Why is Europe so far behind on legal Marijuana?
- Thread starter konka
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Totally anecdotal, but several Europeans I've talked to view it as a trend for lazy 16-year-olds that they'll eventually grow out of. The stigma it carries there for some people is bizarre (and ironic considering the extremely high cigarette smoking rates and alcohol use in a lot of European countries). Conversely, here in Oregon it's as normal as drinking. In fact there are far more dispensaries than liquor stores.
No, I am not for any punishment. But whether you like it or not, overall obiesity brings increased financial costs, both through increased medical expenses for public healthcare, lower taxes due to decreased working life, and increased expenses due to more social security payments. I am not saying that every fat or obese individual will strain our welfare system in the nordic countries, but the overall effect is negative, which is why a healthy lifestyle should be encouraged.
I'd argue that the negative effects of an underground weed market outweigh the negative effects of a legal market
It's not illegal in the same sense as weed or other drugs. It's banned in public because it is seen as a health hazard for passive smokers. And that is well backed up by science. But smoking normal cigarettes is not illegal at all, just don't do it where people are doing public gatherings.
As for weed...I hope it gets legalized but probably going to be a long ass time before it happens in Sweden. It was never common here and the propagande against drugs in the 80s and 90s was super strong, still is, and treated every single drug the same. Basically, if you smoke weed you might as well do heroin too. At the same time people have no problem with alcohol which is way worse than weed in every way.
It's not. Under a certain amount (personal use) it's legal. I wish they'd make it fully legal, but the problem is that it requires the whole European Union to do so. Criminal gangs would operate in countries where it's legal and easily smuggle it to other countries in the EU since there are no passport checks.
Then again, I figure you'd have the same issue between the various US states, so I dunno.
I always wanted to down an entire 10 pack of those gummies just to see if I can still be a functioning human
There are multiple studies for cannibus in Canada currently being conducted. The US is also doing a ton of studies on the medicinal properties of hemp and its popular ingredient, CBD.
Which is one reason why edibles and distillate cartridges are so popular in states where weed is legal. People seem to have this notion that legal weed just means more people smoking joins and pipes, etc. WRONG. You can consume it in many ways that don't involve smoke.
It has everything to do with conservatism and maintaining some 'comfortable' sense of the status quo.
Even without the motivation of marijuana being criminalized, it should still be legalized, straight up.
Dude if you're in a country that allows alcohol to be sold and regulates it, the. You have zero argument against anyone wanting the same treatment for marijuana. Anyone suggesting otherwise is a joke, because every argument against addiction and societal harm goes out the window. Also considering weed is safer than alcohol it's a no brainer.
Also my experience.
The more you bought and the longer you we're in, the closer you got to real bad people. Speed, meth, heroin, sometimes also weapons.
If you didn't want to get tiny amounts every two weeks, you necessarily had to get in touch with such people that are higher in the supply chain, making it more dangerous.
The real gateway is criminalization, period.
Also, no matter if illegal or not, people who want to smoke weed will smoke weed. It would only make it safer.
And because I guess I have a bee in my bonnet about this, to the 'two wrongs don't make a right' people:
A lesser wrong is more right than a greater wrong. Society would be better off if we had the option of safer drugs. We're not going to eliminate recreational drug use within our lifetimes, so our priority should then be harm reduction, which cannabis legalization (and legalization generally) has as a benefit. If more people switched from alcohol to cannabis, we'd certainly save lives. And if people intent on taking harder, currently criminalized drugs, didn't have to access them through the black market, we'd certainly save lives. There isn't an argument for criminalization that isn't cruel or unreflectively punitive.
A lesser wrong is more right than a greater wrong. Society would be better off if we had the option of safer drugs. We're not going to eliminate recreational drug use within our lifetimes, so our priority should then be harm reduction, which cannabis legalization (and legalization generally) has as a benefit. If more people switched from alcohol to cannabis, we'd certainly save lives. And if people intent on taking harder, currently criminalized drugs, didn't have to access them through the black market, we'd certainly save lives. There isn't an argument for criminalization that isn't cruel or unreflectively punitive.
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TIL that some people are still misinformed enough to think marijuana is addictive
Lolololololol
Lolololololol
It doesn't have to be one or the other. Canada gets the health care and the legal weed.
some of the shit i'm reading here is so fucking asinine it's ridiculous. what year is this? gateway drug? addictive? what the fuck? educate yourselves, christ almighty. it's funny too, especially considering how culturally celebrated and pronounced alcohol is in comparison and how much fucking worse it is as a drug. considering it is actually addictive and is actively killing and poisoning you. no one is fucking overdosing or getting poisoned by some weed lol. it's so completely harmless that it frankly boggles my mind at how some see it as some big evil. its been almost a whole year since legalization here and society hasn't collapsed yet.
and as others have said, if the only con you see is that you hate the smell of a joint, then pop some edibles or a pill or some oil. there's lots of different ways to get high lol.
y'all need some weed...
and as others have said, if the only con you see is that you hate the smell of a joint, then pop some edibles or a pill or some oil. there's lots of different ways to get high lol.
y'all need some weed...
That's why I have fits everytime someone calls pot a "gateway drug".
It's only a gateway drug because the dealers are also selling other illegal drugs and people will jump on that.
If you could walk into a store and buy quality stuff instead of dealing with the weirdos trying to sell you bags of sticks, then suddenly drug dealers are only selling the truly nasty shit like meth and pain pills. Suddenly even the drug laws and drug enforcement makes a whole lot more sense in that environment.
Aboslutely.
This really does make you think, right? Why would they want to keep it this way. I know it might be far fetched or at least it's an oversimplification but I tend to think that tobacco and alcohol lobbies don't want any other drug to take some of their share.
Dunno, it's just frustrating. On another note, I haven't touched weed for 13 years now and I don't intend (not even slightly interested) to but I just can't get over how it's being treated.
This argument doesnt hold, tho. Looking solely at the cost factor, for as long as it is illegal, the taxpayer will incur 100% of the cost of treating whatever problems arise from consumption (and theres no way to deny service to users because hey, they pay taxes too), whereas the trafficker will keep 100% of the income. The only way the taxpayer can have his burden decreased is by taxing it, thus making the seller and buyer pay into the social safety net that might be required to save them.
Its even worse if you arrest traffickers, because then you also have the considerable expenses of trialing and keeping them imprisoned.
If you genuinely worry about social cost, the only answer is to legalize and tax, same as is done with cigarettes.
Weed still not being legal here (EU, Germany) is just crazy, so far behind and just out of touch with reality.
You can finally get it for medical reasons, but it's still a pain in the ass to get there.
You can finally get it for medical reasons, but it's still a pain in the ass to get there.
That's the logical outcome when you have conservative Christians rule for 16 years.
I doubt anyone In Europe does serious time for weed like here in the US so it's not a priority for them.
A former co-worker of mine has been sentenced to 6 years in prison not too long ago.
Sorry to hear :( what country might I ask? No one should be going to prison for freaking weed.
Germany. Apparently he was involved in an operation that moved several pounds per week.
I was more talking about users and not dealers/ traffickers. In the US he would have had a much harsher sentence than that.(not that I think he should be sentenced for 6 years either.)
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