So what's your views on this: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/030912/140/e87i7.html better article here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3100854.stm Although I don't smoke it ( i used to when I was 14-17), I think it's a good idea. The UK, (although not scotland in this case), has finally started pulling itself forward in to the current century.
I think its a good thing. It wastes police time policing canabis users. There arte many other crimes i would rather see police spending their time on. They dont seem to care about burglaries, car theft and other non violent crimes when they are notified about them and have a seemingly no motivation to attand with the urgency that the victims of such crimes deserve. Its a non violent, non agressive, lazy high that in itself does not cause problems unlike excessive alcohol consumption and hence i dont believe it warrents the police officers time. However i also believe that its a good thing that smoking in a public place is still an arrestable offence and definately smoking in front of childeren is a no no, im still not sure that this is worse than drinking on the streets or being drunk in front of children though. Im sure alot more kids come to harm from adults that are drunk than adults that are stoned, weather its in an abusive or neglectful manner. What will this move do for potential "coffee shops" i wonder. Does a coffee shop count as a public place? We'll have to just wait and see though i guess.
Thanks. I realised I should have posted this there after I posted. Doh!....Nuts!....Ummm..Dohnuts........
The public place buisness is a little strange/hard to distinguish. Say, for the sake of argument, me and a couple of friends we sat in open ground in town (big grass'y rec area) smokin' some weed, wouldnt be a prob. Sitting in the street like the alco's do at the moment would be a problem. I suppose it all comes down to interpritation. The kiddie thing is also weird IMO. Fair enuff its an awful thing to make children breath in smoke, but at a certain age, kids are aloud in smokey pubs where adults are drinking. Iam not saying pot is harmless (its very easy to become depandant on for one) but its a lesser evil that drinking IMO. As stated above, it chills you out, which, in this day and age of stress and hetic lifesytles cant be a bad thing! Also, its much easier to keep you self control if your stoned, its doesnt affect you frontal lobe, where as alchol can, and does disable this important brain function. Has anyone ever come across a violent stoner? Now, how many violent drinkers do you see on an adv friday note out??!! P.s Please excuse my awful spelling......
Stoned people don't fight. It's impossible to fight when stoned. "Hey, buddy!" "Yeah, what?" "...hey." "...hey." </Bill Hicks> *n
Is it not already legal to smoke cannabis? It was moved to class C, the same as 'shrooms, which I though made it legal to possess providing it wasn't 'prepared'. eg. not an ounce cut into eighths and put in plastic bags. I've seen quite a few guys walkin through town at night smoking it openly. The police don't seem to care now either. I just assumed it was fine now. Not that I personally am a cannabis smoker though. Edit: *reads article* It's not even class-C yet? Oh.
Id happily legalise canabis ONLY if public smoking of ANYTHING was banned. That way people can smoke whatever they want to in their own homes without affecting me.
They better ban all the people who don't shower, all the people who use rank cologne and perfume, etc - the list goes on. Heck, I'm so used to smoke I don't like the smell of clean air anymore, damn you non-smokers polluting my smoking environment. You're cutting into my buzz! PS - That was a joke, I disagree with people smoking in spots that it bothers others. I don't think it should be confined to smoking in my own home, however.
And they'd better ban people farting in public too... People should be able to do what they want in public (within the law obviously), but other people should have the right to make them pay the consequences if they're being jackasses... For instance, if you're in public, and there's 30 elementary (1st & 2nd graders, let's say) kids around you, out of pure decency, you shouldn't smoke. If you decide that your smoking is more important than those kids, I should have the right to walk up and punch you in the face... If you're not going to have a little human decency, neither will I. I think that's fair. As for marijuana, I believe that not only it, but all drugs should be legalized, purely on the basis that those who want to do drugs will do drugs, and if those drugs are legal maybe they'll finish themselves off quicker. Sorry if I sound crude, but I believe that if you want to ruin your life, you should be free to do so.
I completely agree with you provided that it's not the country's job to prop you back up after you totally **** up you own life. I can hear the shreaking voices now "We've got to help these people get clean and training for jobs... will someone please think of the children.."
When are they just gonna cut the bull**** and legalise it. That way they can tax, control and regulate its use. Everybody wins. What I would like to see is licensed cafés that are regularly inspected similar to new licenced sex shop system. Still, I doubt we'll see a government with the balls to legalise cannabis for a good few years.
Smoking has recently been banned in all public buildings in New York State. Yes, that includes restaurants and bars. I'm not a smoker, but I think that was taking it a little too far myself...
I've been known to get high dsitting in the sun in my garden at weekends... ...It's partly in view from the street...and if there are kids nearby then I just won't light up. I do this maybe two or three times a month. I don't bother anyone else with it, I do it amongst friends... Personally, I can't see how anyone could have a problem with that.... *n
Then why dont we allow people to rape and murder and burgle? If they wanna do it, why not let them do this also? If drugs were legal, there would be no non-incentive not to do them, or at least try them. And because of their addictiveness youd have far more f***ed up people on your hands. As for TOTALLY not in public, i mean outside isnt so bad and dont care about that - afterall cars are worse, but in resturants and bars, inside places in general; cmon people! I choose not to smoke, so please dont make me. Not only that - its a fire hazard Bad purfume and farts dont give u cancer or lung disease though.
I have moral objection to all drugs, be it alcohol, cigarettes or banned substances. They tend to bring out the worst in human behaviour, remember violence is only one side of the coin. In addition to that there is a huge blind eye turned to all the problems they do cause, everyone is only to happy to look at the positive, but reluctant to look at the negative. My steps would be thus tho; 1. Legalise all drugs. 2. Ban all drug related advertisements, including alcohol. 3. Reinvest the money saved into rehab clinics and better education about the risks. Also open up safe areas with close medical help available. 4. Introduce identity cards that must be produced to obtain any form of drug, be it cigarettes, alcohol, weed, heroin, etc... Biometrics seems best option. Allows tracking of drug use amongst users and regulation of use. 5. Constrain harder drugs to chemist only supply. Pescriptions available on NHS for harder drugs. 6. Ban the use of drugs in all public buildings, places, except licenced areas. Different drugs would require different licences, different licences would require different justification for issue. 7. Introduce heavy penalties for breaking of these rules. 8. Introduce a massive drive to wipe out drug use amongst the young, be it alcohol, weed, cigarettes, solvent abuse, etc... 9. Work on new strategies to help people deal with stress, dieting, peer pressure, etc... and not resort to drug use. This could be in the form of courses at school and adult education classes, especially at university. 10. Ensure untainted supply to reduce mortality rate. Taking that approach doesn't sit well with me, it feels like giving in. However, the current situation demands a different strategy to the one that has been employed previously. A policy to hack away at demand seems more effective than a policy to hack away at the supply. If there is demand there always will be a supply, the reverse is not true. Ensuring proper education, cleaner drugs (that haven't been cut with dubious substances) and clearly identified and regulated supply lines should allow for more effective reduction of drug abuse in this country.
That sentence really hacks me off. You'd object if I chose to walk along the street shooting indiscriminately anyone who got within 2 metres of myself, before eventually shooting myself in the head. You'd be the first shouting and raving about how I'm crazy and it's immoral on so many levels. So why do you want to allow smoking, pandering to an addiction, the smokers are essentially doing the same thing... walking down the street slowly killing whoever they pass. It'd be hypocritical to say one should be legal, and the other not, however bizarre the analogy. Let us not forget, either, that the legal smoking age in this country (uk) is 16. A lot of people aren't mature enough to act sensibly in public at this age, and any informal rules of 'manners' would obviously be broken! How would they be stopped - anti-social behaviour orders? Do you even have the legal right to smoke at that age, are you old enough to make a legal decision... you can't vote or be a company director or properly sign contracts etc... you're a minor. Personally, I've never smoked, and don't really appreciate passive smoking either. I would be happy to see smoking banned in public places over here, though I would be moderate and allow the smokers to have 'ghettos' where thay are allowed to, without killing the rest of us. As for weed, legalise it. It can have bad effects, someone I knew killed themselves in the last couple of months, which is reckoned to be partially attributed to psychosis. But, it isn't that common, and were it not for the smoking with tobacco and other **** it's been cut with it'd be relatively safe. Penski is damn on the ball about non-violent stoners. Alcohol is worse. With a proper legalised system it'd eliminate the dodgy dealers, the cutting with all kinds of **** and provide a relatively safe environment for it. **** just walking around smoking it at night, one of my good mates happily walked around town during the day smoking it after getting out of a-level exams last year. He managed to hide it pronto when we encountered a policeman coming the opposite direction towards us over a narrow bridge in some gardens. Not that I condone that behaviour, because I feel it shouldn't really be smoked in public quite so openly. Licensed cafes and your home should be fine though. Alaric
Yea, again i totally agree. It irates me that smokers feel its their right to "infect" me where-ever they feel they want to. Ive had to live with it WITHOUT CHOICE for the last year. I just cant understand the logic of people who dont understand this. As said above, if i want to shoot you do i have the right to just because i feel like doing it? Alcohol is way worse, ill admit that too and probably as bad as smoking for your body. But people use it and it calms them down. I spose we should ration alcohol consumption? Doesnt bother me, i dont really drink either