Are'nt the Gardai great sure...

RustyNut · 16-08-2014 08:58AM

catallus wrote: »

And €50 worth of cannabis isn't a "small amount" either.

catallus wrote: »

Still, €20 worth of bullets for the criminals. Horrendous.

Drama Queen much?

Lmklad · 16-08-2014 10:04AM

Ferris_Bueller wrote: »

I'm a bit shocked reading that article about the doctor possibly losing his job. Fair enough he was pretty stupid doing it in public and then running away from the gardaí, but for such serious consequences for what IMO is not such a serious crime (first offence as well) is insane. Harsh to label the gardaí in general, like all professions it largely comes down to the individual, I've met some very sound gardaí and some very unsound ones, likewise have I met some sound builders and dickh*ad builders, I can't say all builders are a bad bunch.

Overall though I think it's clear that they generally go for the easy targets, it's infuriating to think there are so many people on the streets doing much much worse than what this young man did and getting no punishment for it. Surely in this case a warning would have sufficed? If they had of taken it off him and told him if he is ever caught again that he would be brought to court and probably lose his job I'm sure he would have been much more careful in future, whereas if he loses his licence and can never work as a doctor again in reality he will probably have less to lose if he was caught smoking a joint again.

In a lot of these threads it seems to come down to morals, what do people view as worse, someone smoking a joint or someone hitting someone else a box? I've no idea which in the view of the law is worse, but I would definitely think the second one is a lot worse, yet in most cases I'd imagine the punishment would be less severe.

As far as I'm aware the guards don't have discretion on this one. The Doc chose to roll up on a public street and must accept the consequences. The judge will decide punishment not the guards. At the end it's not a parking ticket, this guy had a controlled substance in a public place. No sympathy for the guy.

FloatingVoter · 16-08-2014 10:09AM

I spent a nice warm summer smoking dope openly in front of the Oval on Abbey Street 2 years back. Well dressed and with tourists in tow. Guards walking by with their heads in a cloud of hash smoke. They didn't bother us.
It depends on the individual cops, the circumstances (ie. we weren't being abusive to passersby) and the fact that none of us were carrying any weight- which the cops wouldn't have known but may have guessed.

Needless to say none of the resident Abbey St. junkies were troubled by the Guards either.

Me? · 16-08-2014 10:19AM

I am surprised that people are surprised by the behavior of some Gardaí, they are just an extension of the establishment in this country that believe they have unquestionable power over the people they are suppose to serve.

NipNip · 16-08-2014 10:55AM

smellmepower wrote: »

Also,I was looking for Gardiner Place in town earlier this afternoon, and the two guards I approached on Parnell Street looked the directions up on their phones and told me which way to go.I've lived in London and NY overcthe last few years, and you'd never get that sort of help from the cops over there.

Basically don't be a prick and the guards won't treat you like one.

They were working on Parnell Street and didn't know where Gardiner Place was? :eek:

ballyharpat · 16-08-2014 11:24AM

I have been arrested more than once in my youth for posession of small amounts of marijuana, one time my house was even raided and all that was found was the butt of a joint and charges were pressed, I received a conviction. I was a target back then, and an easy one, but, having said that, I was breaking the law, if I had not had hash or smoking joints, it would not have happened. The law is the law until it is changed.

I got caught and fined for having no NCT, that's a money making racket IMO, but it's the law, if I want to change it, I have to go the necessary route, but until it's changed, that's the way it is.
Would I risk my future/reputation now for a joint, hell no.

You get arrested in America for serving 18 year olds drink, you don't in Ireland, the law is different. He evaded arrest, he was caught with e50 worth of weed, that's a fair amount, he should have just been carrying enough for a joint or two if he was going to carry anything, whether he smokes while working or not cannot be proved, but what can be proved is that he is dumb enough to roll and probably smoke a joint in a public place, dumb enough to run from the guards, and dumb enough to carry e50 worth of weed on his person-sounds to me like he is not the worlds smartest doctor and I'd rather not be treated by him as my GP.

srsly78 · 16-08-2014 01:03PM

Bongalongherb wrote: »

I'm in Brussels at the moment, but when I get back I'll see what I can do.

It's hard fecking work trying to legalise it, but the amount of garbage I have to listen to regarding the turf situation here in Brussels is bad enough.

I'll get back to you when I figure out how to convince Brussels to accept our farmers free linage to cut turf in our own country from badly integrated laws from the EU.

I'm off... I hear the cops.

Ming there is no need to worry about the cops in Belgium, it's decriminalised. You can grow a plant at home and smoke it at home without worries.

I guess we won't be seeing you for a long time now :pac:

Chickentown · 16-08-2014 01:25PM

foggy_lad wrote: »

Who in their right mind wants a doctor who is a zombie headed waster off his head on weed and ptting people in danger?

Sad Eejit ruined his own life because he is a fool who chose an illegal drug over his future!

Since when is a pint an illegal substance?

God I am so thankful that I have my own mind, unlike above^^

Herb Powell · 16-08-2014 01:31PM

catallus wrote: »

It was perfectly clear what I was asking.

Middle Ages? WTF are you on about?!

Cannabis is an illegal substance. Stop bad-mouthing drink!

Can you even fuccking read? He didn't bad mouth drink at all

catallus · 16-08-2014 01:32PM

Herb Powell wrote: »

Can you even fuccking read? He didn't bad mouth drink at all

Yes he did!

Herb Powell · 16-08-2014 01:35PM

italodisco wrote: »

Another thread on how terrible the gardai are lol

Really sick of socialist / professional protester do-gooder types moaning on about garda brutality

Go live in a country like Spain or Germany and see how it works out for ya , where cops use actual force to deal with people ..

Garda here are absolute pansy boys , if they started doing their job properly you'd complain aswell ....

I'm living in Germany and the Polizei are a wonderful bunch of lads, gentlemen in any interaction I've had with them.

Was at a party last week where the music was pretty fuccking loud, and sure enough the police came around, but they were nothing but pleasant. It's nothing too serious, sure, but still they could have been far less nice about it.

srsly78 · 16-08-2014 01:37PM

You got lucky apparently. Some German friends of mine were telling me about the "hundredschaft": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundertschaft

Apparently the riot police are organised into units of 100, and never get deployed in smaller numbers. This leads to hilarious overkill situations like student house parties getting raided by 100 heavily armed and armored guys

Also, in Germany they have an entire force of paramilitary litter wardens: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordnungsamt

All that said tho, they really don't care about people smoking weed. Especially not in places like Berlin.

Herb Powell · 16-08-2014 01:39PM

catallus wrote: »

Yes he did!

Ehh, no he didn't he said

Magaggie wrote: »

Being a cannabis-smoker does not automatically mean being stoned while at work. Just as being a drinker of alcohol beverages does not mean being drunk while at work/an alcoholic.
By saying the above btw, it does not mean I'm endorsing smoking cannabis and I think the guy was a dope to do so in a public place - he only has himself to blame for that. But the "You're a drug abuser/addict if you use at all" bullsh-t people spout about drug use deserves to be debunked.

which by anyone's standards is actually defending the use of alcohol.

Do you think that because he is mentioning it at all alongside cannabis, which you yourself think is bad, that he is claiming drink to be bad?

steddyeddy · 16-08-2014 01:59PM

The Cunning Linguist wrote: »

I'd say the only reason that doctor made it the whole way to court was because he tried to fling his stash into the canal and do a runner.

And I don't blame him. It's a plant ffs

RollieFingers · 16-08-2014 02:03PM

Pigs out!

Kev2Dee · 16-08-2014 02:06PM

It was like me, when i got nabbed for being....we'll call it "urban street designer"
They would rather go for me when i was 16, than a dealer who everyone knew was selling crack in the local playground. "why me?" i always wondered. Then i figured out, the dealer was more likely to turn around and take a shot at them with a blade than i was.

Herb Powell · 16-08-2014 02:14PM

srsly78 wrote: »

You got lucky apparently. Some German friends of mine were telling me about the "hundredschaft": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundertschaft

Apparently the riot police are organised into units of 100, and never get deployed in smaller numbers. This leads to hilarious overkill situations like student house parties getting raided by 100 heavily armed and armored guys

Also, in Germany they have an entire force of paramilitary litter wardens: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordnungsamt

All that said tho, they really don't care about people smoking weed. Especially not in places like Berlin.

Yeah, I have........friends, who can confirm this

They didn't even shut down the party, they just told us to turn the music down.

bleg · 16-08-2014 02:21PM

ballyharpat wrote: »

I have been arrested more than once in my youth for posession of small amounts of marijuana, one time my house was even raided and all that was found was the butt of a joint and charges were pressed, I received a conviction. I was a target back then, and an easy one, but, having said that, I was breaking the law, if I had not had hash or smoking joints, it would not have happened. The law is the law until it is changed.

I got caught and fined for having no NCT, that's a money making racket IMO, but it's the law, if I want to change it, I have to go the necessary route, but until it's changed, that's the way it is.
Would I risk my future/reputation now for a joint, hell no.

You get arrested in America for serving 18 year olds drink, you don't in Ireland, the law is different. He evaded arrest, he was caught with e50 worth of weed, that's a fair amount, he should have just been carrying enough for a joint or two if he was going to carry anything, whether he smokes while working or not cannot be proved, but what can be proved is that he is dumb enough to roll and probably smoke a joint in a public place, dumb enough to run from the guards, and dumb enough to carry e50 worth of weed on his person-sounds to me like he is not the worlds smartest doctor and I'd rather not be treated by him as my GP.

You do realise that drugs are pretty ubiquitous in colleges these days yes? Most of the recent medicine grads would have had at least a puff of a joint. Grow up.

NipNip · 16-08-2014 02:23PM

bleg wrote: »

You do realise that drugs are pretty ubiquitous in colleges these days yes? Most of the recent medicine grads would have had at least a puff of a joint. Grow up.

But did they inhale???

ballyharpat · 16-08-2014 02:32PM

just because it's ubiquitous, does not make it legal, change the law and then smoke......the law is there, if the guards are to do their job, then they have to enforce it. What we have if they didn't charge a guy that was caught with e50 of weed is people complaining that a 'doctor' got away with it, yet when we see someone from a councill estate getting caught and getting done, they will say, well why me and why not the doctor, even though they may be dealing but just caught with a 'small' amount.

There is a big difference between a puff of a joint and e50 worth in your pocket and also rolling and probably smoking in a public place, my main problem with this is that he is too dumb to be a doctor....at 29 to do as many ridiculous things as he did????

Grow up???? Try looking at the bigger picture bleg....

Rough Sleeper · 16-08-2014 02:34PM

If ever there was a case of drug laws ruining lives rather than protecting them, this is it. Legalisation is a complex issue; decriminalisation is not. If it happened yesterday it wouldn't be soon enough.

dissed doc · 16-08-2014 02:38PM

same ol sh1te wrote: »

Ruined the poor mans life for the sake of a spliff

Yeah, it is amazing. The level of harm or threat to himself or society is minimal, but the laws are there to put walls around people in the anglophone world. He can't be allowed to breach these.

What a world away from Spain, Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, etc., . No

At most, a fixed penalty/fine of €100 and no criminal charges or record, should be administered. It is about the same as doing 5 or 10kph over the motorway speedlimit.

tayto lover · 16-08-2014 02:46PM

dissed doc wrote: »

Yeah, it is amazing. The level of harm or threat to himself or society is minimal, but the laws are there to put walls around people in the anglophone world. He can't be allowed to breach these.

What a world away from Spain, Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, etc., . No

At most, a fixed penalty/fine of €100 and no criminal charges or record, should be administered. It is about the same as doing 5 or 10kph over the motorway speedlimit.

I'd say that doctor would have got off with an official caution if he hadn't acted the smart arse. Had he owned up and explained his case instead of running and throwing the joint in the river we would not have heard of this case at all in my opinion.

Hootanany · 16-08-2014 02:52PM

He was suspended on full pay dont you just love our Public Service providers.

steddyeddy · 16-08-2014 03:18PM

Guys speaking scientifically about it if you ever worked as a bar man you did far more damage to people's health than a cannabis dealer. We have to get away from the social determination of what is acceptable and what isn't.

Little CuChulainn · 16-08-2014 03:20PM

If he hadn't done a runner he probably wouldn't have seen court. Even if he did he wouldn't have had a recorded conviction. He likely still won't. the only people who'll be ruining his life are the people making such a big issue of it, like the op.

genericguy · 16-08-2014 03:26PM

Little CuChulainn wrote: »

If he hadn't done a runner he probably wouldn't have seen court. Even if he did he wouldn't have had a recorded conviction. He likely still won't. the only people who'll be ruining his life are the people making such a big issue of it, like the op.

To be fair it's a cause/effect scenario both ways - he probably only ran because he knew that the penalty could be severe depending on the 'enthusiasm' of the police involved. Off the topic I'd say he was unlucky because a child could outrun most of the spud gobblers that wear the uniform.

Me? · 16-08-2014 03:26PM

Thread is now derailed.

hatrickpatrick · 16-08-2014 03:28PM

I'm known for being outspoken about police abuse but in this case I'm afraid I'd have to side with the Gardai. I find drug prohibition ridiculous and strongly believe that it - and all other victimless "crimes" - should be removed from the statute books ASAP, but the Gardai's job is to enforce the law, regardless of how asinine that law is. Fault in this case lies entirely with cowardly politicians who continue an outdated regime of prohibition amongst other things, not with the police whose job it is to enforce that ridiculous regime regardless of their own personal views.

Let me put it another way: Those who take a dim view of police scandals find it absolutely appalling when blind eyes are turned to crimes by people in high places - or when these crimes are actively protected, as in the Gardai going after someone for criminal damage to an illegal water pipeline instead of the people who built it, as reported a few days ago. I'm afraid it has to be all or nothing when it comes to demanding enforcement of the law - if we demand blind eyes are turned to "crimes" such as drug use, even if we approve of such drug use, what moral leg do we have to stand on when we lash out at blind eyes being turned to bankers and politicians who break the law?

NipNip · 16-08-2014 03:39PM

Blind eyes are turned every which way - particularly towards bankers!

Are'nt the Gardai great sure...

Comments