Health Canada presides over birth of billion-dollar free market in marijuana

[Syt]

Regarding the hard drugs (cocaine, heroine, meth ...) my gut feeling is to hit the pushers/producers hard, but be comparatively soft to consumers. Give them a slap on the wrist and put them in rehab, not jail.

[Razgovory]

Yeah, I'd legalize cocaine too. Maybe even heroin.

I'd obviously try to manage it somewhat, but then again... I believe my government can actually do]/i] stuff.

Legalizing drugs would seem to be an admission that government can't do something.

[Ed Anger]

Hard drugs are kinda legal in Portugal and it hasn't been the end of the world.

You need the hard drugs to deal with the Klingon ambassador.

[Neil]

Hard drugs are kinda legal in Portugal and it hasn't been the end of the world.

Sure it has.  Coked-out Brazilians are always rubbing people.

[The Larch]

Hard drugs are kinda legal in Portugal and it hasn't been the end of the world.

Sure it has.  Coked-out Brazilians are always rubbing people.

Only in the bitch.

[Barrister]

Hard drugs are kinda legal in Portugal and it hasn't been the end of the world.

I've read up on Portugal, and they aren't legal at all.  What they do is heavy emphasis on treatment for end users, rather than punishment.  But the dealers still get punished.

[The Larch]

Hard drugs are kinda legal in Portugal and it hasn't been the end of the world.

I've read up on Portugal, and they aren't legal at all.  What they do is heavy emphasis on treatment for end users, rather than punishment.  But the dealers still get punished.

That's why I said kinda, because I'm iffy on the details, but the thing is that posession of small amounts and consumption are depenalized, and reduced to an administrative fine plus you have to be reviewed by a panel of doctors and social workers to check on you if you're a recidivist, or something like that.

[Valmy]

Hard drugs are kinda legal in Portugal and it hasn't been the end of the world.

I've read up on Portugal, and they aren't legal at all.  What they do is heavy emphasis on treatment for end users, rather than punishment.  But the dealers still get punished.

Wow look BB!  There are indeed more than two policies besides the insane and self-destructive war on drugs and legalized drugs for all. 

[Duque de Bragança]

Hard drugs are kinda legal in Portugal and it hasn't been the end of the world.

I've read up on Portugal, and they aren't legal at all.  What they do is heavy emphasis on treatment for end users, rather than punishment.  But the dealers still get punished.

That's why I said kinda, because I'm iffy on the details, but the thing is that posession of small amounts and consumption are depenalized, and reduced to an administrative fine plus you have to be reviewed by a panel of doctors and social workers to check on you if you're a recidivist, or something like that.

The laws are very liberal for people having small quantities indeed.
The heavy emphasis on treatment for end uses is for Portuguese citizens only though.
The Larch, being Galician is a quasi-(Northern)Portuguese so that's why he does not make the distinction.

[The Larch]

Well, I don't intend to get busted in Portugal for posession, so excuse me if I didn't research it properly. 

[PDH]

Well, I don't intend to get busted in Portugal for posession, so excuse me if I didn't research it properly. 

One of the Larchettes is gonna take the fall for you, eh?

[Iormlund]

I don't know what the policy is in Spain, but you have to try really hard to land in jail as a consumer. I've sat literally in front of a patrol car with my buddies while they were snorting coke/speed and the cops didn't bat an eye.

I do know a couple guys who ended in jail. One was dealing and the other was an idiot. He was so wasted he actually jumped into a police car and started bragging about all the shit he had on him. When the cops tried to shut him off and give him a ride home he actually emptied his pockets to prove his point. He had just bought supplies to last the whole holidays for him and his friends, so he had over the limit and spent six months in prison. The day he told me the story he was really happy: he had just received his HIV results, negative.

[viper37]

Yeah, I'd legalize cocaine too. Maybe even heroin.

I'd obviously try to manage it somewhat, but then again... I believe my government can actually do]/i] stuff.

It worked wonders with alcohol and tobacco.  zero contraband now, zeron health&social problems.

[Valmy]

zero contraband now, zeron health&social problems.

Sarcasm?

[Ideologue]

Well, I don't intend to get busted in Portugal for posession, so excuse me if I didn't research it properly. 

There's no shame in contingency planning.