Decriminalisation of drugs... your thoughts?

[Number37]

Wow these incarcerated aboriginal youths are so lucky to have you looking out for them.
My god you are disgusting. I would be so much happier knowing you were a capitalistic banker. The fact that you're under the delusion you're doing good in the world makes me want to throw up.

These guys having to deal with such a patronising campaigner. I literally feel their pain.

Anyway, not engaging you anymore.

Now, the last word is yours.

I am 100% done.

You're too busy aggrandising drug use to understand or give 2 shits that some people aren't even lucky enough to get a choice.
As long as you can go to a party with people that use drugs, who gives a s**t how drugs affect people that have no choice.

 

[Number37]

Wow these incarcerated aboriginal youths are so lucky to have you looking out for them.
My god you are disgusting. I would be so much happier knowing you were a capitalistic banker. The fact that you're under the delusion you're doing good in the world makes me want to throw up.

My grandmother taught me when I was young:

Das böse Gewissen verrät sich selbst.

 

[CheapCharlie]

Not really. It seems to be a small minority of drug users are worried about it.

Well they are. Clearly, since not only have you mentioned them previously but it directly relates to the topic.

You do drugs. You not being allowed has no bearing on your choice.

Although living through my best mates “drug withdrawal psychosis” makes me seriously question the claim that a person using drugs has no impact on others.


I’d say the services should be changed prior to any talk on legalisation. Get the support right before giving access.

Isn't there services already in place to deal with various drug issues?

 

[TheWoodenSlug]

Isn't there services already in place to deal with various drug issues?

Nowhere near enough, from my understanding/experience. Massive wait lists.

Though I live in the sticks, it might be better in the cities.

 

[Snake_Baker]

I would think drugs are a substance that parolees shouldn’t be allowed

You support legalisation, except for parolees?

What molestation? It doesn’t actually sound like it’s oreventing you from anything

Stop being ridiculous.

 

[Snake_Baker]

It doesn’t seem to be preventing you from taking drugs (you’ve admitted in this thread you have)

You do drugs. You not being allowed has no bearing on your choice.

Are you engaging in entrapment with posters on this website?

 

[CheapCharlie]

Nowhere near enough, from my understanding/experience. Massive wait lists.

Though I live in the sticks, it might be better in the cities.

Legalising would free up a truck load of resources in medical, policing, punishment, funding... some of those could be redirected.

The way we are going we seem a decade away from marijuana legalisation

 

[Number37]

Fanciful absolute garbage that decriminalization will reduce the heath care costs associated with drug use.
Decriminalization only works to the extent that funding is increased for support services, like health care. The Portugal example makes that abundantly clear.
There is zero evidence that decriminalization leads to a decrease in policing or court costs.
There is zero evidence that decriminalization leads to safer drugs.

Having a good time at a party with other drug users is not "evidence".
Social utility is the opposite of enforcing an individual's rights.

 

[nicky]

Are you engaging in entrapment with posters on this website?

I thought that was strange.

 

[CheapCharlie]

Legalisation is needed
Decriminalisation becomes revenue raising

 

[darcytiger]

Would prefer the decriminalisation of euthanisation of drug addicts.

Hate hearing about how 'education is the answer' blah blah blah
How much education is needed to know that your life expectancy is slashed the moment you choose to first shoot up heroin/smoke ice?

 

[Snake_Baker]

How much education is needed to know that your life expectancy is slashed the moment you choose to first shoot up heroin/smoke ice?

It would seem that you need a lot of it.

 

[Number37]

Drugs are safe, just like asbestos (a naturally occurring material) , which is safe enough to be eaten.
Here's proof.

 

[darcytiger]

It would seem that you need a lot of it.

You think otherwise on that particular statement?

 

[nicky]

Drugs are safe, just like asbestos (a naturally occurring material) , which is safe enough to be eaten.
Here's proof.

View attachment 589621

What does this have to do with anything?

 

[Snake_Baker]

You think otherwise on that particular statement?

Medically supervised drug programs can have minimal or zero detrimental health issues.
Heroin being a classical example:

https://www.tdpf.org.uk/blog/heroin...ssfully-regulating-supply-and-use-high-risk-0

In comparison to the illegal drug market:

https://mic.com/articles/110344/14-...-all-drugs-here-s-what-s-happening#.DGSEbIaF2

 

[CheapCharlie]

It isn't much of an argument to say drugs aren't safe and so by that criteria, all drugs currently illegal, should stay that way

Sure some drugs might not be safe, but how many aspects of life contain elements that aren't safe?

Prohibition has been a spectacular ongoing failure, enriching criminals, taking away tax revenue, enforcement costing an ever increasing amount and will continue to rise under current policies, yet those drugs are still harming people...and they aren't legal.

Legalsing would enable greater harm minimisation, but even in the unlikely event harm stayed at the same level as it is now, you still have all the other added bonuses that comes from legalising the drugs: more tax revenue, Less money on policing , less money on punishment/courts/lawyers, less lives ruined for a mistake in youth that led to a drug conviction for some petty property theft.

 

[Power Raid]

When taken in moderate amounts, cannabis seems to cause no significant driving impairment.

As cannabis prohibition laws crumble seemingly by the day, it’s allowing more research to be performed on this psychoactive substance that has long been a part of the human experience.

The first study to analyze the effects of cannabis on driving performancefound that it caused almost no impairment. The impairment that it did cause was similar to that observed under the influence of a legal alcohol limit.

Researchers at the University of Iowa’s National Advanced Driving Simulator carried out the study, sponsored by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Institute of Drug Abuse, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy

“Once in the simulator—a 1996 Malibu sedan mounted in a 24-feet diameter dome—the drivers were assessed on weaving within the lane, how often the car left the lane, and the speed of the weaving. Drivers with only alcohol in their systems showed impairment in all three areas while those strictly under the influence of vaporized cannabis only demonstrated problems weaving within the lane.

Drivers with blood concentrations of 13.1 ug/L THC, or delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in marijuana, showed increased weaving that was similar to those with a .08 breath alcohol concentration, the legal limit in most states. The legal limit for THC in Washington and Colorado is 5 ug/L, the same amount other states have considered.”

As expected, there was impairment in all areas when alcohol and cannabis were mixed. But cannabis itself, when taken in moderate amounts, seems to cause no significant driving impairment.

In fact, some would argue that it makes them drive safer or slower.

The study’s findings further illuminate the fact that alcohol is a much more dangerous drug than cannabis, and somehow the former is legal while the latter is not.

With cannabis being decriminalized across the country, law enforcement will be getting their “rules and regulations” in place for the driving masses. They should be based on science and not Reefer Madness mentalities.

Another important finding should deter any attempts to deploy instant roadside tests for THC-blood levels.

“The study also found that analyzing a driver’s oral fluids can detect recent use of marijuana but is not a reliable measure of impairment.

“Everyone wants a Breathalyzer which works for alcohol because alcohol is metabolized in the lungs,” says Andrew Spurgin, a postdoctoral research fellow with the UI College of Pharmacy. “But for cannabis this isn’t as simple due to THC’s metabolic and chemical properties.”

Source:

https://thefreethoughtproject.com/kind-study-finds-virtually-driving-impairment-influence-marijuana/

https://now.uiowa.edu/2015/06/ui-studies-impact-marijuana-driving

I’ve always questioned whether we as a society ever understood the purpose of hard lights in cars.

Breaking down on the side of the road is no different to parking but for some reason there is this need to put on hazard lights.

For me driving down the freeway at 40km/hr, with one eye closed to get rid of the double vision warrants the hazard lights. That way everyone would know your high as a kite or drunk as a skunk and can pass safely with caution.

 

[Number37]

What does this have to do with anything?

We have had a stream of "drugs are safe" references...because they're natural or only compound X or only affect the brain in this way which is in no way harmful.
Asbestos is safe, is a natural substance & you can eat it.

Would probably be real fun to go to a party with asbestos too.

 

[CheapCharlie]

We have had a stream of "drugs are safe" references...because they're natural or only compound X or only affect the brain in this way which is in no way harmful.
Asbestos is safe, is a natural substance & you can eat it.

Would probably be real fun to go to a party with asbestos too.

Is there a strong demand for personal use of asbestos?
A black market for selling asbestos where people make truck loads of tax free cash?People getting addicted to asbestos...?

Not the same

 

[nicky]

We have had a stream of "drugs are safe" references...because they're natural or only compound X or only affect the brain in this way which is in no way harmful.
Asbestos is safe, is a natural substance & you can eat it.

Would probably be real fun to go to a party with asbestos too.

Your arguments are jumping the shark.

Give it up.

 

[Number37]

Cannabis use is associated with poor out comes in existing schizophrenia and may precipitate psychosis in those with a predisposition.

The meta-analysis of prospective studies of cannabis was used to determine that the pooled odds ratio was 2:1 and that cannabis was a component cause in the development and prognosis of psychosis.

Henquet. C.; Murray, R.; Linszen, D. and van Os. J.
“The Environment and Schizophrenia: The role of cannabis use”.
Schizophrenia Bulletin 2005 Jul; 31(3):608-12

....................................................................................

Using larger amounts of cannabis, at an earlier age and having a genetic predisposition increases the risk of developing schizophrenia

Harris, A.
“An Examination of the Links Between Cannabis Use and Schizophrenia”.
Engage. Issue 6 May 2006. Mental Illness Fellowship of Australia.

.....................................................................................

There is a causal relationship between cannabis use and psychotic conditions.
This association does not prove that cannabis causes schizophrenia but that it is a component cause forming part of a causal constellation.
Likewise, it is not a sufficient cause, that is not all people who use cannabis in adolescence go on to develop psychosis.

Arsenault, L. Cannon, M. Witton, J. and Murray R.M.
“Causal Association Between Cannabis and Psychosis: Examination of the evidence”.
British Journal of Psychiatry (2004) 184, 110-117.

 

[Number37]

Longitudinal study design research has consistently concluded that depression does not predict cannabis use but that cannabis use imparts a moderate risk for later depression, particularly amongst adolescent girls.

Copeland, J. Gerber, S. and Swift, W. (2006)
Evidence-based Answers to Cannabis Questions: A review of the literature, Australian National Council on Drugs

...............................................................................

 

[Number37]

Let's do away with the myth that decriminalization by itself can, or does lead to, for example, the outcomes in Portugal. There is far more to what has happened in Portugal than just decriminalization.


The Committee met with Sandra Simoes, Clinical Psychologist of the Centro das Taipas, a treatment centre in Lisbon.
She outlined that the prevention component of the Portuguese model comprises:

Universal measures – broader promotion of health in the community, media campaigns to reduce negative labelling of people who use drugs, and building
resilience among young people
Selective measures – considers risks and protective factors that have higher correlation with dependence and attempts to intervene with people displaying
risk factors, particularly young people. In this instance, a network of agencies may work together to assist the person identified as at risk
Indicative measures – working specifically with people who are experiencing early signs of drug misuse to potentially minimise further dependence or risky
associated behaviours.

Law Reform, Road and Community Safety Committee, Report on international study tour: Inquiry into drug law reform, Parliament of Victoria, East Melbourne, 2017, p. 20

 

[nicky]

* PREVENTION, it doesn't work.

Harm reduction /minimisation works.

Don't invent new govt depts, fund the groups that are already have the knowledge and organisations set up. They will do a better job anyway.

Then the govt and do gooders need to get their nose out of it.