Cannabis' lost appeal

[freddie]

I've just read the report and the info in it is actually quite o.k. I have read much worse. What i find most disturbing is the community attitudes and the way it was reported in the press.

 

Firstly the community attitudes are frightening. 75% think that mj is dangerous. 40 %think it is addictive. 83%of all Australians believe there are social problems associated with use. Also 68 %believe using pot leads to crime! Add this to all the usual "dope makes you mad" propaganda and it doesnt paint a nice picture of the gentle drug i choose to consume in the privacy of my own home. So, most Australians think we're mad addicted criminals. Kind of sounds like we could be talking about crack, not pot. 1500 surveyed doesnt sound like like many but i think that if it was done properly that number is acceptable in social research. It was supposedly independent research and without knowing what was asked and who was asked you can't really tell. I have no reason to doubt it. I think attitudes to mj are quite negative in this country atm.

 

The press reports on this report were woeful. It seems they only read the first page. There was plenty they could have hooked into. Stuff about cannabis and driving, medical uses, the fact that community perceptions differ so much from even the facts contained in this report. Controversial stuff. Oh no we cant report that. fuck they are useless.

 

I watched 4 corners lat night. It followed some alcoholics attempts to give up booze. Now there were some frightening stats on alcohol. Associated with 12% of suicides and 25% mental illness (these stats were only flashed on screen and im going on memory here). I don't see any public campaign associated with the dangers of drink.

 

It's all great raving on here but how does the message get out to the general public. I can't even write a letter to the editor without putting my name to it. I am not prepared to do this as it effects my family etc. Also i would have to give up growing. There is no political mj movement in this country. In Alaska for instance there were pro cannabis tv ads ( see post in mj news). Here i just see things getting progressively worse. One thing sure is if you don't fight you lose.

 

The only good thing coming out of this is that teenagers sem to be turning away from mj. Pot and teens should not mix. However if they are turning to booze, ice etc then this is a disaster.

[Stoney]

well all i can say is MP christopher payne is just proving to us all how much of a giant payne in the ass he can be

 

it paynes me to think of all these goverment fuckheads that dont wanna see the truth as it may payne them to much

 

dickheads i say the lot of them

 

cheerz :Dj:

[WantDaChronic]

But you reckon the Pfizer is worth a read? as I admit I wasn't that keen as I was convinced it was probably Anti-Cannabis-Nazi propaganda ,I'm a bad cynic as I've seen it all over the years and I've not much faith in Govs,Corporations,"experts" and their lies and back flips galore over the years.

 

i honestly expected the same thing, but in their defense they were unbiased and mentioned the good with the bad by saying stuff like while marijuana can make people flip out into a psychotic episode, in most cases those people have a family history or suffer from mental illness like schizophrenia them self and the marijuana simply acts like a trigger in other words it basically put a big fuck you towards to government's anti cannabis stance and was done by an international pharmaceutical company which makes it hold significant weight

 

I watched 4 corners lat night. It followed some alcoholics attempts to give up booze. Now there were some frightening stats on alcohol. Associated with 12% of suicides and 25% mental illness (these stats were only flashed on screen and im going on memory here). I don't see any public campaign associated with the dangers of drink.

 

thats scary as and should definitely be used on warning labels

[mull]

Perhaps Pfizer are just trying to dumb down the public perception toward cannabis, in the hope of future sativex, marinol type sales, sanctioned by the government and other interested profiteers.

They can't make cannabis sound to bad, or no-one will opt for the pill version as a truly effective treatment to whatever ails.

[freddie]

Perhaps Pfizer are just trying to dumb down the public perception toward cannabis, in the hope of future sativex, marinol type sales, sanctioned by the government and other interested profiteers.

They can't make cannabis sound to bad, or no-one will opt for the pill version as a truly effective treatment to whatever ails.

 

Good observation. It will be interesting to see the marketing line these companies will have to tread. They will have to somehow make it sound like treating yourself with your own homegrown is bad but taking sativex, marinol is good. They can obviously smell the money. I hope it blows up in their faces but i tend to think we will be rooted either way.

[Jess Stone]

Pa-uul is again onto something which I have been pushing on hard as well the hypocrisy when it comes to the drug alcohol.

Did any here have the misfortune to see the debate between Premier Moreorlessa Dilemma and Peter Dribblenam for the NSW election ? Quentin Dempster asked both about the hypocrisy when it came to alcohol eg no health warning or drug warnings on booze. Well fuck me guess what? They both changed the subject and both were re-asked and to answer and both again changed the subject I think they both tried to steer it to their pet whipping post illegal drugs ,they did not answer full well knowing he had to move on to other topics ,QD did roll his eyes and I believe had a little dig over it and certainly tried to talk over there crap and answer the question that was asked.

I believe this told us a lot if we read between the lines and that is they love their booze drug taxes they are addicted to them and that they are beholden to the booze industry as it provides them with electioneering funding etc as well ,the sleazy scum.

Edited February 20, 2007 by Jess Stone

[DownUnderDoper]

In Australia, the annual cost to the community of alcohol-related social problems

was estimated to be $7.6 billion ($5.5 billion tangible) in 1998-99. The greatest

costs are borne by workplaces as a result of reductions in the size and capacity of

the workforce and worker absenteeism due to alcohol-related issues (see Figure

1). These costs are partly offset by the net government revenue from alcoholrelated

taxes, which is estimated to be $5.5 billion in 2004/05 (DSICA 2005). The

alcohol industry is also a significant contributor to the broader Australian economy,

contributing $18.3 billion in 2004-05, and directly employing 36,000 people and

indirectly contributing to the employment of 205,000 people in pubs, taverns and

bars (DSICA 2005).

 

National Alcohol Strategy 2006 - 2009

http://www.alcohol.gov.au/internet/alcohol...ntent/nas-06-09

 

The net financial gain for the government from alcohol is probably not much, given the problems it causes.

The truth is.. if government was given the choice today, knowing what is known today, it would be more likely that alcohol would be illegal than cannabis. But having chosen a path, the governments only choice is to forge ahead with it.