    you're saying that those who decide to travel to somewhere where the law is less strict, and that the substance can be obtained and consumed in a more amenable and sociable way are more undesirable than those who wish to stay home and fund local drug gangs, make work for the police and generally play the undesirable?
    Strawmen do make it easier to win arguments alright. I did not say that cannabis users were undesireables. The linked article and Dutch government say this "But there are certainly a lot of true drug addicts among the people who think it’s worth traveling all the way to Amsterdam where strong hydroponic weed and peyote and mushrooms are sold legally and cheaply, over the counter."
    Wertz wrote: »
    Well you and your party's opinions and general attitude are equally undesirable if you're willing to make that grossly presumptious and downright insulting generalisation about people who choose to do as they do, breaking no laws along the way.
    Badgermonkey wrote: »
    Which Party is that Wertz? Unmask the blaggard.

    If it's this crowd, forget policies, they need a graphic designer.

    http://www.amhrannua.com/
    Blaggard is it, the only politically active person so far on this thread who's actually advocating legalisation.

    Is it any wonder the country is stuck in a ditch, too many keyboard jockeys too enamoured of their own "wit" to actually do anything in the real world, too many more afraid of their reputation than their conscience, believing you can replace experience with cynicism, secure in the anonymity which lends the illusion that something has actually been achieved by their paddlings.

    Its true what they say, you can't help those who won't help themselves. Enjoy the plane flights to Portugal, at least you won't get arrested there.


  • #59
    Psychedelic
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,126 ✭✭✭Psychedelic


    Did anyone read the cannabis page on that drugs.ie site? Basically, the only good effect from smoking cannabis is you may feel happy.

    The LSD page says "Hallucinations may make you delusional, such as believing you can fly, which can cause accidents or falls". They're still trotting out that old 'think you can fly' chestnut. No mention of the amazing postive experiences you can have on that drug.

    That site is completely biased against drugs. Cannabis will not be made legal in Ireland for a long time, if ever.
    Cannabis

    Short-term effects
    • You may feel sedated, chilled out and happy
    • Some people feel sick
    • You may get ‘the munchies’ or feel hungry
    • Your pulse rate speeds up and blood pressure goes down
    • Bloodshot eyes, dry mouth
    • Tiredness
    Long-term effects
    • May damage your lungs and lead to breathing problems
    • Linked with mental health problems, such as depression and schizophrenia
    • May lower sperm count and suppresses ovulation so you may have problems getting pregnant
    • Regular use affects your memory, mood, motivation and ability to learn
    • Anxiety and paranoia
    • Affects your coordination and reactions so you are more at risk of accidents, especially if you also drink alcohol
    Other dangers
    • As with tobacco, smoking hash can cause cancer
    • Cannabis psychosis – when you disconnect from reality and start showing symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations even when you are not using drugs
    If you are pregnant
    If you smoke cannabis with tobacco while you are pregnant the risk to your baby is the same as smoking – smaller birth weight, higher risk of premature (early) birth, higher risk of miscarriage, your baby may get less oxygen through the placenta. After the birth, your baby is at more risk of cot death and early health problems, such as asthma.

    Addictive
    You can get psychologically addicted to cannabis, in this case, you might find it hard to cope without it. If you smoke it with tobacco you may get physically addicted to tobacco (see Tobacco ).

    Withdrawal
    • Anxiety, irritability
    • Urge or cravings to smoke
    • Sleep problems, restlessness
    • Loss of appetite


  • #60
    Amhran Nua
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,124 ✭✭✭Amhran Nua


    Psychedelic wrote: »
    Cannabis will not be made legal in Ireland for a long time, if ever.
    Not with friends like it has on this thread, that's for sure.


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  • #61
    drBill
    Closed Accounts Posts: 329 ✭✭drBill


    red menace wrote: »
    Its good to see referendums being replaced by online polls, much better idea

    Online polls are meaningless. Anyone can vote as often as you like in them.


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