Legalising weed

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Bird on a Fire
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Legalising weed

Post by Bird on a Fire » Thu Jun 10, 2021 12:05 am

Obviously it's going to happen, and the various state-wise experiments in the US and Canada are handy for deciding policy objectives.

There was a debate in the Portuguese parliament today about it, with more discussion of details than yes/no (apart from the usual boomer right-wing Christian all drugs are bad except for the alcohol tobacco and caffeine I do daily and let's ignore my past dabblings with weed and coke etc)

Seems like a useful way to divert a fair bit of cash from criminals to the public purse while improving outcomes for users and wider society.
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IvanV
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Re: Legalising weed

Post by IvanV » Thu Jun 10, 2021 7:56 am

When Dave appointed a drugs tsar, who presumably thought he was appointed to say the obvious which he was well-known for saying, he was instantly sacked for saying it. Given Dave had been pretty socially liberal on most other things, it was a bit of a surprise watching him revert to do-as-I-say-not-what-I-do patrician. It would surprise me less if Mr Johnson did the same, as he is certainly of that ilk.

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Opti
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Re: Legalising weed

Post by Opti » Thu Jun 10, 2021 9:54 am

I could write a long post about the many discussions I had with a Mr. Kinnock in 1983-1984 about 'the drugs problem'.
This was a period when I had recently escaped from "my drug hell" and was intimately acquainted with how drug use, trafficking ... the whole thing had developed since the Misuse of Drugs Act was introduced in 1971.

He was very interested in my insight into how the Act had changed the whole scene and my predictions of how the situation in '83 was likely to progress. It progressed in exactly the way I described.
He was personally very sympathetic to the idea of reforming drug policy to reflect that the current enforcement policy was making things worse, not better.

... but, of course, "the Party won't see it the same way".

At the time I used to meet Neil and Glenys, Alan and Ann Keen along with Norman Willis at 'The Bells' in Staines for in-depth discussions at least once a week for many months (the Keens lived next door to it).

The phrase today would be "but, the optics".
I think the optics amongst the voting public is somewhat different now ... but Politics.

I worked for a while with an ad hoc organisation called the Surrey Drug Resource Unit, but it wasn't that long till I realised I was pissing in the wind.
f.ck it.




Is weed still illegal? It seems to be everywhere these days. I haven't ever had a problem sourcing it for the last 35 years.
Time for a big fat one.

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Tessa K
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Re: Legalising weed

Post by Tessa K » Thu Jun 10, 2021 11:00 am

To boost vaccination rates, Washington state is offering free marijuana joints to any adults that receive a Covid-19 vaccine.

On Monday, the Washington state liquor and cannabis board announced the promotion, aptly called “Joints for Jabs”, that will run until 12 July. During the initiative’s run, state-licensed dispensaries can give age-appropriate customers, 21 and older, a pre-rolled joint when they receive their first or second dose.
If they had a similar kind of policy here it would be to offer a copy of the Telegraph and a slice of Victoria Sponge.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... tion-rates

Although politicians are wary of the 'optics', you'd think they would be keen on the amount of revenue they'd make from taxing weed and the amount of police resources it would save.

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jdc
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Re: Legalising weed

Post by jdc » Thu Jun 10, 2021 5:59 pm

IvanV wrote:
Thu Jun 10, 2021 7:56 am
When Dave appointed a drugs tsar, who presumably thought he was appointed to say the obvious which he was well-known for saying, he was instantly sacked for saying it. Given Dave had been pretty socially liberal on most other things, it was a bit of a surprise watching him revert to do-as-I-say-not-what-I-do patrician. It would surprise me less if Mr Johnson did the same, as he is certainly of that ilk.
Who did Dave sack?

IvanV
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Re: Legalising weed

Post by IvanV » Thu Jun 10, 2021 6:24 pm

jdc wrote:
Thu Jun 10, 2021 5:59 pm
IvanV wrote:
Thu Jun 10, 2021 7:56 am
When Dave appointed a drugs tsar, who presumably thought he was appointed to say the obvious which he was well-known for saying, he was instantly sacked for saying it. Given Dave had been pretty socially liberal on most other things, it was a bit of a surprise watching him revert to do-as-I-say-not-what-I-do patrician. It would surprise me less if Mr Johnson did the same, as he is certainly of that ilk.
Who did Dave sack?
I was thinking of David Nutt, but I've mixed up two separate occasions of PMs behaving the same way. Dave refused to act on a pro-liberalisation home office report and pressure from Norman Baker the Liberal minister responsible for drugs. Nutt was sacked under Gordon Brown.

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bolo
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Re: Legalising weed

Post by bolo » Thu Jun 10, 2021 8:00 pm

IvanV wrote:
Thu Jun 10, 2021 6:24 pm
Nutt was sacked under Gordon Brown.
Please tell me that at least one news outlet had the headline "Nutt sacked".

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discovolante
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Re: Legalising weed

Post by discovolante » Thu Jun 10, 2021 8:27 pm

Yes, and it was Alan Johnson who sacked him.
To defy the laws of tradition is a crusade only of the brave.

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Bird on a Fire
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Re: Legalising weed

Post by Bird on a Fire » Fri Jun 11, 2021 8:39 am

I remember that kerfuffle. I was still a teenager, and I remember being outraged that a government advisor could be sacked for providing advice the government didn't like. People were really pissed off that Nutt had done this report comparing recreational drug use with other hobbies, because "you can't compare them".
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philbo
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Re: Legalising weed

Post by philbo » Sun Jun 13, 2021 10:58 am

bolo wrote:
Thu Jun 10, 2021 8:00 pm
IvanV wrote:
Thu Jun 10, 2021 6:24 pm
Nutt was sacked under Gordon Brown.
Please tell me that at least one news outlet had the headline "Nutt sacked".
Oddly, my parody on this topic at the time (Don't Sack Nutt, You Plonker) credits touchingcloth on the BadScience forum with the idea.. is he (/she, I can never remember the sexes of people) still around?

I often use people's attitudes on legalization as a proxy to how (/whether) they think. I don't think there is a rational argument that stands up to any kind of scrutiny for the status quo; and the hypocrisy it engenders in those former users who're now in government is frequently utterly sickening.

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