GET INVOLVED!!! If you r in QLD READ THIS

[Guest niall]

:smoke i don't know what to say or do ....... but thats how they have got us , by the balls  :scratchin , i've been hiding my habit now for 27 years ,so you could say you habituate to your situation , well i seem to have ... so what do you do ?

 

Talk to your family. You don't need to advertise your choice to the world, just don't hide who you are from those around you. If you're still using after 27 years then you must be pretty comfortable about it and accept that it is a part of you. You've made your decision, and you're standing by it, so why do you need to keep it a secret?

 

The day I told my parents was an amazing relief for me. I'm only 28 but I've been using cannabis more than half my life now, but always responsibly and in moderation. It's my choice and cannabis has enhanced my life in many ways.

 

Hiding this from my family and certain friends, taking secret little tokes out the window, not being able to talk about my experiences and what I believed in - that started to take its toll. I used to get quite paranoid from smoking, virtually every time towards the end, but now that's gone. I was always worried about what others would think of me, if I was pissing the neighbours off with the smell, if my friends would think less of me, if my parents would find out, if my housemates hated me because of it... the usual downward spiral that you get into after years of hiding and habitual secrecy. It's a dead end mate, and it never ends.

 

If you're comfortable with who you are, why should you have to dance around other people like this? You're only putting yourself out - none of us should have to live in fear and guilt like caged animals. If they can't deal with who you are, with the decisions that you've made for your own life, then fuck them! I couldn't take it any longer, and when I explained it rationally and calmly to my folks they accepted it and I realised that I had wasted so much time and anxiety over nothing. Now I don't have anything to worry about - my family, all of my friends, my work colleagues, hell anyone who recognises my name knows that I use cannabis.

 

What's happened to me? I'm less anxious. I'm not living in a state of constant fear, or getting paranoid when I sit down and have a quiet toke. I can smoke with and in front of anyone now where I could only smoke with trusted friends before. I've met some great people, made some amazing friends, and changed a lot of people's opinions about cannabis and "stoners". But have I been busted or has anything bad happened to me? No.

 

If you act like an adult, respect other people's right to live in peace and in a smoke/smell free environment, and don't smoke up in public or do stupid things like driving or working while intoxicated... then I think you deserve to be left alone and I trust that the Police (in their hearts) feel the same way. I've met quite a few cops, and (maybe it's just WA) but all of them have been fair. I've come to respect them for all the shit that they have to go through in protecting us from real criminals. I don't want them to waste their time, and I don't want them wasting my tax dollars by harassing peaceful citizens who have chosen to use a fucking PLANT! A GREEN PLANT WITH FLOWERS!

 

I'm a good man. I contribute to society, I pay my taxes, I'm a good employee. I don't break any other law, in fact I make it a point to only break this one law because I believe that society is trying to do the right thing and I believe that laws have their purpose and are part of who we are. But I will not follow *this* law because it is WRONG.

 

We've only got a few short years on this planet, and I intend to enjoy mine. If you're happy to live yours in a cupboard then that's an awful shame, but it's your choice. I believe cannabis re-legalisation is an effort worth fighting for. This plant is too precious, it's part of our heritage. Our children deserve to have free access to it for all time, God knows we're going to need it with the direction that we're heading in now. If I fail, then fair enough. But at least I tried, and I think that's more important than living out the rest of my days in a sad, dark corner, dreaming of what might have been and watching opportunity after opportunity pass me by. Life's too short mate.

[fsagertyaef]

damn strait im in the us but i knwo whre you are coming from i get in debates on a weekly basis aabout pot and while i am only 19 if you are reasonable and calm and dont get all pissy and throw a fit people will listen i just converted my english teacher today after only 30 of telling her everything she knew was shit but in a lot nicer way i explained the many uses and y i use i explained how all ofthe tests that say it leads to going crazy or whaever else they say is bullshit i showed her you can smoke a joint and still write a paper and now now i converted another person i converted my mom it took years but now shes ok with it even jokes about it cat runs into a wall ill hear damn cet get out of his stash the only way to get rid of the laws is to do something i cant count the petitions ive signed or the people i have informed i was just talking to my destist about it today i told her i smoked a joint b4 icame in becaseu i had to get a filling and i figured it would be easier "high" i hate needles but give me a joint and say it only hurts a little and im fine mj is the single greatest plant on the earth it has more uses the steel and the only way people will know that is if you stop hiding and tell them it was scary as fuck when i first started speaking out against the laws everytime id see a cop i woul freak out then i realized they were also on my side for the most part the sherrif down the road yeah she know i smoke she lives on the other side of my neighbor and i know she can smell it all day every day

 

its that people thinks it wrong its that they dont know that its good and once they do they never change there mind

[kayanow]

I know ideas are cheap and I don't live in QLD -- but I would be interested to find out how many people are serving long jail sentences in Queensland prisons simply for posessing something which God made and grows naturally and does not cause any physical or psychological danger?

 

The real physical and psychological danger is locking way people who are not criminals and are more than likely to have an introspective, non-violent nature because of their lifestyle choice. These innocent people usually become the victims of physical violence and psychological and sexual abuse in the prison system. Because they are not in jail for causing physically violence to anyone, robbery or rape like their fellow inamates.

 

Unlike marijuana, which is NOT toxic as the media and authorities make out, there are many thousands of real poisonous plants that grow naturally which can be smoked or eaten that will kill a person -- but they are not illegal! For example anybody can pick a bunch of oleander leaves that grows in many people's gardens, and if they eat them, they will probably die!

 

If the governments really want to protect their people (they think they own us) and do something really useful (and time consuming), they should catalogue all the poisonous plants that grow in people's gardens, parks etc and make them illegal -- but they should not have the right to make a plant illegal that is not poisonous and doesn't cause harm to a person.

[kayanow]

PS Forgot to say -- Shapelle Corby is still jail in Bali and that must be a nightmare for her -- but what about protesting to release all the innocent people in Austrlalian--mostly QLD--jails simply for possessing or smoking a harmless plant?