Cannabis legalisation

[Carnivore Chris]

I think this is a very relevant thread, considering how the world is now changing regarding cannabis.

It's now legal in Thailand, yes Thailand, a country that used to have the toughest laws in the world regarding the substance.

Obviously it's legal in many US states. They are going to start even selling it in petrol stations in Florida :-

It's also now legal in:-

Malta

Georgia

Uruguay

Canada

Jamaica(or is as good as, let's be honest)

South Africa

México, or pretty much.

It's not legal, per say, but decriminalised in the likes of The Netherlands and Spain, where you can enjoy a smoke in coffeshops/private cannabis social clubs.

It's decriminalised in the likes of Portugal, Czech Republic, etc.

Germany look close to full legalisation. Probably Switzerland.

Then in this country(The United Kingdom) you have some police chief(I.e a pleb) and some dinosaur of a politician claiming how cannabis should be upgraded to a Class A, i.e in the same category as heroin.

The benefits that would come from this would be huge from an economical point of view and lets be honest, it's nowhere near as dangerous alcohol. Alcohol is actually significantly worse, not like I think that should be illegal of course.

Why is this country so uptight? 

[Dr. Gonzo]

Decriminalised in Italy as well I think - but their weed is definitely the most shit I've ever smoked in my life, somehow.

As far as substance abuse goes, I think smoking weed is pretty minimal risk so I really have no idea why it's been treated so harshly. 

[nudge+]

Regarding Thailand: weed has a very long history there culturally, and used to be very very legal (and one of the major export products) until some time in the late 70s when the US started pushing for their "war on drugs". It's pretty much the same for most of the region; it's been used as a recreational drug but also for food and medical purposes for centuries, and still is even in places where it's still officially illegal. Some countries only banned it officially because it was a condition to receive international aid, but never really enforced it; the law is just used from time to time as an excuse to rip tourists of their money (bribe), or as a pretext to get someone in trouble if the authorities want to make their life hard for other reasons, or if the police have to fulfill some arrest quotas haha. 

I met someone here a few years ago who had a whole plantation growing deep in the jungle in the national park area lol, and openly talked about it to anyone who would listen. He was literally high all the time. I wonder what happened to him  

Personally, I don't smoke so it's pretty much irrelevant to me, but I never understood why it was banned in the first place. 

[CaaC (John)+]

I think I mentioned this in here before but I have only smoked it once when I was pissed as a newt, me and the wife went around a mate of mine and he was smoking it and apparently I grabbed the joint off him and started to smoke it, as the night drew on I was pissed and high as a kite.

The wife did her nut as she said it took her half an hour to walk me home and we only lived about 2 streets away from my mates, she said I was staggering all over the place and singing, never again, I woke up the next day with a stinking headache and sick as a dog.

[Dr. Gonzo]

18 minutes ago, CaaC (John) said:

II woke up the next day with a stinking headache and sick as a dog.

 

Tbf that's probably mostly down to the booze & then you dehydrated yourself smoking the joint 

[Spike]

Cannabis is a gateway drug that leads to crack cocaine and abortion which 87% of Americans are against.

[OrangeKhrush]

On 20/10/2022 at 19:57, Carnivore Chris said:

I think this is a very relevant thread, considering how the world is now changing regarding cannabis.

It's now legal in Thailand, yes Thailand, a country that used to have the toughest laws in the world regarding the substance.

Obviously it's legal in many US states. They are going to start even selling it in petrol stations in Florida :-

It's also now legal in:-

Malta

Georgia

Uruguay

Canada

Jamaica(or is as good as, let's be honest)

South Africa

México, or pretty much.

It's not legal, per say, but decriminalised in the likes of The Netherlands and Spain, where you can enjoy a smoke in coffeshops/private cannabis social clubs.

It's decriminalised in the likes of Portugal, Czech Republic, etc.

Germany look close to full legalisation. Probably Switzerland.

Then in this country(The United Kingdom) you have some police chief(I.e a pleb) and some dinosaur of a politician claiming how cannabis should be upgraded to a Class A, i.e in the same category as heroin.

The benefits that would come from this would be huge from an economical point of view and lets be honest, it's nowhere near as dangerous alcohol. Alcohol is actually significantly worse, not like I think that should be illegal of course.

Why is this country so uptight? 

weed in South Africa is not completely legal.   you can't smoke it outside your own home.  you can't sell it and you cannot carry it.   if you are caught smoking weed in public it's subject to a fine or imprisonment.

in employment terms coming to work under the influence and depending on the nature of the work you could get dismissed ie: working with machines would warrant dismissal while being a telemarketer may not necessarily warrant a first time dismissal but progressive discipline ie a final written warning.

 

[OrangeKhrush]

7 hours ago, Spike said:

Cannabis is a gateway drug that leads to crack cocaine and abortion which 87% of Americans are against.

when I had to go through chemo weed was basically only used to boost appetite there is no real benefit to cannabis and it leaves a disgusting after taste

[Carnivore Chris]

On 20/10/2022 at 19:27, Dr. Gonzo said:

Decriminalised in Italy as well I think - but their weed is definitely the most shit I've ever smoked in my life, somehow.

As far as substance abuse goes, I think smoking weed is pretty minimal risk so I really have no idea why it's been treated so harshly. 

Maybe it's the lack of contacts for the quality mate.

On 20/10/2022 at 20:04, nudge said:

Regarding Thailand: weed has a very long history there culturally, and used to be very very legal (and one of the major export products) until some time in the late 70s when the US started pushing for their "war on drugs". It's pretty much the same for most of the region; it's been used as a recreational drug but also for food and medical purposes for centuries, and still is even in places where it's still officially illegal. Some countries only banned it officially because it was a condition to receive international aid, but never really enforced it; the law is just used from time to time as an excuse to rip tourists of their money (bribe), or as a pretext to get someone in trouble if the authorities want to make their life hard for other reasons, or if the police have to fulfill some arrest quotas haha. 

I met someone here a few years ago who had a whole plantation growing deep in the jungle in the national park area lol, and openly talked about it to anyone who would listen. He was literally high all the time. I wonder what happened to him  

Personally, I don't smoke so it's pretty much irrelevant to me, but I never understood why it was banned in the first place. 

Yeah in Mexico and Colombia, I've read you can carry like an ounce for personal, but if police catch tourists, they will no doubt tell you that you are going to jail for a long time unless you give them 100 dollars each .

Cambodia has a big scene as well doesn't it? People selling pizzas with cannabis on the streets.

It's interesting because among Muslim and Hindu cultures, cannabis is often accepted while alcohol isn't.

It's amazing how the western world can dictate the rest of the planet, although countries are waking up now. If Germany fully legalise it, the whole of Europe will likely follow.

On 22/10/2022 at 02:35, Spike said:

Cannabis is a gateway drug that leads to crack cocaine and abortion which 87% of Americans are against.

No substance is a gateway to another. There won't be many crackheads who didn't try weed first, but there won't be many who didn't consume alcohol or caffeine either.

On 22/10/2022 at 09:43, OrangeKhrush said:

weed in South Africa is not completely legal.   you can't smoke it outside your own home.  you can't sell it and you cannot carry it.   if you are caught smoking weed in public it's subject to a fine or imprisonment.

in employment terms coming to work under the influence and depending on the nature of the work you could get dismissed ie: working with machines would warrant dismissal while being a telemarketer may not necessarily warrant a first time dismissal but progressive discipline ie a final written warning.

 

Spain has interesting laws as you can grow up to 5 plants for personal use, you can also smoke it in private and it's generally socially accepted. They even have private social clubs where you can go and smoke it without issues, but if the police catch you smoking it outside, or having it in your possession, you can receive heavy fines. Barcelona especially has some high quality bud though, even Californians who I spoke to there were satisfied.

The Netherlands has the most relaxed laws in Europe. It's decriminalised rather than legal, but there are coffeeshops everywhere and people walk around the likes of Amsterdam smoking it openly with no issues and you even have people smoking outside Schipol airport. Nobody is fined.

[Spike]

2 minutes ago, Carnivore Chris said:

 

No substance is a gateway to another. There won't be many crackheads who didn't try weed first, but there won't be many who didn't consume alcohol or caffeine either.

.

It was not a serious post.

[Carnivore Chris]

1 minute ago, Spike said:

It was not a serious post.

I was hoping not to be honest haha, but I was referring more to the people who actually believe that nonsense.

[nudge+]

3 minutes ago, Carnivore Chris said:

Yeah in Mexico and Colombia, I've read you can carry like an ounce for personal, but if police catch tourists, they will no doubt tell you that you are going to jail for a long time unless you give them 100 dollars each .

Cambodia has a big scene as well doesn't it? People selling pizzas with cannabis on the streets.

It's interesting because among Muslim and Hindu cultures, cannabis is often accepted while alcohol isn't.

It's amazing how the western world can dictate the rest of the planet, although countries are waking up now. If Germany fully legalise it, the whole of Europe will likely follow.

In Cambodia, it's really just a tourist/expat thing. The whole happy pizzas, tuk tuk drivers offering all kinds of drugs, the party scene, etc. The young locals aren't THAT much into it, compared to the youths in other countries I've visited. At least from what I've seen. 

It's a Buddhist country, and while traditionally, both alcohol and cannabis (as well as other drugs, obviously) have negative connotations here among the more conservative family circles, nobody really cares, as long as your not a public nuisance. It is considered to be a rather conservative culture in general, but the level of tolerance for everything is over the roof. One of the reasons I like it here.

[Spike]

4 minutes ago, Carnivore Chris said:

I was hoping not to be honest haha, but I was referring more to the people who actually believe that nonsense.

The opposite side of the of the gateway coin are those that push the narrative there are no addictive or habitual qualities of weed, when that is obviously not true. There is a lot of misinformation or intentional obfuscation, people either ignore or overstate the negatives of weed. 

[6666]

If alcohol is behind the line then there's zero reason marijuana shouldn't be. Makes no sense.

[Cicero]

1 hour ago, 6666 said:

If alcohol is behind the line then there's zero reason marijuana shouldn't be. Makes no sense.

This. 

It's a type of rational where 20 years from now we will be scratching our heads (if the majority aren't already). 

[Rucksackfranzose]

German government have sent their cannabis legalisation key point paper to Brussels to check whether it's compatible with EU law. If so, the posession up to 30 gram of cannabis for recreational purposes would become legal within 2 years here.

[Azeem]

Yeah things like cigarettes and alcohol are more pernicious than this. 

[Carnivore Chris]

On 27/10/2022 at 11:01, Rucksackfranzose said:

German government have sent their cannabis legalisation key point paper to Brussels to check whether it's compatible with EU law. If so, the posession up to 30 gram of cannabis for recreational purposes would become legal within 2 years here.

That's a bit disappointing as I was thinking you were going to fully regulate and legalise it, similar to Canada, with dispensaries.

 

[Rucksackfranzose]

15 minutes ago, Carnivore Chris said:

That's a bit disappointing as I was thinking you were going to fully regulate and legalise it, similar to Canada, with dispensaries.

 

Have to be more precise, not only the posession but also the acquisition in licensed shops would be legal. Restriction to these shops were: they had to keep a minimum distance from the nearest school, and were banned from selling alcohol, and finally would only sell up to 30 gram to any of their customers at once.

[Carnivore Chris]

20 minutes ago, Rucksackfranzose said:

Have to be more precise, not only the posession but also the acquisition in licensed shops would be legal. Restriction to these shops were: they had to keep a minimum distance from the nearest school, and were banned from selling alcohol, and finally would only sell up to 30 gram to any of their customers at once.

That sounds great.

Nobody needs more than 30 grams either so that is a fair law.