Legalising Marijuana and Prostitution - OT

Got something to tell us LTF?

Why should we give Rent Boys special consideration? What has been said for female whores applies to them as well. Do they require extra consideration because they are seen to enjoy it less? Or because they are seen as more likely to contract aids/HIV?

That's an area of subjectivity that's not really important to the debate in my opinion.

 

Fair points... The fact that the journalist said 'rates' as opposed to say 'numbers', I inferred that this meant that it was given in context of population - I agree though, it is vague throughout.

And whilst I think you're right in saying its not proof, however I do think that the statistics of usage and addiction treatment are in correlation with other 'safe haven' drug projects and can be used in positive argument for legalisation...I suppose without having a wide variety of drug statistics from around the globe its impossible to say for sure whether legalisation would truly be a good thing, but in theory I can't see too many flawless answers against it!

 

Yeah I totally agree with everything you said. For me, the major problem when looking at data and reports on the subject is that nobody really tries arguing from the opposed view, before showing what evidence they have for that view being obviously flawed, so it's really hard to make sense of it as a world theme. Government's too easily cloud the issue with half-truths to scare or manipulate.


Interesting though

 

I agree abuse of any drug can be devastating, but when referring to legalisation, I don't think individual abuse cases can be considered (maybe a little callous?). People abuse everything - take food for example, should fast food be made illegal because some people have quite literally eaten themselves to death? Legalisation would mean monitoring. If cannabis could only be bought in chemists, you could reduce strengths of the drug and also limit the amount people could buy via a simple national database, allowance system and perhaps the use of 'cannabis cards'.

Also, the reference to cannabis as a gateway drug. It is in the sense that generally people who have tried harder drugs will have tried cannabis first, but then most alcoholics will have began with alcopops, cider and beer before hitting the straight vodka or whiskey. Statistics would suggest that there are vast numbers of people who have tried cannabis but never gone harder - I know my both parents (a doctor and a teacher) and my brother are perfect examples of this. (one of my sisters has tried more things, the other has never experimented with anything harder than tequila)

 

Marijuana makes some people schizophrenic so I would never legalize it and I believe Prostitution should come with a minimum 5 years imprisonment. Having loose justice system is a mistake... already we see *****phile rings getting off on technicality's and such and it takes the mick... *****phile's, Rapists and Mass Murderers should never be treated as the victims and should face the death sentence and before somebody starts preaching human rights just remember human rights are "rights" and like any rights... you can lose them.

 

Both should be legalised.

 

Cannabis has never been proven to cause schizophrenia, the studies in fact showed that people who were already at risk/showed signs of neurological illness seemed to be put further at risk with heavy cannabis use (studies also showed that spending too much time alone and moving to a new country increased the risk by 4x. On the other hand, cannabis has been shown to reduce the debilitating affects of illnesses like MS and ease pain associated with a variety of illnesses.

The fact that cannabis is legal or illegal will not stop people using, that includes the people at risk of schizophrenia!

As for prostitution, surely legalization would do more to limit the number of children at risk, especially teenagers and young adults...If women worked in a safe enclosed environment with proper security, you could regulate the ages of prostitutes far easier than you can whilst it's all still illegal.

 

boozing is meant to be much worse that drugs... but oh no.... the MP's won't get rid of their favourite snifter...

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11660210

Bit misleading as alcohol is legal, but interesting nonetheless!

The reporters do my tits in, they're clearly fishing for a mistake/headline:

"So you're saying heroine is not dangerous" - no, **** off!

 

Both need legalised in my opinion, not least so they can be taxed and regulated. All making them illegal does is sends it underground and leaves it open to the criminals to abuse.

In the case of prostitution you could reduce the number of underage girls/boys who go down this route for a variety of reasons, but also provide a safe environment for men/women of any age who choose to use their body in this way. Its one the oldest employments going! Other positives include regular screening for diseases, no violent pimp forcing them to do things they don't want to and a its kept off the streets. I don't think men/women should be made to feel like a criminals because they want to pay for sex. At the end of the day we live in a world where our every needs are catered for at the right price. Why not our sexual needs? As far as I can see the positives far outweigh the negatives.

Weed is a slightly more difficult problem. Unfortunately there is a small sample of people who can suffer from psychological problems with pro longed use of the drug. However it is certainly a minority. But for those whose lives have been wrecked by it, then they'll despise it with their every sinue! The reality is cigarettes and alcohol are a far greater health threat, so if that is the reasoning behind it being banned, then its incorrect.

Again I can see a lot of positives. Its becomes regulated if you legalise it, then and some of these ridiculously strong strains now around (which many experts believe have led to it causing psychological problems), the stuff that's been sprayed with god knows what, can be taken out of public consumption. The tax would be fantastic and the amount of money you'd stop flowing into the drugs underworld would be incredible.

 

As usual WP, a common sense approach without being OT, ever thought about being an MP,

 

Don't be silly woman, he's far too honest to be an MP.

 

My missus tells me regularly that I'm easily corrupted so I'd probably fit in well! (she still hasn't realised its me that's doing the corrupting!!)

 

ive smoked cannabis for round 5 years now and tbh theres nothing better then coming in after work and having a J or having a pre-family guy J! Im sure its only illegal because hemp is a cheaper alternative to paper and the big paper manufactures at the time were in danger of being replaced with cheap high quality hemp so they had a big campaign to illegalize it! i could be wrong but if true its a bit sad making it illegal for those reasons while cutting down trees at the same time!

 

Prostitution is the oldest profession they say, and it will always exist. Where there is demand there will always be supply.

Therefore it is surely better to regulate it and ensure that those involved in prostitution are safe. In a vote for or against legalisation I would vote for.

However would this kind of legalisation only apply to those who choose to work in this profession? What would be more difficult to address is those people forced into prostitution by getting caught up in the illegal drugs world, which by its nature is more illicit. How do you ensure those individuals are regulated and looked after? I don’t see them being able to suddenly find their way into a legal brothel.

So while I think legalisation would certainly improve things for some people involved in prostitution, I suspect there would always be an unregulated ‘black market’ in prostitution. Perhaps any legalisation of prostitution would have to go hand in hand with legalisation of (some/all?) drugs for it to be fully effective. A whole other debate!

As for legalising cannabis, for medical relief I absolutely agree (but it would need to be regulated), but there can be very serious effects of long term cannabis use in some people (like Jesus Was A Geordie says, for those that are already at risk/show signs of neurological illness) and for that reason I am not sure I could vote for any full legalisation of cannabis.

 

How much does it cost you and where do you go to get it?

 

Tash this isn't a drug den man. A user isn't gonna plaster his or her dealers name over the forum. It's all done in secret... The police may be watching...

Just stand IN the middle of biker with a sign on you saying... 'will buy gear' and you should get sorted.

 

well im 20 and still living with my parents and earn just over a grand a month which is good for my age so i dont skint myself over it but it varies how much i spend week to week as sometimes i have a break to get my tolerance down, youl probably be suprised at how many people sell it! well round my area anyways! But in answer either people i know from school or people who i know through other people

 

Well I used to have a full time job that payed around a grand a month. But since I my contract run out in that job, I've only got a part time job now, but it pays good for it's hours.

It's only 14-16 hours a week, but depending on whether I work on weekends, I can earn around 550-600 quid in a month, which is great for a 14 hour so jon, and I live with my parents, and I'm a great saver. I only earned a great wage for 6 months during my last 3 years in a job span.

I've got like 6-7k saved up despite being out of work for about a year. If I still had my other job who knows what I would have saved up lol.

 

I was gonna bring this up, the first billion dollar industry, back when money wasn't worth as much. Imagine the size industry it would create today! Think both the sweet Mary Jane, and hookers should be legal as well as most others drugs personally. Freedom of choice?