ATAR Notes: Forum
General Discussion => General Discussion Boards => Other General Discussion => Topic started by: chrisjb on February 09, 2011, 05:52:51 pm
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I know that we're not supposed to talk about stuff that's illegal here, but I have a question to ask youall about Marijuana. Do you all think it should be legal and if so wthen why? I personaly think so but I know that ehres' a heap of people that think otherwise.
So, this shall become the frist "Shouls marijuana be legalised in Australia?" thread. Hope you all enjoy.
Also, how many of have or ahrve not smoked it before? For this we would need two polls and I can only make one... so I'll just make it about leagising.
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this was an interesting case in portugal for decriminalizing drugs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjuvXdqKM0M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d28ov6cVQLY
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YEs, and if we make it legal then we remove the 'black market' and they all beome safer. Everyone is ahppy.
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YEs, many people miss the point when they argue that drugs have pernicious effects, therefore they should be illegal. If something is in hot demand, it'll always find its way through the net.
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What you guys have to realise though is that there'll always be a black market for "illegal" stuff. Furthermore, criminalising the marijuana trade makes it a lot HARDER to obtain (thereby reducing its potential use), so there IS a point to keeping the substance illegal, even if you can still get it if you try hard enough.
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I agree with EZ that it's not as though the criminalisation of marijuana is wholly ineffective in deterring people to use it, and it's not inevitable that anyone who would use it if it were around actually will use it if it isn't.
I'm not sure what I think on this issue. I said 'perhaps'. I definitely agree with the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, under medical supervision. I also don't think that someone should go to jail for possession of small amounts. I also don't think that we should ignore the risks marijuana poses, particularly to mental health. Then again, the problems the Netherlands seems to have with the legalisation of marijuana are mostly to do with tourists who abuse it, not so much with locals.
I guess I'm just not sure if whether legalising it would actually create more health risks because of its potential proliferation or fewer health risks due to some degree of safety standards.
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There is a degree of double standard held by governments regarding marijuana. For example, if I took every argument placed against it (http://www.balancedpolitics.org/marijuana_legalization.htm as a reference), I could easily apply it to alcohol or smokes. And yet, those are legal in our country. Might i add Australia has quite a liberal view on alcohol and smoking
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I guess I'm just not sure if whether legalising it would actually create more health risks because of its potential proliferation or fewer health risks due to some degree of safety standards.
take a look at those two videos i posted, its a hard evidence that it decreased use in portugal
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There is a degree of double standard held by governments regarding marijuana. For example, if I took every argument placed against it (http://www.balancedpolitics.org/marijuana_legalization.htm as a reference), I could easily apply it to alcohol or smokes. And yet, those are legal in our country. Might i add Australia has quite a liberal view on alcohol and smoking
I tend to agree with that argument when it comes to cigarettes, but I think alcohol is different in that it's possible to use it without ill health-effects. In fact, wine in moderation is supposed to be good for you.
I guess I'm just not sure if whether legalising it would actually create more health risks because of its potential proliferation or fewer health risks due to some degree of safety standards.
take a look at those two videos i posted, its a hard evidence that it decreased use in portugal
I just watched the first one and I found it interesting. But it wasn't legalisation, it was decriminalisation.
Also, having lived in Canberra I don't have a problem with decriminalisation as an idea, I think it works. But that's different to legalisation.
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yeah i know but its a good first step
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I think this topic was done to death in a thread awhile back but i don't think its an entirely good idea, yes it has its advantages but it has one big disadvantage (for me personally).
I think people who haven't used it or who wouldn't of other-wise used it would use it once it became legal. If it became legal it'd also be more socially acceptable for more people to do. It's sort of like a loop that re-enforces itself.
(I know its too late for alcohol prohibition, ect but im not using that argument) If Alcohol was only available on the black-market and not legally i probably wouldn't drink it (i do now, nothing against alcohol). By removing something off the black market and selling it you make it more socially acceptable and less of a stigma. This tends to make more people take part in it and clever marketing and social pressures have made drinking alcohol/ going to the pub with mates a "fun" thing to do and something acceptable.
Where as "I'm going to light up a few cones in the corner with a couple of my mates" doesn't have quiet the same acceptability as "We're going down to the pub for a couple drinks".
I mean sure people should be able to smoke weed if they want and if they get caught experience minor penalties but not a criminal record.
What i don't want though is us creating a bunch of government sponsored crack heads or the associated public health concerns with people who smoke marijuana. Suppose my proposition is right and more people take it up, it does cause harm in the long term vs not smoking it. These people who have been afflicted with conditions because of smoking it now have to be treated in public hospitals which we pay for with taxes, more than otherwise would of been the case.
You also have the problem of if more people smoke it, more people might drive high ect.
That said i'd rather people get high off their face rather than drunk, because drunk people can be very violent sometimes where as if you're high you just kind of mellow out (as far as i know).
I don't think full blown legalisation and/or having pharmacies dole it out is the way to go.
Decriminalisation is the best way. It keeps potential users more suppressed and keeps the negative stigma attached to it. At the same time, we aren't throwing scores of people in jail or ruining their names and future job prospects by giving them a criminal record for smoking the odd joint now and then.
My problem isn't with people actually smoking it, if they want to go straight ahead, my problem is more with having to spend additional money on this and creating more addicts than otherwise would of existed.
(Decriminilsation for those who don't know means we still keep it illegal but if you get caught, its not a criminal offense and you dont get a criminal record. You just get a minor fine or something like that.)
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Love smokin cones down at the stashionn.
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Given that I know people who have smoked a lot less because it's illegal, and given how much some people drink because it IS legal, I'm going to go with illegal, even though I've done it, and know a lot of people who still do. I think use would increase a lot if it were legal and that isn't a good thing.
Decriminalisation could be helpful, but frankly, nobody really gets punished for using it anyway. I don't think it's always a bad thing to smoke marijuana, but I really really don't think it should be readily available.
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Don't legalise it, it's bad, why should we.
The only reason cigarettes are legal is cos of the amount of tax the Government gets and the loss of jobs.
Sort of a bit like people crying freedom of speech after defaming or being abusive, there's limitations to the rule of freedom of choice etc.
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I think they should legalize it.