A friend and I were discussing last week about some of the effects of the afore-mentioned substances. We agreed that alcohol had the capabilities to make normally-calm people go mad when taken in excessive amounts and do things that they would never dream of while sober. We speculated that if alcohol were a new drug discovered only recently, it would be prohibited. Cannabis on the other hand has the typical image of making people calm, sleepy, relaxed and "spaced-out" and there are never any stories I've ever heard of people causing violence while under the influence of this drug. So, should cannabis be legalized and alcohol banned? Discuss...

spiderpig123 (Down) - Posts: 175 - 30/11/2011 15:39:17    1077934

Alcohol banned in Ireland......

No thanks.

Sergeant_Slash (Cavan) - Posts: 2182 - 30/11/2011 15:49:23    1077946

More should be done to discourage the use of alcohol.Its ridiculous how insidious alcohol is within Irish society.Cannabis should be at least decriminalized and ultimately taxed and regulated to squeeze out the scumbag drug dealers, who often sell the harder gear such as heroin,that causes so much real harm.

seanie_boy (Tyrone) - Posts: 4235 - 30/11/2011 15:59:59    1077953

Well...eh..I've thought about this and...um...yeah....whatever

Breffni40 (Cavan) - Posts: 12372 - 30/11/2011 16:00:27    1077955

I agree with seanie that there is a significant problem with alcohol in society. Plus if cannabis were legalized in Ireland then there would be certain legal standards that it would have to adhere to and therefore it would be safer than some cannabis that people may be taking now. Also it could potentially be a booster to the economy, if people come over from Britain etc for a weekend to Ireland

spiderpig123 (Down) - Posts: 175 - 30/11/2011 16:16:52    1077965

Is that what we want though, for Ireland to become like the Netherlands and full of drug tourists. Why not go the whole hog and legalise prostitution as well sure

pplocal (Tyrone) - Posts: 5878 - 30/11/2011 16:21:45    1077970

We already have 10's of thousands of drug tourists - that visit this country every year

JinxyPoop (UK) - Posts: 1162 - 30/11/2011 16:33:16    1077977

pplocal
County: Tyrone
Posts: 4383

1077970
Is that what we want though, for Ireland to become like the Netherlands and full of drug tourists. Why not go the whole hog and legalise prostitution as well sure
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Its not all about you young fella!

seanie_boy (Tyrone) - Posts: 4235 - 30/11/2011 16:34:59    1077980

pplocal
County: Tyrone

Is that what we want though, for Ireland to become like the Netherlands and full of drug tourists. Why not go the whole hog and legalise prostitution as well sure
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There are pro's and cons to decriminalizing cannabis, and the 'drug tourism' aspect is definitely the biggest potential con. People who advocate decriminalization damage their own argument when they gloss over it.
However, I think overall the pro's to decriminalization would outweigh the cons, and the drug tourism could be dealt with if it was approached pro-actively from the outset. I see many places in the Netherlands are taking steps to deal with drug tourists, Maastrict was in the news recently I think, it'll be interesting to see what kind of success they have. I think seanie_boy hit the nail on the head with his post, regarding the main pro's of decriminalizing, and also reducing the role of alcohol in irish life.

Regarding prostitution, I could be wrong, but isn't that actually still legal in Ireland. I know public solicitation is illegal, but I think prostitution itself is legal. I know Pat Rabbitte was recently talking about introducing Swedish style legislation to criminalize it.

Marlon_JD (Tipperary) - Posts: 1823 - 30/11/2011 16:39:26    1077984

pplocal
County: Tyrone
Posts: 4383

1077970 Is that what we want though, for Ireland to become like the Netherlands and full of drug tourists.

Who would you rather have visiting Ireland...boozed up hen party's/ stag parties or a few hippies sitting in a coffee shop smoking a reefer?
Id imagine it would take a lot less money to police the hippy than the stag parties on a saturday night.

Cannabis is by no means safe or healthy, but then neither is alcohol, yet alcohol is acceptable?

bosch (Derry) - Posts: 873 - 30/11/2011 16:46:27    1077991

i think 100% canabis should be legalised, and no i dont smoke the stuff as i hate smoking generally. i have been to amsterdam a few times and i believe other countries around the world could learn a lot from the dutch model. and its not only their attitude to canabis but other drugs also. i think its a win win if it is legalised, the smokers can smoke it without the fear of the law, and the government stand to make a fortune from taxes if they control how it is supplied. one could argue and say about the taxes being offset by possible health costs, but those health costs are already there as it is the most common recreational drug of choice, other than alchohol. it may well lead to a boost in "drug tourism" also as pomeroy pointed out, and that doesnt have to be a bad thing. any of the times i have been to amsterdam i havent witnessed a lot of trouble, no more than any busy city at the weekend, as the cops there are on every street corner, without being noticeable, and they dont take any nonsense. but as has been pointed out before, people who are "stoned" wouldnt really be bothered anyway. the current legislation on drugs in most countries in the world is no good. its no different to prohibition in america at the start of the 20th century. "bootleggers" as they were called, were just drug dealers. their drug was alchohol and as that is the drug of choice of the legislators then that is ok. again back to holland, its legal over there, but controlled so not any thomas richard or harold can sell it.

pig.ignorant (Derry) - Posts: 655 - 30/11/2011 17:00:25    1078001

Bosch will these hen/stag parties stop if cannabis is legalised? You'll still have people taking drink except you'll be throwing drugs into the mix as well. If we're talking about the danger that it causes then alcohol is more dangerous than heroin and crack cocaine. Should these be legalised as well? The argument seems to be alcohol is more dangerous than some drugs and therefore these drugs should be legalised. Would it not be better trying to address the problem of binge drinking, have stricter policing on underage drinking and on alcohol related assault, criminal damage etc. I've been to Amsterdam and it's so seedy, good craic for a weekend but that's it. I'd hate our cities to end up like that

pplocal (Tyrone) - Posts: 5878 - 30/11/2011 17:05:37    1078007

A friend of mine nearly killed himself years ago becasue the started smoking cannabis and then got into mushrooms etc....was spaced out and hear toughts in his head do do crazy things......nobody I know has had that effect on drink.

NO way should drink be banned - and I would not be in favour of cannabis either but thats from my personal experiences. eveyone has their own viewpoint

yew_tree (Mayo) - Posts: 11602 - 30/11/2011 17:11:35    1078014

I'm totally opposed to the legalisation of drugs while they are still outlawed in the UK. If we did that, we'd be swamped every weekend with an influx of ignorant, loud and stoned Brits.

If Britain legalised it, I'd have an open mind about us doing the same. Won't affect my usage either way. Never smoked a cigarette, would never touch a joint.

Seamus89 (Kilkenny) - Posts: 3848 - 30/11/2011 17:19:54    1078022

yew_tree
County: Mayo
Posts: 3178

1078014
A friend of mine nearly killed himself years ago becasue the started smoking cannabis and then got into mushrooms etc....was spaced out and hear toughts in his head do do crazy things......nobody I know has had that effect on drink.

Of course no harm as ever come to someone because of alcohol.

MesAmis (Dublin) - Posts: 13803 - 30/11/2011 17:20:31    1078023

yew_tree
County: Mayo
Posts: 3181

1078014 A friend of mine nearly killed himself years ago becasue the started smoking cannabis and then got into mushrooms etc....was spaced out and hear toughts in his head do do crazy things......nobody I know has had that effect on drink.

NO way should drink be banned - and I would not be in favour of cannabis either but thats from my personal experiences. eveyone has their own viewpoint
30/11/2011 17:19:54
Seamus89
County: Kilkenny
Posts: 2779

1078022 I'm totally opposed to the legalisation of drugs while they are still outlawed in the UK. If we did that, we'd be swamped every weekend with an influx of ignorant, loud and stoned Brits.

If Britain legalised it, I'd have an open mind about us doing the same. Won't affect my usage either way. Never smoked a cigarette, would never touch a joint.

All the two of you have done is displayed your complete lack of knowledge of the subject. And Seamus, God created marijuana and he's infallible.

Breffni40 (Cavan) - Posts: 12372 - 30/11/2011 17:32:33    1078038

Breffni

How have I displayed a complete lack of knowledge? And how, pray tell, is God infallible? Are you a theologian by trade or just by hobby?

Seamus89 (Kilkenny) - Posts: 3848 - 30/11/2011 18:10:29    1078066

ALRIGHT BAN DRINK, one of the last pleasures left in this country, close the entire country down, what the hell sure we are already on the road to a dictatorship. You can have ONE pint and be deamend not safe to drink, yet be stones of your head and who has ever been trsted for drug driving in this country?

Breff - where did I say I was an expert - grow up - that's my opinion.

yew_tree (Mayo) - Posts: 11602 - 30/11/2011 18:19:57    1078072

seanie_boy
County: Tyrone
Posts: 2259

1077953 More should be done to discourage the use of alcohol.Its ridiculous how insidious alcohol is within Irish society.Cannabis should be at least decriminalized and ultimately taxed and regulated to squeeze out the scumbag drug dealers, who often sell the harder gear such as heroin,that causes so much real harm.

Agreed Seanie, as for your buddie's comment that Ireland would be over run with loud british tourists every weekend, check out portugal, they legalised it and it's not a problem, Prison population is down as are drug related diseases, and they have a land border with spain.

dhorse (Laois) - Posts: 11374 - 30/11/2011 19:05:45    1078113

Good thread, yes athe demon drink should be drive from our shores, socially acceptable, kills people, wrecks marraiges, the only thing I've ever seen from lads having a joint is a lot of laughter, no brainer!!!

realdub (Dublin) - Posts: 8760 - 30/11/2011 20:55:49    1078210