Marijuana : Should it be legalised? Not necessarily in SG
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Hey people, I'd love to hear your opinions on this matter.
I feel that the harmful effects of Marijuana are not fully known, in the sense that doctors cannot find any problems caused by marijuana except for obvious ones such as lung problems cancer and such which is commonplace for all plant ingested by smoking this can mean it can be potentially beneficial in capsule form. I am aware that HIV and cancer patients or terminally ill people take marijuana as an anti-depressant. It helps HIV patients to regain some of their appetite, as loss of appetite is the most common catalyst of AIDS related death. Another point to note is that some people believe marijuana keeps people complacent and encourages people to slack at home, increase crime rate etc. However i do not see the problem of this even if marijuana is legalised this is because currently more addictive drugs are sold over the counter and you do not see the abuse and increase in crime rates. And perhaps legalising it will discourage people from a life of crime.I am not a Marijuana advocate and i do not smoke i just want serious views on this matter. i want to educate myself on this controversial subject. Cheers! -
The UK government considered it and actually downgraded it to a Class C drug, all but legalizing it. However, they have a re-think now based on scientific data linking it to psychiatric disease and addiction.
'An appreciable proportion of cannabis users report short-lived adverse effects, including psychotic states following heavy consumption, and regular users are at risk of dependence. People with major mental illnesses such as schizophrenia are especially vulnerable in that cannabis generally provokes relapse and aggravates existing symptoms. Health workers need to recognise, and respond to, the adverse effects of cannabis on mental health.'The British Journal of Psychiatry (2001) 178: 116-122
Research by J Van Os et al. at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands, Cannabis use and psychosis: a longitudinal population-based study (2002), confirmed that cannabis is associated with later schizophrenia and that this is not explained by predromal symptoms. It was estimated that lack of exposure to cannabis would have reduced the incidence of psychosis requiring treatment by as much as 50%.
I think there are more pertinent issues with the government than legalizing a drug which may lead to more psychiatric patients on the streets. -
if it is class c drug, how different is it from alcohol? ganga sounds ok wat cos it is as bad as alcohol.
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http://www.ukcia.org/
see how those guys are doing it for themselves! comapre with our sg facts anti-casino lobby, uk ganga lobby do it in style and got more substance. something we must learn if we want to lobby -
go to netherlands...u can smoke it freely in the streets....
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thanks oxford and whack
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You want your child to be smoking that?
I cannot believe you guys are crazy enough to even give it some thought! -
Give Marijuana any level of legality of use, and you'd have more problems in society.
As with any drug-related substance, as well as alcohol, there will be abuse. Abuse basically means, over-use. It's also known as dependency.
In all societies worldwide, there is always a group of people who are likely to abuse subtsances. Even with the strict law on Drink Driving, there are still people who blatantly drink and drive.
Gambling isn't a drug, but still there are people who gambled their family and life away.
Think this over thoroughly. -
don't like it. here, as long as u're on private property u can smoke it. but the disgusting smell travels and for people like me who dislike it, theres nothing we can do about it if your neighbours were smoking it. so not legalising marijuana is the best thing to do.
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It is still a crime to illegally possess or traffic a class C drug but the penalties are less than class A and B drugs. There is a maximum penalty of up to 2 years' imprisonment for illegal possession of a class C drug but in practice very few are actually jailed. It is said that nearly 3/4 of fines are £50 or less. In comparison, the maximum penalty for possesion of a controlled drug in Singapore is 10 years' imprisonment.Originally posted by whack:if it is class c drug, how different is it from alcohol? ganga sounds ok wat cos it is as bad as alcohol.
Alcohol, on the other hand, is a legal product. -
NO WAY.
Even if marijuana is a 'low-risk' drug in terms of side-effects, most marijuana addicts go on to try 'hard' drugs like cocaine and heroin when they realise that they're not getting the required 'high' after prolonged use.
I didn't make this up - studies have shown that this is the case. I don't have the exact study right here right now, but I do remember reading about them.
And don't tell me that the marijuana addicts have the right to do what they want with their lives - try telling that to the broken families of such addicts. Try telling that to the poor woman who was stabbed after she refused to give her son money for some pot. Try telling that to the little kid who was brutally maimed when his drug-crazed daddy got home and became enraged at the withdrawal symptoms after his last fix. -
there are also many cases of abuse to innocents due to the alcohol problem. why then is alcohol still legal. granted the fact that the severity of the subject varies. however marijuana has the exact same effect on people. that is the impairment of senses and judgment. this poses a threat no more than alcohol. marijuana should be legalised to destroy the black market and at the same time it provides tax revenue for the country instead of wasting money on policing drug abuse heavily. with legalisation of marijuana the prices will go down and people will not see the need to get them illegally and the crime rates will go down as people do not have to rob/kill/steal or commit crimes to obtain these substances. i feel that due to the heavy stigma on marijuana the government has only made known the bad effects of marijuana and not the medical benefits. marijuana is psychoactive because it stimulates certain brain receptors, but it does not produce toxins that kill them (like alcohol), and it does not wear them out as other drugs may. There is no evidence that marijuana use causes brain damage. Studies performed on actual human populations will confirm these results, even for chronic marijuana users (up to 18 joints per day) after many years of use. In reality, marijuana has the effect of slightly increasing alpha-wave activity in your brain. Alpha waves are generally associated with meditative and relaxed states, which are, in turn, often associated with human creativity. long term marijuana use can cause dependency but that is the same with cigarettes isn't it? I WOULD LIKE TO UNDERLINE THE POINT I AM NOT ADVOCATING MARIJUANA, I JUST ENJOY THE DEBATE.
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yah. haha agree with your pts.Originally posted by mrFaTMaN:there are also many cases of abuse to innocents due to the alcohol problem. why then is alcohol still legal. granted the fact that the severity of the subject varies. however marijuana has the exact same effect on people. that is the impairment of senses and judgment. this poses a threat no more than alcohol. marijuana should be legalised to destroy the black market and at the same time it provides tax revenue for the country instead of wasting money on policing drug abuse heavily. with legalisation of marijuana the prices will go down and people will not see the need to get them illegally and the crime rates will go down as people do not have to rob/kill/steal or commit crimes to obtain these substances. i feel that due to the heavy stigma on marijuana the government has only made known the bad effects of marijuana and not the medical benefits. marijuana is psychoactive because it stimulates certain brain receptors, but it does not produce toxins that kill them (like alcohol), and it does not wear them out as other drugs may. There is no evidence that marijuana use causes brain damage. Studies performed on actual human populations will confirm these results, even for chronic marijuana users (up to 18 joints per day) after many years of use. In reality, marijuana has the effect of slightly increasing alpha-wave activity in your brain. Alpha waves are generally associated with meditative and relaxed states, which are, in turn, often associated with human creativity. long term marijuana use can cause dependency but that is the same with cigarettes isn't it? I WOULD LIKE TO UNDERLINE THE POINT I AM NOT ADVOCATING MARIJUANA, I JUST ENJOY THE DEBATE.
just cos alcohol is freely available, dont mean i get pissed drunk everyday and rob ppl to quench my thirst. alocohol and ganga basically open to substance abuse. so why one can and another cannot? stigma arose cos what is bad/illegal are basically social constructs. we shld just grow up and realise that. come on we are in a contry where sale of chewing gum is illegal, how's that for social contructs and what constitutes illegal/legal. LOL -
i miss the chewing gum ban alot. im in canberra now and i get chewing gums under seats and stuck on my shoes all the time. can't wait to get out of this hell and get back to singapore. btw, in canberra marjiunana is not illegal and we are allowed to grown one plant each. still, i haven't seen any drastic crime rates shoot up, it's as safe as singapore. really.
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i dun think it should be legalised...its more exciting and thrilling smoking it ....compare to it being legalised.