Posts by chris
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Hard News: The frustrating politics of…, in reply to Russell Brown,
re we prepared to drag >10% of our population through the courts.
I’d be hesitant emphasizing this too much Russell. ‘Drag’ being a loaded verb, in this case describing the routine case of people walking in and walking / being escorted out…
Citizens choosing to break laws and in turn suffering the consequences, is not the strongest argument against these laws, which by virtue of being tend to criminalize percentages of the population. My singular issue here being that it seems to relegate the real and immeasurably more significant social and economic costs to a secondary position, behind the inconvenience of a fine/ court appearance.
You went into more detail here:
It is not exactly that nothing has happened. The courts, and to some extent the Police, have taken matters in their own hands by discharging or diverting more and more minor cannabis offenders – thousands of them every year. Effectively, the system is doing its best to route around the paralysis of the legislature – but without the tools that properly legislated reform would provide.
Yes, less people are being processed, but more cannabis is being confiscated, a good fraction of the money saved on policing / processing being passed back onto dealers/ growers . The policing and court costs aren’t a scratch on an $800,000,000 industry, just as those arrested aren’t the most harmed by prohibition, and imho it’s these two blades (in conjunction with Nutt at al) that constitute the strongest argument addressing prohibition. (sorry I feel like a drag for taking this line !-).
Out of interest Russell what font is this, I love these capital H.
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Hard News: The frustrating politics of…, in reply to Craig Young,
And they need to tackle one issue at a time- first medicinal cannabis,
You might enjoy this investigative piece on how long it takes to get a prescription in California. Personally I'm not convinced that undermining the integrity of the medical industry is a responsible starting point. Regardless of benefits, there are usually viable synthetic alternatives to treat issues. Putting pressure on Doctors to prescribe smoke inhalation to patients and in turn be the gatekeepers seems at odds with their raison d'etre, obviously there are edible alternatives but people seem to prefer smoking it.
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Hard News: Strange days for journalism, in reply to Chris Waugh,
Better than nothing,
I agree. From the resounding silence I assumed that local approval of official ministerial visits may be subject to some type of gag clause.
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Hard News: Strange days for journalism, in reply to Chris Waugh,
A couple of things spring to mind on that topic Chris:
1. the iffiness of acquiring journalist visas
2. the efficacious Chinese hospitality further intensifying 1.Western media is free to reprint official local press releases, but...
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Fascinating reading Russell, looking forward to number 2.
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Hard News: Drunk Town, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,
Beautifully put Sofie, really getting to the heart of things. Thank you.
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Hard News: Drunk Town, in reply to Islander,
b)drink as much water as you do drink booze-
Thanks for mentioning that Islander…I didn’t stumble upon that chestnut until well into my twenties, strange that it never made one of those ALAC ads up to that point ..
…Perhaps more drinking fountains in popular drinking spots….
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Hard News: Drunk Town, in reply to DexterX,
I am not sure it would have the “desired” outcome.
Yeah, that's not desirable in the least. I was aiming to steer things further leftfield and hopefully provoke some ideas more akin to Hans Monderman's innovative traffic control solutions in Oudehaske.
In doing so I flagrantly ignored a number of his maxims:
“When government takes over the responsibility from citizens, the citizens can’t develop their own values anymore,”
“When you treat people like idiots, they’ll behave like idiots.”
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17:30 and still no mention of Wham! reforming...
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Hard News: Drunk Town, in reply to Matthew Poole,
I would rather that we got the promised enforcement and made it a bit easier for the police to get intoxicated persons who cause trouble off the streets for a short period.
I wonder if trouser confiscation could bring about a similar result at a lesser cost.