So is Marijuana to be legalized in Ireland shortly?

Yup.. it sure is, it all happens at midnight.

I thought it was already legal

Under_Graduate wrote: »

Give big pharma something to complain about.

If & when cannabis is legalised in Ireland (I think it's probably a matter of time, things seem to be going in that direction, though slowly) it will almost certainly be sold by companies owned by existing Big Pharma corporations. The idea that a potentially multimillion euro industry would remain in the hands of your friendly neighbourhood dealer is fanciful.

Never touched the stuff in my life, no real desire to either. But looking at the amount of tax Colorado has pulled in since legalising it, and the fact it would likely take money outta scumbag dealers hands I say why not.

PucaMama wrote: »

Wish this "big pharma" paranoia was kept in the conspiracy theory forum

Within limits I don't mind it. The spectacle of fans of homeopathy & other guff (while there's tons of criticism you can make of pharmaceutical companies it's almost always those types who use the phrase "big pharma") which they are sold by large corporations having a whinge about other large corporations is generally good for a chuckle for the cognitive dissonance on display.

Not to be a prude, but I'd hate to live in Ireland if we legalised and/or decriminalised cannabis. In fact, I wouldn't raise a family here if that sh*t was readily available in the shop. I used to smoke a lot of it in the past and I wouldn't wish some of my experiences on my future children. It can throw up some very confusing and very frightening experiences and, apart from stoners, I just don't see who benefits.

Hammer89 wrote: »

Not to be a prude, but I'd hate to live in Ireland if we legalised and/or decriminalised cannabis. In fact, I wouldn't raise a family here if that sh*t was readily available in the shop. I used to smoke a lot of it in the past and I wouldn't wish some of my experiences on my future children. It can throw up some very confusing and very frightening experiences and, apart from stoners, I just don't see who benefits.

People with MS and cancer. It's been proved to be of great benefit to suffers of MS and it really helps relieve the bad side effects from chemo. It's not a wonder drug, it's not going to cure anything much but it does have some proven medical benefits.

I see marijuana legislation in two tiers. Recreational and medical. I'm in favor of both. I think it's wrong to ban it for medical use. But I think it's fcuking horrible that sick people are denied a treatment because of archaic drug laws. I mean we give opiates to sick people, but not grass?

It's crazy how it isn't already legal. When you talk about cannabis, it always gets compared with alcohol and with good reason!

What I find with a Saturday Night's drinking:

-You can completely become a different person. Overdo it and you can easily make a fool out of yourself! Personal responsibility and moderation come into this but sometimes it just happens, especially if you're tired and haven't drank in a while. But we can all agree that it can be very easy to overdo it with alcohol, that's the nature of the drug.
-You literally piss away a small fortune for a few hours.
-You are nearly guaranteed to suffer in some form the next day. I've had a three day hangover multiple times. My body was broken down, I felt tired with no energy. All of my good habits and intentions go out the window until I feel 'normal' again. The worst of it though is the mental side of things. For someone that suffers with depression, this is no laughing matter. I've had comedowns from alcohol (usually a 2/3 day session like a wedding for example) and felt as low as I can remember.

A Saturday Night smoking weed:

-Don't venture out of the house. I could but just too relaxed.
-Might eat more (usually do to be fair, who knew that cereal could be that nice)
-Zero side effects the day after. The odd time I might feel a little tired but that's probably because I stayed up half the night watching Netflix or documentaries on Youtube.

^That's just a direct compassion when 'using' the two.

There's many more things I could write. Eg. The amount of lives that alcohol has ruined in this country between alcoholics, broken marriages, children being raised in toxic environments, people dying from simply drinking too much, fights, drunk drivers, A&E's being jammed up at the weekends, Gardaí firefighting drunks at the weekends - the list goes on and on.
You compare that to people using cannabis, there is no comparison which has done the most damage and by a serious distance.

As it stands, I can go into any off-licence and buy enough alcohol to cause myself serious damage to myself but if I get caught with a little bit of cannabis, my life could potentially be ruined. What a ****ed up situation we currently have and I can see Ireland being in the dark ages for some time yet. It's all a farce really.

Also, just to add. I think what angers me the most is how acceptable it is to drink. In this country it is very normal to tell anyone "I'm dying" or "Some session last night".

Alcohol is widely advertised, nobody would bats an eye lid when an ad for drink comes on! What about the fact that publicans are seen as stalwarts of the community, when in fact they're actually dealing a drug! Cannabis on the other hand is seen as dark and underground, people supplying the stuff are dealers pure and simple and most people would never openly admit to using it.

Reeling In The Years 2030 will make us look like ejiets!

/end rant

I think advocates for legalisation of cannabis possibly go too far in describing it as "harmless" & don't believe that the argument in favour of legislative change should be built upon such a shaky foundation. Overindulgence in any mind altering substance has the potential to affect you as an individual & the people around you. If nothing else, regular recreational smokers may be prone to turning into insufferable bores, who ramble on about conspiracy theories & thrust their asinine political opionions upon anyone unfortunate enough to sit near them. Happily however, they're usually not particularly quick on their feet so can be escaped from relatively easily.

The question of whether any substance should be legal or illegal should not be made merely on the basis of where it falls on the binary "harmless/harmful" scale but whether the potential for harm can be best mitigated by a well regulated market & honest (rather than scare-mongering) education about its effects or by head in the sand prohibition & out sourcing of its supply to the violent criminal types who inevitably rush to fill any black market demand.

Graces7 wrote: »

I would be worried taking something illegal and therefore unregulated ..

Cannabis and marijuana don't really fall within this bracket. These come from the plant with minimal processing apart from drying and chopping so the need to "regulate" them is no more than the need to regulate alcohol.

This is not the same for the vast majority of other drugs which are taken in a powdered or pill form. In these cases they need to either be industrially synthesised or processed, which increases the cost, and therefore which induces the producers to cut corners.

With cannabis there's not a lot you can do to "cut corners" and make it cheaper to process.

And more specifically if it was decriminalised, people could grow their own, which would decimate the illegal drugs trade overnight and force dealers to make their money off harder drugs.

BUT recreational drugs? The idea repels me totally. Is life so boring? Same for me goes for alcohol and tobacco. I do not have or see the need.

That's cool, that's your choice. Ultimately the debate is about what rights the state should have to restrict the freedom of the individual to consume what they want.

Custardpi wrote: »

I think advocates for legalisation of cannabis possibly go too far in describing it as "harmless" & don't believe that the argument in favour of legislative change should be built upon such a shaky foundation.

Yeah, this line tends to come up in these threads, pretty much out of nowhere and flying in the face of what pro-cannabis legalisation people are actually saying. Nothing is safe, drinking too much water can kill you, many so called ecstasy deaths are actually water poisoning deaths.

No one can say cannabis is safe, especially if it's being smoked. But it's not harmful enough to be made illegal. It's certainly not doing as much damage as the prohibition that's created the black market in drugs.

Overindulgence in any mind altering substance has the potential to affect you as an individual & the people around you. If nothing else, regular recreational smokers may be prone to turning into insufferable bores, who ramble on about conspiracy theories & thrust their asinine political opionions upon anyone unfortunate enough to sit near them. Happily however, they're usually not particularly quick on their feet so can be escaped from relatively easily.

Your right, drug abuse is bad. But we all know that. There's no need for the little digs though, they say more about you than "stoners".

The question of whether any substance should be legal or illegal should not be made merely on the basis of where it falls on the binary "harmless/harmful" scale but whether the potential for harm can be best mitigated by a well regulated market & honest (rather than scare-mongering) education about its effects or by head in the sand prohibition & out sourcing of its supply to the violent criminal types who inevitably rush to fill any black market demand.

That's the argument for legalisation. All scientific research shows cannabis does more harm when it's illegal.

PucaMama wrote: »

Wish this "big pharma" paranoia was kept in the conspiracy theory forum

Big pharma lobbying politicians is a fact .. Maybe look into these things a bit more