Is Cannabis becoming normalized in Ireland?

[ninja bud]

I have to ask this question after listening to the RSA's lastest road safety campaign. The RSA are now asking people not to drive under the influence of Cannabis, or in their words "Stoned". Does this mean that the government have accepted that people do use Cannabis and that it is better to start giving common sense advice? Does this mean that the government know they can no longer win the war on drugs and have started to adapt their policies to suit this situation? The message that I got from the latest RSA campaign is that yes we know that huge numbers of people use Cannabis in Ireland and will continue to do so,its normal but just dont drive "Stoned"
The last campaign purely focused on driving under the influence of "Drugs" but now they are starting to differentiate between Cannabis and other drugs. It will be interesting to see if they start advising people not to drive "Coked Up" or "Skagged". It is starting to show that they are not classing Cannabis along side the other hard drugs which is a start I suppose.
I think attitudes are slowly starting to change in the powers that be and they are starting to see that we are not stupid and we know the difference between a nice Sliff after dinner and a needle full of Skag.

 

[VonBudí]

Cannabis tv ad 50 sec
http://vimeo.com/30327554

I think its more of an own goal for the RSA (and various irish drug committees and authorities) than a public warning. Showing cannabis users as is and not as the usual image of paranoid crazy junkies is great to see on irish television.
Its nice to see an efforts been made anyway, but if they wanted to stop people driving stoned a more effective ad would have simply told people the consequences of being caught, in these times were in how many people could afford to lose their license? That would hopefully scare the majority of idiots who are thinking of chancing it.
Minimum they should have done is say how many hours to wait till its safe to drive again, or point out that gards can to road side drug test now.

I think attitudes are slowly starting to change in the powers

Im not so sure

http://debates.oireachtas.ie/HEJ/2011/09/08/
http://debates.oireachtas.ie/HEJ/2011/09/15/
http://debates.oireachtas.ie/HEJ/2011/09/22/

 

[ninja bud]

I take that back VonBudi.After reading I few of those debates I can clearly understand why the country is in the mess its in. I will continue to grow my own and smoke my own. Anybody that does have a problem with that can go suck my balls.

 

[COOKIE MONSTER]

I have to ask this question after listening to the RSA's lastest road safety campaign. The RSA are now asking people not to drive under the influence of Cannabis, or in their words "Stoned". Does this mean that the government have accepted that people do use Cannabis and that it is better to start giving common sense advice? Does this mean that the government know they can no longer win the war on drugs

I think it just means they know they are rapidly losing the battle against cannabis use and they know full well they dont have the resources to even begin to contemplate going after the little guys like us.

 

[VonBudí]

I take that back VonBudi.After reading I few of those debates I can clearly understand why the country is in the mess its in. I will continue to grow my own and smoke my own. Anybody that does have a problem with that can go suck my balls.

Havent finished reading those 3 yet but some interesting stuff, wonder if a seed ban could be on the horizon?

 

[ninja bud]

Havent finished reading those 3 yet but some interesting stuff, wonder if a seed ban could be on the horizon?

I read that in one of the reports alright. They can't ban seeds because of the huge amount of products hemp seeds are used for. Bird feed, Animal feed, Fishing bait, Hemp seed oil etc and the list goes on.

 

[VonBudí]

They can't ban seeds because of the huge amount of products hemp seeds are used for. Bird feed, Animal feed, Fishing bait, Hemp seed oil etc and the list goes on.

id think they could weasel their way in to having some sort of ban, maybe all seeds would have to be heat or chemically treated first.

 

[VonBudí]

http://www.examiner.ie/ireland/minister-considers-portuguese-drugs-strategy-172855.html

Minister considers Portuguese drugs strategy
By Cormac O’Keeffe
Friday, November 04, 2011
DECRIMINALISATION of drug use in Portugal has not made the country a "paradise" for users or resulted in more children taking drugs, according to the country’s drugs chief.
Dr Joao Goulao said the policy was part of a comprehensive strategy which has led to reduced drug consumption among adolescents, falling heroin use and a reduced burden on the criminal justice system.

Junior Health Minister Roisin Shortall, who is in charge of Ireland’s drugs strategy, said she had an "open mind" in relation to Portugal’s model. She said she was "particularly interested" in the country’s "yellow card" system, which warned users about their behaviour and tried to steer them away from drugs.

Dr Goulao, the country’s National Drugs Co-ordinator, said decriminalisation of drugs for personal use did not itself lead to benefits.

"There is not a causal effect between decriminalisation and these results — it is due to a comprehensive response. But decriminalisation did not affect negatively the evaluation of the phenomenon."

The family doctor said when a body of experts, of which he was one, recommended a series of steps, including decriminalisation, in 1998 there were dire warnings.

He said these included breaching UN conventions, that the country would become a "paradise" for drug users and that children would start using drugs from an earlier age.

"The policy was enforced in 2001. Now in 2011 we can say it didn’t happen," Dr Goulao told a two-day conference on drugs in Dublin.

Addressing the National Drugs Conference of Ireland 2011, he said a drug addict was seen as a "sick person" in need of treatment in Portugal and not a criminal.

He said when people were caught in possession of drugs for personal use (below a specified quantity) they were dealt with by a commission for the dissuasion of drug abuse, comprising a legal expert, a health professional and a social worker.

This body identified their needs and could refer them to a range of centres and supports. It dealt with 2,246 cases in 2001, rising to 8,441 in 2009.

He said a key objective was to dissuade consumption. He said there was a "second line" of prevention intervention, referring to it as a "yellow card" system, warning users of their behaviour.

He said the Portuguese model also freed up police resources: "Police are not using their time on small fish, they can go after the sharks."

He said while overall adult consumption of drugs had risen slightly between 2001 and 2007 usage among 15 to19 year olds had dropped.

EU figures show cannabis and cocaine use among 15 to 34 year olds in Portugal is around half the EU average.

Ms Shortall, who also addressed the conference, said: "They put effort into discouraging or dissuading people from using illicit drugs and have this yellow card system where there’s a warning saying to people ‘do you realise what you are letting yourself in for?’ I’m very interested in that kind of approach."


Read more: http://www.examiner.ie/ireland/mini...uese-drugs-strategy-172855.html#ixzz1dbMKiVI0

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/1109/1224307251093.html

Cannabis to remain illegal
MICHAEL O'REGAN

Wed, Nov 09, 2011

LEGALISING CANNABIS has been firmly ruled out by Minister of State for Health Róisín Shortall.

“The Government has strong concerns that the legalisation of cannabis use would be likely to lead to increased levels of experimentation with drugs, particularly by young people,” she said. “Cannabis is also known to be a gateway drug, which facilitates individuals moving on to other dangerous drugs.”

Ms Shortall said the misuse of cannabis was detrimental to health, with significant physical and mental health risks associated with its long-term use.

Roscommon-South Leitrim Independent TD Luke “Ming’’ Flanagan said that a “policy of tolerance” in Holland had not increased its usage. “In fact, in comparison with Ireland, especially among young people, there is far less use of it,’’ he added.

A study by the Trimbos Institute in Holland, where one could openly but not legally purchase cannabis, had shown that fewer than one in 1,000 teenagers had experimented with heroin.

“Depending on which organisation one listens to, the figure for Ireland is as much as one in 80,” he added.

Mr Flanagan said that a study by the Institute of Medicine in Washington would disagree with the Minister of State’s claim about its gateway effect. It was not ideal, he said, that people used cannabis but its illegality made it infinitely more dangerous.

“In particular, street dealers do not ask for identification,” he added. “Were it legal, they could do so.”

Ms Shortall said the Government’s chief concern related to the physical and mental health effects of long-term use, which was associated with lung and throat cancer.

Clear links had also been established between cannabis use and the development of serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and depression.

“International literature shows that the increasing number of persons presenting for drug treatment, owing to cannabis-related problems, is linked with increasing cannabis potency and contamination,” said Ms Shortall.

© 2011 The Irish Times

 

[COOKIE MONSTER]

The woman is an idiot, gate way drug, psychosis blah blah blah the same tired old bullshit.
Just like the rest of her ilk she's totally unqualified for the position she holds, what was she before a politician.....a teacher for deaf kids.
Her strategy towards cannabis will have about as much success as her plans to increase the price of drink to tackle the problem of suicide.....hey I know lets cut the resources allotted for suicide prevention and add a euro or 2 to a 6 pack of Stella.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bwjZXv5wl0 Junior Health Minister Roisin Shortall

 

[VonBudí]

The woman is an idiot, gate way drug, psychosis blah blah blah the same tired old bullshit.
Just like the rest of her ilk she's totally unqualified for the position she holds, what was she before a politician.....a teacher for deaf kids.

its bad enough repeating the same old lies, but for here to say it right after going to the national drug conference is unprofessional and must be a slap in the face to some of the folks there.

hey I know lets cut the resources allotted for suicide prevention and add a euro or 2 to a 6 pack of Stella.

great news for the folks up north, there going to have a bumper christmas.Wonder what they'll do with ciggs?

 

[ninja bud]

Alcohol and tobaco are also gateway drugs. Im fed up with this bullshit that cannabis is a gateway drug. What was your first ever drug you took? I bet the answer is alcohol. I am a grown adult and I use cannabis in moderation and in a responsible way. I have been smoking weed for twenty years now and I have never felt the need to try cocaine or heroin.
The biggest problem in this country is alcohol and most peoples obsession with it. In Ireland alcohol is everywhere and it goes hand in hand with any social occassion.Just look at our last leader of the country. A fat alcoholic useless bastard.

Fact, no one has ever died from the use of cannabis!!!

 

[VonBudí]

was the driving stoned ad canceled? only saw it for maybe a week. The pills one has been going on for ages.

 

[Hundred Gram Oz]

The country is in a bad way folks, brace yourself for more financial raping, buy gold and silver if you have some cash to invest.

 

[COOKIE MONSTER]

The country is in a bad way folks, brace yourself for more financial raping, buy gold and silver if you have some cash to invest.

I dont know man, way things are going arable land and some hoop houses would seem like a sound investment for the future.

 

[VonBudí]

invest in christmas presents before the vat hike

 

[brer]

I read it's a five year driving ban , detected in a urine sample , same a drink driving .
If you don't produce it's the same result .
There going a little crazy with new law's was only recently they introduced near zero tolerance on DD .

 

[ryanbradly]

not looking hopeful with this attitude
http://www.rte.ie/news/av/2011/1129/media-3126117.html

 

[ryanbradly]

Think its the theory that skunk is such high thc level and lacks enough cbd/cbn, which creates a balance- mentally, is what their getting at here, but not a good promotion at all.

 

[Hundred Gram Oz]

Pulling my hair out at the state of this world that we live in, full of lying scum!

 

[COOKIE MONSTER]

Pulling my hair out at the state of this world that we live in, full of lying scum!

Fuck them, bunch of idiots listening to overpaid "advisor's" citing BS studies.
Weed medical or not will never become decriminalized in this country until all these idiots stop buying imported shite from dealers or poorly grown commercial wet weed and grow their own.

If everybody were to be self sufficient, the sheer numbers of small grows would make it very awkward for the government to justify their current stance on cannabis.
1200 gardai retiring in the next few years, stations closing, courts already overflowing as are the prisons and petty crime rates soaring...

They will either have to clog up the court system and waste countless resources doing so or change the law, eventually it will get to that stage.