There's a lot of debate over this.

In actual fact, there was recently a poll here in Australia, in which the majority were in favour of it being legalised!

This worries me, as I am against it.

One must wonder why tobacco is allowed and marijuana isn't. I can't really see a big difference.

more to the point have you taken it, or is it just blue smarties again.....

Yep I think it should be legalised. Actually, i'm pretty sure it's legal in at least one state in Australia - New South Wales maybe?

My argument would go that it's our choice what we want to put in our bodies - alcohol, tobacco, weed - whatever. No one has a right to dictate that choice to me. The only time I think that anyone should step in is when it's possible that your personal choice harms others.

Marijuana is different from tobacco - it gets you high, tobacco does not. But I would say that if we keep tobacco and alcohol legal, and marijuana should be. It can then be controlled - especially the THC content which is a big problem at the moment - taxed and regulated in the same way as those drugs. And people don't have to go to drug dealers to get their supply then.

I know you're not going to agree with me SF, but one thing I will say - weed is a naturally growing plant (same as opium poppies) - someone must have created it. And as we quite naturally eat other plants (like lettuce) why should we not eat weed????

oooo I especially love that last bit of your post Jo - gave me visions of doing my weekly shopping and strolling along the vegetable aisle past the carrots, lettuce, weed, onions, tomatoes....

*goes off to try and find the Alan Davis rant on why marijuana is no worse, in fact maybe better, than alcohol*

Outrageous, the way I see it you should need permission to breath!

I'd like to get more in depth about it but I've just started smoking the most fantastic doobie. ;)

oh, i have no doubt at all the weed is better than alcohol. There's a huge problems these days with the stronger forms of weed - better known as skunk (or hydro for those Aussies amongst us) and I think legalising it would mean that the THC content could be regulated, hopefully leading to fewer mental health problems.

But it's very very rare that you get fights in the middle of cities between weed smokers - that would be the very drunk people!!! Weed smokers just fall asleep..... :P

constructive and well-informed argument Gav :P

Jo, it isn't legal here in NSW.

If you don't mind me asking, do you smoke it? No offence, it's just that your pro-stance gives the impression you do. Whether it's natural or not, I don't care. It causes negative effects, as does smoking.

That's what I meant when I said I didn't see the difference.

We're all wondering what the hell you smoke luv!

sorry, my bad - it's not legal, just decriminalised.

Tbf, whether i smoke or not is irrelevant - plenty of people don't smoke it but think it's no worse than alcohol or tobacco. Now, as I know you don't agree with tobacco or alcohol being legal i may be on to a losing argument with you here :P

Can you elaborate on what the negative effects are that you're talking about???? I can understand that smoking it is dangerous - but what about eating it, or making tea out of it????

and poppy seeds are a recognised culinary ingredient let's not forget. Poppy seed cake can give a positive result in an opium screen if you ingest more than 25g of the seeds...

I'm with Jo. If it can be regulated and THC content can be, then it can be legalised and dare I add... taxed!!

Its always in the excess and abuse.... I mean its not like :popcorn: popcorn that you just munch on. :rolleyes: ...... and oh...even those bolivians grow 'coca' plants like normal vegetable plants..... so why not...

The dutch did well to legalise it... but I guess they are well behaved people.. so manage everything well including their red light districts....

We debate such things cause we live in cities, but people living in tropical villages in far flung corners of the world grow these things for everything... porridge, medicine for aches and pains and what have you...
its a natural part of their ancestory...and they don't even abuse it...

when the japanese came up with ecstacy..( for military purposes) who would have thought it would be eating up so many people to day... :unsure:

*Don't mind me... I'm just free thinking... :) *

well the THC content is artifically increased in skunk - natural weed has nowhere near the active ingredient as skunk.

And yeah - the government is missing a trick here really - it could probably tax it 400% and it'd still be cheaper than buying it on the streets.

The other interesting thing is that in Holland where it's de facto legalised, their use of cannabis is lower than that of the UK (as a % of the population) as is their use of harder drugs......

just as long as you're not free-basing hun B)

The Dutch didn't legalise it Suzi - international laws prohibit them from doing so. They just turn a blind eye to possession.

And i thought ecstasy was developed in Swizterland - same as acid :unsure:

:lmaao:

Lex :tsk:

Chaiman doesnt mind anyone smoking their stuff, however I shall not be paying taxes for anyones mental health care.

Speaking of Holland, I love the coffee shops in Amsterdam. You can smoke high quality stuff in a very hospitable atmosphere, makes a real change from lager louts and the violence I see on the streets in the UK.

My favourite place in Amsterdam... Barney's Breakfast Bar Coffee Shop.

Thank god SF lives in Australia then roflmao

:) Yeap..Jo... I'm not using precise law terminology......so saying that is an over genralisation....

But I think the basic chemical component of what makes ecstasy is from some country in asia..... most likely derivatives of the chemical may be from elsewhere....

*Don't mind Lex.. :P ... he does get jumpy sometimes.....*

roflmao One of my uni mates is from Amsterdam and he has mentioned how good that very same place is! Small world eh? :D

Did you know that Portugal and Spain have decriminalised all drugs? So it's no longer punishable to have a small amount for personal consumption.......leaves them more time to focus on traffickers rather than those in possession :unsure:

as I remember it, and I freely admit i may be rusty here as it's a while since I actually gave courses on this, but MDMA was actually synthesised in the late 19th century in Germany, but it may have been Switzerland.

Later, as folks started trying to get around the drug laws, they started bolting on methyl groups

There was a full gamut

MDMA - methylene-dioxy-methamphetamine
MDEA - methylene -dioxy-ethamphetamine
MDPA - ...propamphetamine

etc..

MDMA won out due to the hallucinogenic qualities and it was easiest to manufacture..

actually, all of those are still manufactured - and often what claim to be Ectsasy pills (MDMA) are actually a variant (MDA, MDEA etc etc.) I think some are more hallucingenic than others..... :unsure:

Are you Alan Davis? :unsure: I am fairly sure thats how his argument went!

:lmaao:

that's how I remember it too

:)

:whistle:

no, but I love him :wub: :wub:

it's a fairly common argument :)

ooo me too! I always want him to win on QI :wub:

*remembers this is about drugs and not Alan* :blush:

yeah, I guess it is a common argument - the way he went on about it was very funny - I must see if there is a clip.

I think you got your wish last week hun

Glad I encouraged a good debate on here :P

check Youtube 'cos i'd love to see it if there is...... :ok:

The thing with the legalisation of cannabis is that it's so freely available these days you've gotta figure that everyone who wants to be doing it, probably is doing it :shrug: I can't imagine that it being illegal puts many folks off these days. although i could be wrong - it could be made legal and it be a disaster.

that's the biggest argument against legalisation (of all drugs in fact) - once you've let the genie out of the bottle it's very difficult to put it back in (look at the issues with banning smoking in public places and raising the age limit of cigarettes.)

Why are you hiding your face?

because I want to tease the ladies on here

doesnt look like they have it :(

look at prohibition in the US!

marijuana should be legalized :ok: :ok:

any war on drugs is utterly ridiculous. canada came close a couple of years ago to decriminalizing small amounts of pot. but the government changed hands and the idea kinda died.

ah, now, prohibition in the US can be used for both sides of the argument.

Firstly, it can show the whole genie-effect. there's also the argument whcih goes that we don't know how much more people would have drunk if there hadn't been prohibition.,

However, it also shows how prohibition can fail; how people will continue to take whatever they please no matter how illegal it is; and how prohibiting drugs simply puts them into the hands of rather nasty people like Al Capone.....

yeah, I think the drugs should fight back :P

what about blue smarties?