What can I/We do to help legalize cannabis in Australia?

[Beans]

Hey

 

I started this thread so i could see what different people are doing to help get cannabis legalized in Australia.

 

If you are helping in some way toward this cause, can you please post it.

 

What can i do? Is there some petition, vote, riot, club i should be apart of?

 

Pleeeeasee help

 

Thanks

[moKing]

Buy Stickypoint magazine, attend mardigrass, and write letters to news papers and politicians is about the best I can think of. It's hard to stick up for something you could be arrested for, and discriminated against by your local community though so be careful in doing so.

 

Zion awaits us all ,

 

peace

 

Mo

[DownUnderDoper]

Hey

 

I started this thread so i could see what different people are doing to help get cannabis legalized in Australia.

 

If you are helping in some way toward this cause, can you please post it.

 

What can i do? Is there some petition, vote, riot, club i should be apart of?

 

Pleeeeasee help

 

Thanks

 

Firstly ask yourself what 'Legalised' means to you, total free for all? Medicinal only? Regulation/Licensing/Taxation? Govt/Corporate/Private run production?

 

Now that you know what it is you want, ask yourself why Cannabis should be legalised?

Seriously. What is the need to change a law that's been in place for 80 years? What are the benefits? Will it make any difference to non users? What are the (perceived) pitfalls? How can they be countered? How does it fit in with Alcohol policy? What about other drugs?

 

Remember if cannabis is ever to be legalised it will require a majority of the population to support the change (or at very least to not object). In essence this means it is a battle of propoganda vs facts. Make it a habit when you see a report quoted in the paper or on TV to actually get a copy of the report and read it, then point out as politely as possible via LTE or web site where the facts have been misrepresented.

[Tarnicus]

Well said DownUnderDoper. The problem is the public relations battle: if people who smoke marijuana believe half the crap sent out in press releases, then how is the non-user who has no experience with it meant to vote with any comprehension of the matter? It would be like asking me to give an opinion on the inner workings of a car - I've never driven in my 31 years and no nothing about it!

 

I think the solution is cane toads. Cane toads?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/50/Bufo_marinus.JPG/240px-Bufo_marinus.JPG

 

Taken from wikipedia:

"In attempts to control the native Cane Beetle, 102 Cane Toads were introduced to Australia from Hawaii in June 1935. One of the toads died on the way there. They bred immediately in captivity, and by August 1935 more than 3,000 young toads were released in areas around Cairns, Gordonvale and Innisfail in northern Queensland. More toads were released around Ingham, Ayr, Mackay and Bundaberg. Releases were temporarily limited because of environmental concerns but resumed in other areas after September 1936. Since their release, toads have rapidly multiplied in population and now number over 200 million"

 

No I'm not suggesting we release more cane toads into the wild, or that we train them to hunt politicians(although this would be great if anyone knows how. Maybe a reward system like with sniffer dogs?)

 

I figure if everyone on Ozstoners either germinates a seedling or ten, and then goes out to their local park, bushland, vacant lot, police station carpark, politicians backyard, etc and plants them, hopefully we can get marijuana to 'return to the wild'. If we innundate the country with pot, then people no longer need to grow it personally or purchase it.

 

I for one plan on doing a lot of bushwalking this year

[Tarnicus]

Just imagine this represents marijuana in Queensland, not cane toads

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Bufoinvasion.gif

[WantDaChronic]

while it would be awesome if mj grew all over the place and you could just pick a bud when you ran out of your own smoko, but for marijuana to return to the wild there would be pollen flying all over the country wrecking all the females that growers wanted to remain seedless

 

i think that if we got a person in each neighbourhood to throw say 100 seeds in the front gardens of every cop shop in australia that would make for a very interesting few months and it wouldnt affect everyone else's crops unless the police let the plants mature

[Tarnicus]

while it would be awesome if mj grew all over the place and you could just pick a bud when you ran out of your own smoko, but for marijuana to return to the wild there would be pollen flying all over the country wrecking all the females that growers wanted to remain seedless

 

i think that if we got a person in each neighbourhood to throw say 100 seeds in the front gardens of every cop shop in australia that would make for a very interesting few months and it wouldnt affect everyone else's crops unless the police let the plants mature

 

Hmmm good point. I'd be interested to see how long plants would last outside a copshop

[67Special]

This used to happen quite regularly in the gardens in front of our local cop-sty, but the silly fucks would always pull them before they were ready, they obviously weren't watching the trichs

 

come to think of it, I've got some seed to get rid of, maybe I should anonymously donate it to the local donut-munchers

[DownUnderDoper]

The federal election is almost upon us ladies and gentlemen, the time is right to make prohibition a real issue of the campaign.

 

I'll post every idea I can come up with here, please feel free to add you own.

 

We need people who (preferably) are not overly at risk of doing jail time to start writing into their local papers' letters pages, and into the talk shows, and current affairs programs. If you are concerned about having your real name published then use a psyudonym, but don't let it stop you writing the letter.

 

We CAN make this an election issue!

 

 

If you have an idea for the angle/topic for a Letter to the Editor but are not overly articulate, then give us your ideas, as we have many good writers amongst us.

 

We can start sending letters en-masse to the media demanding that politicians tell us how they are going to solve the problems.

 

Don't send letters/e-mails directly to politicians offices at this stage, we want public questions to force public answers.

 

Don't be rude or abusive, it's not helpful and plays into the hands of those that believe drugs equates to violence.

 

Wherever possible quote research to back up any claims you make.

 

Don't dismiss an idea out of hand, for many people it will only be one or two things that will sway their opinion on a matter.

 

 

Using a politicians' stance on one subject to support another.

 

<Words in bold show where I have made changes>

 

The Argument For Change On Uranium Mining

Media Statement - 23rd March 2007

In a speech today in Perth Senator Chris Evans outlined the case for a change to Federal Labor's ban on new uranium mines.

"The current policy has failed to limit the production of uranium.

"Over the last 25 years Australia’s exports of uranium oxide have jumped from 3,200 tonnes a year to over 10,000 tonnes a year.

"The simple fact is that with or without the current ALP policy Australia will be a major supplier of uranium well into the future.

"I do not dismiss the legitimate concerns over nuclear weapon proliferation, the disposal of waste and environmental concerns – these need to tackled head on.

"But imposing an arbitrary limit on the number of uranium mines does little to address those concerns.

"The challenge for Australia is to tackle climate change through an energy mix of gas, clean coal and renewables. Labor’s policy will deliver that cleaner and safe energy mix by building on our natural resource advantages.

"Labor rejects the Howard Government’s push for nuclear power in Australia.

 

 

The Argument For Change On Drug Prohibition

Media Statement - 23rd March 2007

In a speech today in Perth Senator Chris Evans outlined the case for a change to Federal Labor's drug policy.

"The current policy has failed to limit the use of recreational drugs.

"Over the last 50 years Australia’s use of recreation drugs has jumped substantially.

"The simple fact is that with or without the current ALP policy Australia will be a major consumer of recreational drugs well into the future.

"I do not dismiss the legitimate concerns over drug addiction, the loss of life and associated crimes – these need to tackled head on.

"But imposing an arbitrary prohibition on the use of recreational drugs does little to address those concerns.

"The challenge for Australia is to tackle drug ABuse through a mix of regulation, education and taxation. Labor’s policy will deliver cleaner and safer drug use by taking control of the drug market away from organized crime.

"Labor rejects the Howard Government’s push for Zero Tolerance in Australia.

[DownUnderDoper]

An idea for a Letter To Editor (LTE).

 

Please feel free to use this!

 

 

If it is true, as claimed by the Federal Government, that the ‘softening’ of Cannabis laws in some states sends out the message that the drug is harmless, what then, is the Government’s message about Alcohol?

 

Given research linking alcohol usage to increased risk of cancer and brain injury, not to mention the undisputable physical and mental health damage caused by heavy alcohol usage, surely nobody is about to suggest that the drug is harmless by any measure.

 

In fact, it tells us the opposite, it tells us that the Government realised the risks inherent in alcohol use, and took practical measures to help contain those risks, it tells us that at some point the Government realised that alcohol use was so entrenched in our society, our appetite for intoxicants so widespread that the only chance the Government had to keep the issue under some sort of control, was to quite literally take control.

- By licensing producers and sellers of the drug, so we know what is in it and who is selling it.

- By restricting use of the drug to adults only.

- By educating users about the dangers of abuse.

- By inflating the price of the drug artificially by way of taxes and restricting the locations where the drug may be sold and/or used. All valuable methods, if adhered to strictly, of reducing abuse and therefore, the damage caused.

 

If our Government is truly serious about controlling drug use, or more precisely reducing the harms resulting from drug ABuse, we should seriously think about licensing drug users, ALL drug users. Anybody that wishes to use an intoxicating drug, should at (or preferably after) age 18 have to pass a test, in order to show that they understand both the risks they are taking, and the responsibilities they are assuming as a drug user, before being issued a license to partake. Requiring that a drug license be presented each time a licensed venue is attended, no other form of ID needed or accepted. Licensing drug use would also give the judiciary the opportunity to suspend an individuals’ right to purchase the drug if they behave anti-socially whilst under the influence (something that is sadly lacking currently). Persons who repeatedly drive under the influence (often with an already suspended driving license) can also have their drug license suspended, to ensure compliance.

 

The drug prohibition experiment has been going on for well over 80 years worldwide and it has failed, in every jurisdiction, without exception. There is no evidence to suggest that harsher penalties lower usage rates, the US has much harsher penalties than Australia and yet maintains as high a level of drug usage, even countries that use the death penalty for drug offences have not solved the problem.

 

Like it or not, there will be millions, probably billions of dollars spent buying recreational drugs in Australia next year, unfortunately, our Government isn’t going to get one cent of that money to pay for education programs, rehabilitation or treatment programs the way it will from alcohol sales, instead the money will all disappear, untaxed into criminal hands.

Isn’t it about time that we treated all drugs as seriously as we do alcohol and tell the Government to actually take control of them, instead of continuing on with the same expensive and ineffective game of Whack-a-Mole?

Edited September 13, 2007 by DownUnderDoper