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Subject: Cannabis Being Downgraded
Cannabis has now been downgraded from a Class B to a Class C.
Sorry, is it just me, or is this the biggest load of rubbish ever? What does it say about good old Blighty if someone can be in possession of drugs that cause schizophrenia, psychosis, depression and lung and mouth cancer, and only get a caution? Not to mention the fact that many paedophile rings, gangsters, pimps and of course drug dealers who sell much worse drugs get a lot of their money from cannabis.
I do hope we get the Conservatives back in and have them put it back to Class B. On the next General Election day, I'll try to drum up a bit of support for them (I'll probably still be a year too young to vote.)
Although if I had my way, tobacco would be a Class B drug as well. It causes even more damage than cannabis.
What's everyone else's view on this?
Subject: Re: Cannabis Being Downgraded
Bloody buggar. They ought to make cannabis (reefer, gange, weed, whacky tobbacky, maryjane) LEGAL!
Cannabis causes all the problems you cited? What about alcohol? Used to excess, it causes depression, cirrhosis of the liver, heart disease and so on. You want to make alcohol illegal too? it won't work... we tried it in the States about 85 years ago and all we got was a "war on drugs" situation, in which the government finally capitulaed and made booze legal again. The banning of alcohol is what gave rise to classic gangsters like Al Capone and Lucky Luciano.
My view of people who smoke tobacco is that if they want to smoke it, great! But if they get lung cancer, etc... do not expect insurance (or the government) to pick up the tab.
Drugs should be legalized. If people wnt to fry their brains, far be it from me to stop them.
Subject: Re: Cannabis Being Downgraded
Quoting:
Bloody buggar. 燭hey ought to make cannabis (reefer, gange, weed, whacky tobbacky, maryjane) LEGAL!
Cannabis causes all the problems you cited? 燱hat about alcohol? 燯sed to excess, it causes depression, cirrhosis of the liver, heart disease and so on. You want to make alcohol illegal too? it won't work... we tried it in the States about 85 years ago and all we got was a "war on drugs" situation, in which the government finally capitulaed and made booze legal again. The banning of alcohol is what gave rise to classic gangsters like Al Capone and Lucky Luciano.
My view of people who smoke tobacco is that if they want to smoke it, great! 燘ut if they get lung cancer, etc... do not expect insurance (or the government) to pick up the tab.
Drugs should be legalized. If people wnt to fry their brains, far be it from me to stop them.
End Quote
I think they should be legalized within reason,but it doesn't mean peoiple shopuld have a right to drive while on them.cheers!
Subject: Re: Cannabis Being Downgraded
Quoting:
Bloody buggar. They ought to make cannabis (reefer, gange, weed, whacky tobbacky, maryjane) LEGAL!
Cannabis causes all the problems you cited? What about alcohol? Used to excess, it causes depression, cirrhosis of the liver, heart disease and so on. You want to make alcohol illegal too? it won't work... we tried it in the States about 85 years ago and all we got was a "war on drugs" situation, in which the government finally capitulaed and made booze legal again. The banning of alcohol is what gave rise to classic gangsters like Al Capone and Lucky Luciano.
My view of people who smoke tobacco is that if they want to smoke it, great! But if they get lung cancer, etc... do not expect insurance (or the government) to pick up the tab.
Drugs should be legalized. If people wnt to fry their brains, far be it from me to stop them.
End Quote
I agree. I mean come on-tobacco kills more people than any other drug so why should weed be illegal???
Subject: Re: Cannabis Being Downgraded
Quoting:
I agree. I mean come on-tobacco kills more people than any other drug so why should weed be illegal???
End Quote
Possibly because HM Treasury wouldn't be able to slap a tax on it for the moment...
...mind you, give 'em time...!
Subject: Re: Cannabis Being Downgraded
I think the point here is that, whilst cannabis may be 'bad', it's not as bad as other drugs. Hence the class system.
If cannabis is grouped with other more harmful drug, people may smoke a joint, feel ok and assume (incorrectly) that the other drugs are the same.
There is little or no money in selling cannabis in the UK unless you are a real kingpin dealing huge amounts. Drug dealers who want to make a living would prefer their customers to take a higher profit drug such as heroin. Now the law makes the distinction, cannabis smokers should be less likely to try other drugs in the same way that people who legally drink alcohol are less likely to progress onto harder drugs.
Make no mistake though, the political reason behind this change is simply money. Prosecuting smokers is expensive and doesn't reap the same political rewards as prosecuting murderers, thieves, etc. Reports of a local burglar being sent down pleases anyone who's ever had their house done over. Very few people have been seriously put out by the guy who sits in his room smoking.
Subject: Re: Cannabis Being Downgraded
Quoting:
Very few people have been seriously put out by the guy who sits in his room smoking.
End Quote
Well, I'm seriously put out by that guy, but he IS my roommate.
Subject: Re: Cannabis Being Downgraded
Maybe alcohol should be rationed or sale of it should be controlled by the state. It's fine in small quantities- a little red wine once in a while can actually extend one's lifespan. But too much of it can kill. Particularly when one is driving.
But I think tobacco and cannabis should be banned outright with none of this wishy-washy downgrading. One may well say it is the user's personal choice to try it, but what about peer pressure amongst teenagers? That's the reason why most of the tobacco abusers I know started, and why they started using cannabis after that.
And if one changes one's mind, tobacco in particular is very hard to give up. It's more addictive than heroin.
Subject: Re: Cannabis Being Downgraded
Quoting:
Prosecuting smokers is expensive and doesn't reap the same political rewards as prosecuting murderers, thieves, etc.
End Quote
If you do it en masse it can be very rewarding. Banning smoking would encourage people (particularly people with children) to go out more without fear of passive smoking. The public would be much happier. Remember, tobacco abusers are in the minority- only about 15% of people smoke, and even then it's only really the lower classes.
If people go out more, they will spend more money and the government will gain more money from VAT.
Speaking of VAT, that's another idea I had- why not jack up the VAT on alcohol and tobacco? Those who want to buy it will pay huge amounts to the government to help pay for their lung cancer treatment and liver transplant on the NHS, and those who don't want to bother with it will give up smoking and drinking and thus help our society.
Subject: Re: Cannabis Being Downgraded
BANNING = BAD FRIGGING IDEA
The Prohibition
And moreover, telling me I shouldn't be able to smoke is just a bad idea, and I'm borderline offended that you're suggesting in. Don't tell me what to do.
Quoting:One may well say it is the user's personal choice to try it, but what about peer pressure amongst teenagers?End Quote
What about it? That's still personal choice, isn't it?
Quoting:Banning smoking would encourage people (particularly people with children) to go out more without fear of passive smoking. The public would be much happier.End Quote
Who the hell lives in fear of passive smoking?
Quoting:only about 15% of people smoke, and even then it's only really the lower classes.End Quote
This might be some kind of classist remark, but I'm not really sure because I have no idea what you're trying to say with your "really the lower classes" remark.
Subject: Re: Cannabis Being Downgraded
Really, the issue of pot is not even worth debate anymore, I'm surprised this much effort has been used on it.
Yes, it can be a bad influence, and yes some people can use it to better the less than savory deeds in this world.
But when you look at the real evils of the world, is it really worth (in America anyway) spending the money & effort to make it criminal? The “War On Drugs” in the U.S. is a failure and a joke…
There is crack, cocaine, heroin, X, terrorism, poverty, racism (one of the main reasons pot was made illegal to begin with in the U.S., if you don’t believe me, read your history books) and America’s terminal problem with handgun murders, & white collar crime, (i.e. Enron,) has had more of an effect on the population.
Really, when is the last time you heard of a pot smoker causing a problem to the general public? Is he starting a fight, or robbing banks or 7-11's? Do you hear of the pot smoker starting a scene or fight outside a pub or killing a driver with his car on the interstate? Is he the one breaking into your home or snatching your purse to buy pot? Is he or she on the corner selling her body for it? Is he blowing up planes or flying them into buildings? No, that is something you associate with alcohol, terrorism, and harder drugs...
Nixon had a study done in the 70's studying pot and concluded that the effect was not worth the hype and hysteria that was usually associated to it. He did all he could to suppress the findings, and here we are today with the same old debate..
Pot doesn’t lead to harder drugs (that depends on the individual) and the other things like pedophilia, gangsters, pimps, that’s ridiculous. To suggest that pot encourages (or supports) pedophilia, or gangster activity is simply raising unnecessary paranoia and hysteria, it is flatly IRRESPONSIBLE, for it is NOT TRUE. ANY business or trade that is considered illegal will be exploited by the underworld and the like for unsavory use, that goes for cocaine, illegal gun sale, white slavery, untaxed alcohol or cigarettes. To say that pot, by itself, is responsiable for any of these is just plain crazy..
Just because a pediphile or cocanie dealer sells pot for capital or on the side to support his illegal trade is no reason to say that pot caused them to do so..thats like saying Cadillac, Lexus and Mercedes are responsilbe for the drug trade and prostitution because the drug dealer and pimp both bought their cars with their dirty money..fuzzy logic at best.
Yes, I may be guilty of sampling it, and I take umbrage at the mention that I may be a gangster or pimp or be psychotic or, depressed. It simply isn’t true…
I'll challenge you (or anyone else) to match wits with my intellect, moral standing, or mental state any day. I pay my bills, hold down a good job, vote, pay my mortgage, car payment, insurance & taxes like everyone else and don’t think I deserve the image or taint of a being a criminal or “bad guy” just because, I, unlike Clinton, admit to "inhailing".
Fact is, you & any government will never be able to make a naturally growing plant illegal and suppress it use, and it's not worth trying. We simply don't have the police power to do so. Hell, the CIA sanctioned its growth and sale for “undisclosed” purposes in the 70’s, (if you want to find this out, use your "Freedom of Information Act rights") as a result the best grower of pot is the government. ..Instead of demonizing it, try and control it with government oversight and taxes (you dems will like that) , I'm sure you'll find that this is a better idea than locking people up in our already overcrowded & over-burdened prison system.
I'm not saying legalize it for everyone at every age, and no one, sure as hell, shouldn't be under the influence of it while driving or other dangerours activities..just have a more mature and rational attitude toward it and we’ll save ourselves a lot of grief..
O.K. that’s my rant, and I’m done…
Subject: Re: Cannabis Being Downgraded
Quoting:
Really, the issue of pot is not even worth debate anymore, I'm surprised this much effort has been used on it.
Yes, it can be a bad influence, and yes some people can use it to better the less than savory deeds in this world.
But when you look at the real evils of the world, is it really worth (in America anyway) spending the money & effort to make it criminal? The “War On Drugs” in the U.S. is a failure and a joke…
There is crack, cocaine, heroin, X, terrorism, poverty, racism (one of the main reasons pot was made illegal to begin with in the U.S., if you don’t believe me, read your history books) and America’s terminal problem with handgun murders, & white collar crime, (i.e. Enron,) has had more of an effect on the population.
Really, when is the last time you heard of a pot smoker causing a problem to the general public? Is he starting a fight, or robbing banks or 7-11's? Do you hear of the pot smoker starting a scene or fight outside a pub or killing a driver with his car on the interstate? Is he the one breaking into your home or snatching your purse to buy pot? Is he or she on the corner selling her body for it? Is he blowing up planes or flying them into buildings? No, that is something you associate with alcohol, terrorism, and harder drugs...
Nixon had a study done in the 70's studying pot and concluded that the effect was not worth the hype and hysteria that was usually associated to it. He did all he could to suppress the findings, and here we are today with the same old debate..
Pot doesn’t lead to harder drugs (that depends on the individual) and the other things like pedophilia, gangsters, pimps, that’s ridiculous. To suggest that pot encourages (or supports) pedophilia, or gangster activity is simply raising unnecessary paranoia and hysteria, it is flatly IRRESPONSIBLE, for it is NOT TRUE. ANY business or trade that is considered illegal will be exploited by the underworld and the like for unsavory use, that goes for cocaine, illegal gun sale, white slavery, untaxed alcohol or cigarettes. To say that pot, by itself, is responsiable for any of these is just plain crazy..
Just because a pediphile or cocanie dealer sells pot for capital or on the side to support his illegal trade is no reason to say that pot caused them to do so..thats like saying Cadillac, Lexus and Mercedes are responsilbe for the drug trade and prostitution because the drug dealer and pimp both bought their cars with their dirty money..fuzzy logic at best.
Yes, I may be guilty of sampling it, and I take umbrage at the mention that I may be a gangster or pimp or be psychotic or, depressed. It simply isn’t true…
I'll challenge you (or anyone else) to match wits with my intellect, moral standing, or mental state any day. I pay my bills, hold down a good job, vote, pay my mortgage, car payment, insurance & taxes like everyone else and don’t think I deserve the image or taint of a being a criminal or “bad guy” just because, I, unlike Clinton, admit to "inhailing".
Fact is, you & any government will never be able to make a naturally growing plant illegal and suppress it use, and it's not worth trying. We simply don't have the police power to do so. Hell, the CIA sanctioned its growth and sale for “undisclosed” purposes in the 70’s, (if you want to find this out, use your "Freedom of Information Act rights") as a result the best grower of pot is the government. ..Instead of demonizing it, try and control it with government oversight and taxes (you dems will like that) , I'm sure you'll find that this is a better idea than locking people up in our already overcrowded & over-burdened prison system.
I'm not saying legalize it for everyone at every age, and no one, sure as hell, shouldn't be under the influence of it while driving or other dangerours activities..just have a more mature and rational attitude toward it and we’ll save ourselves a lot of grief..
O.K. that’s my rant, and I’m done…
End Quote
http://www.stopstart.freeserve.co.uk/smilie/elefant.gif http://www.stopstart.freeserve.co.uk/smilie/flower2.gif :)
Subject: Re: Cannabis Being Downgraded
Quoting:
I'll challenge you (or anyone else) to match wits with my intellect, moral standing, or mental state any day. I pay my bills, hold down a good job, vote, pay my mortgage, car payment, insurance & taxes like everyone else and don’t think I deserve the image or taint of a being a criminal or “bad guy” just because, I, unlike Clinton, admit to "inhailing".
End Quote
No one is offering the challenge Gumbypiz (at least I don't think so).
My opinion on drugs initially was quite a moralistic one. The many discussions between myself and Claude Prez on the issue brought me to the conclusion that it is for everybody to do what they wish provided they don't do it near me. I'm quite happy with that opinion. :)
Subject: Re: Cannabis Being Downgraded
In my town weed is so popular, that cops barely do anything about it.
But I think it should be legalized, it could be just as dangerous as alchohol, or nicotine as all are used in excessive amounts.
Subject: Re: Cannabis Being Downgraded
Quoting:
In my town weed is so popular, that cops barely do anything about it.
But I think it should be legalized, it could be just as dangerous as alchohol, or nicotine as all are used in excessive amounts.
End Quote
I honestly think that alcohol and nicotine are actually worse- alcohol produces a worse effect and nicotine is much more addictive
Subject: Re: Cannabis Being Downgraded
Quoting:
No one is offering the challenge Gumbypiz (at least I don't think so).
My opinion on drugs initially was quite a moralistic one. The many discussions between myself and Claude Prez on the issue brought me to the conclusion that it is for everybody to do what they wish provided they don't do it near me. I'm quite happy with that opinion. :)
End Quote
Are you sure? Cause we could re"hash" it again if you like. :)
Subject: Re: Cannabis Being Downgraded
Quoting:
Are you sure? Cause we could re"hash" it again if you like. :)
End Quote
Lol. What a pun.
Subject: Re: Cannabis Being Downgraded
I'm not so worried about what dope users do to other people, but I'm more concerned about what they do to themselves. At least two of my friends use it and the effects on them are just terrible. Before now I've had to wake them up in class or remind them where they are and who everyone is, and their grades are falling. If they continue they'll develop psychological addictions to it and they'll be schizophrenic before they're fifty. It nearly makes me cry to look at them- it's such a waste of perfectly good lives.