Magistrates, who see the real-life effects of these things whereas "experts" and even politicians do not, are rightly furious that cannabis, which today returns to Class B, is nevertheless still subject to lighter penalties than other drugs in that class.
Cannabis must be made a Class A drug, accompanied by a crackdown on the possession of drugs, including a mandatory sentence of three months for a second offence, six months for a third offence, one year for a fourth offence, and so on.
The rich and powerful, and their spoilt kiddies, are as subject to the law of the land as everyone else.
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One more thing - do you believe that *any* illegal drugs should be Class B, or Class C? Or should there just be one standard (what we now call Class A) for all of them?
ReplyDeleteI'd have to think about that one. It is certainly worth considering.
ReplyDeleteBut I have no doubts about cannabis.
What is so harmful about cannabis? <---- Not meant to be smart there, but I don't see the ill effects of that versus alcohol abuse or abusing some psychiatric drugs that are prescribed by doctors yet are readily dispensed. Can one overdose on marijuana? Granted it can do some harm if done over a long period of time, but what about alcohol?
ReplyDeleteAlso,I wouldn't think of the subject in terms of just rich people, but what's fair for all people in general.
There is a respectable body of medical opinion that cannabis is linked to lung cancer, throat cancer, mouth cancer, brain tumours, schizophrenia, male and female infertility, impotence, multiple miscarriages, low birth weights, foetal deformity, and much else besides.
ReplyDeleteThat body is sufficiently large and well-placed that, if necessary, we must err on the side of caution.
The drugs laws are not enforced, and are under sustained attack, because of the wealth and position of those who break them or of their parents.
There are other studies that state the opposite. Not to mention the medically therapeutic effects of cannabis. Of course in excessive use, anything is possible.
ReplyDeleteBut for the purposes of my question I'll take all those medical problems you state as TRUE. But one can get all those illnesses and diseases (and worse) from alcohol and cigarettes, can they not? Why single out cannabis? Are alcohol and tobacco next on the list of those to be banned? That was once the case in America and it didn't work out. What about caffeine in large quantities?
Ultimately, I agree there is unequal enforcement and the rich and those in high places get preferential treatment. I resent that and other societal perks they get just because they have money. But is the answer necessarily to spend more money (taken as a tax from my already meager paycheck)and manpower on enforcing a law that, in the studies you cite, HARMS ONLY THE PERSON THAT USES IT.
"There are other studies that state the opposite."
ReplyDeleteThen we must, if necessary, err on the side of caution.
"Not to mention the medically therapeutic effects of cannabis."
There are none. Certain chemicals in it might have such effects, but in that case they should be identified and made the active ingredients of medical drugs controlled as such.
"Why single out cannabis?"
This is about whether to un-ban something that is banned, not whether to ban something else that isn't.
"Ultimately, I agree there is unequal enforcement and the rich and those in high places get preferential treatment. I resent that and other societal perks they get just because they have money."
But this goes deeper than that. This is about the refusal to enforce the drugs laws in order to protect those with no personal or parental wealth for rehab, in order to exempt those with such wealth from the rule of law.
"HARMS ONLY THE PERSON THAT USES IT"
Not true, and irrelevant even if it were. For example, we section or commit people who are no danger to anyone but themselves. Many, many, many of them are or have been cannabis-users.
First, I don't agree it doesnt have therapeutic effects - ask cancer patients and many others.
ReplyDelete"To enforce the laws" and "This is about whether to un-ban something that is banned, not whether to ban something else that isn't."
#1. Just because a law exists, does not mean it is just.
#2. Regarding bans and unbanning: So, when alcohol was illegal in America, there was no point in trying to un-ban it? The status of an act as being legal or illegal, in a democratic society, does not prevent action by the citizenry to change the status.
You commented on some parts of my post, but I would like to see your comment on the major part (assuming the studies with health effects you cite are true)...What about alcohol and tobacco? They too have deleterious effects - some more harsh (including death and in a much shorter amount of time) than cannabis - Would you have any problem with them banned?
Don't mind my first two numbered points above, they are just philosophical comments on collateral matters...I would like to know about your attitudes towards alcohol and tobacco. By the way, according to your logic, they also harm not just the person who uses them, but others.
"ask cancer patients and many others"
ReplyDeleteWhatever chemical is of benefit to them can be isolated and prescribed. We don't treat headaches by eating or smoking bark.
We are stuck with alcohol and tobacco, but our culture has thousands of years of experience in dealing with alcohol, while tobacco has become very distinctly a minority taste.
"We are stuck with alcohol and tobacco, but our culture has thousands of years of experience in dealing with alcohol, while tobacco has become very distinctly a minority taste."
ReplyDeleteYet many hundreds of thousands of people WORLDWIDE(if not millions) die each year because of the two? According to the CDC (stats just for America only), 47,000 people died as a result of alcohol use in the year 2001 alone in America. Those numbers, per the CDC, do not include deaths and accidents as a result of alcohol use.
How many people has marijuana killed as a result of simple use?
Probably enormous numbers, but the research has hardly been done. Now that that research has started in earnest, there is a respectable body of medical opinion that cannabis is linked to lung cancer, throat cancer, mouth cancer, brain tumours, schizophrenia, male and female infertility, impotence, multiple miscarriages, low birth weights, foetal deformity, and much else besides.
ReplyDelete