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veggie

Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,504
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More kids smoking pot than cigs [AU]
#4967580 - 11/22/05 09:36 AM (18 years, 3 months ago) |
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More kids smoking pot than cigs November 23, 2005 - theaustralian.news.com.au
ALMOST 60 per cent of Australians support increased penalties for the sale or supply of cannabis amid findings that more 12- to 15-year-olds use cannabis than smoke cigarettes.
A federal government survey of 30,000 Australians found support for a range of harsher penalties for cannabis offences, including referrals to treatment or education programs, fines, community service or weekend detention.
The findings came as the Victorian, NSW and Queensland premiers expressed their concern about the links between cannabis and mental illness, warning that it should not be viewed as a "soft drug".
The Australian Institute for Health and Welfare report found 4.3 per cent of 12- to 15-year-olds had smoked cigarettes in 2004, but 7 per cent tried illicit drugs and 5.2 per cent had used cannabis.
While it found 180,000 fewer Australians used cannabis last year compared with the previous year, use of illegal drugs was still common among older teens, with 20 per cent of 16- and 17-year-olds and 30 per cent of 18- and 19-year-olds trying marijuana, speed or heroin.
Victorian Premier Steve Bracks will ask the state's Coroner to look closely at a possible link between cannabis use and suicide, saying "it's not a harmless drug".
Mr Bracks said he wanted the Coroner to determine if there was a "causal link", and then "make any recommendations needed to the Government".
"We're trying to change the perceptions that it's a harmless drug, and it's not a harmless drug. We've got drug testing on our roads which has proved that cannabis is a drug which can cause harm to the individual and people around the individual."
NSW Premier Morris Iemma yesterday warned people contemplating using cannabis of the mental health risks, particularly those taking potent hydroponic-grown marijuana.
"As a former health minister who spent a considerable amount of time involved in mental health issues, I am in no doubt as to the link between regular marijuana use and mental health issues - often severe in nature," Mr Iemma told The Australian.
"Mental health professionals and the judiciary have been saying for some time that increasingly potent cannabis is creating increased demand for mental health services and that is something that every person contemplating using the drug should be aware of."
Queensland Premier Peter Beattie said governments should push education ahead of enforcement, but such preventative health measures would be difficult with regard to amphetamines.
"I think we are sitting on a timebomb with a lot of young people and actually getting people to change their attitudes to amphetamines is going to be very hard," Mr Beattie said.
Almost 30 per cent of Australians have been verbally or physically abused or frightened by someone affected by alcohol and 12 per cent had been abused by someone using illicit drugs.
National Drug Research Institute director Steve Allsop said there was a growing public concern about drug and alcohol abuse. But he warned stricter penalties might not lead to a reduction in the abuse. "One of the biggest deterrents is if people think they will get caught ... For example, what is going to stop people drinking and driving isn't a harsher penalty, it's an increased perception that you'll get stopped by the random breath testing unit."
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Mitchnast
Toadmonger


Registered: 10/27/99
Posts: 8,656
Loc: Okanagan
Last seen: 13 days, 12 hours
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Re: More kids smoking pot than cigs [AU] [Re: veggie]
#4967833 - 11/22/05 10:47 AM (18 years, 3 months ago) |
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"Victorian Premier Steve Bracks will ask the state's Coroner to look closely at a possible link between cannabis use and suicide, saying "it's not a harmless drug". "
so, hes going to get a coroner to use selective science? whats he going to do? test dead people for pot use?? what a load of bullshit. i wish we could beat him for being an asshole
""We're trying to change the perceptions that it's a harmless drug, and it's not a harmless drug. We've got drug testing on our roads which has proved that cannabis is a drug which can cause harm to the individual and people around the individual." "
how many of these people also consimed alcohol? this IS austrailia right?
""As a former health minister who spent a considerable amount of time involved in mental health issues, I am in no doubt as to the link between regular marijuana use and mental health issues - often severe in nature," Mr Iemma told The Australian."
health minister? yeah, i would REALLY trust a politician to give me a prostate exam! most real doctors are too stupid and brainwashed to get into pot politics, why shopuld anyone listen to a health minister who serves the federal government in direct competition with drug culture?
""Mental health professionals and the judiciary have been saying for some time that increasingly potent cannabis is creating increased demand for mental health services and that is something that every person contemplating using the drug should be aware of." "
what we NEED to worry about is what they are starting to say today, not what they have been saying for "some time" progress people, your voting population is steadily becomming younger than you, stop being a waste of taxes!
"Almost 30 per cent of Australians have been verbally or physically abused or frightened by someone affected by alcohol and 12 per cent had been abused by someone using illicit drugs. "
and this is data used to attack POT????? HOW??? am I supposed to be STUPID? all it says is alcohol is an OURAGEOUS problem in austrailia. bigger than pot, bigger than murder, bigger than theft. and yet they are lobbying among retards with big hats to have POT supporters punished more extremely??? they dont even tie violent crime to pot, they tie it to "illicit drugs" they know its shaky. speed is what they need to fight, and you dont do that by pushing harder against benevolent alternatives.
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Sheepish


Registered: 04/02/02
Posts: 10,137
Loc: Exile
Last seen: 5 years, 10 months
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Re: More kids smoking pot than cigs [AU] [Re: Mitchnast]
#4971248 - 11/23/05 01:20 AM (18 years, 3 months ago) |
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Yeah, what the fuck? It started tapering off and going on about speed and alcohol at the drop of a hat. I thought the article was about how kids are smoking pot more than tobacco. Obviously I was mistaken. Btw, it's a bunch of bullshit. Stronger pot doesn't = more mental health problems. That's a very casual and weak link to make. I'm sure mental health problems have been on the increase, but it's got more to do with just smoking pot. It's far more complex than just toking up and then getting severe problems. If the case really is that more people are getting mental problems from smoking, wouldn't the logically thing to be improve the mental health services and HELP these people? Punishing them won't really solve the problem here. Besides, it's a given that doing any drugs when you're that young is likely to have a negative impact. So because of these kids, the older, responsible (and not fucked up) pot smokers have to bear the brunt.
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cateyes

Registered: 12/16/03
Posts: 2,754
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Re: More kids smoking pot than cigs [AU] [Re: Sheepish]
#4971797 - 11/23/05 08:09 AM (18 years, 3 months ago) |
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actually there are numerous studies that link the use of weed to mental illness in children. there is a group of teens who will go on to develop schizophrenia, bipolar and depression who should not be smoking weed. the active compounds in weed "bring on" the onset of these illnesses sooner. because it's impossible to identify them, this attitude of prohibition will gain more and more support. personally i don't think kids should be smoking weed because it does impare the ability to learn in school(in most).
if you want links to studies i can supply them...
 cateyes
Edited by cateyes (11/23/05 08:14 AM)
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Mitchnast
Toadmonger


Registered: 10/27/99
Posts: 8,656
Loc: Okanagan
Last seen: 13 days, 12 hours
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Re: More kids smoking pot than cigs [AU] [Re: cateyes]
#4972247 - 11/23/05 11:49 AM (18 years, 3 months ago) |
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shildren shouldnt be doing drugs, they havent even developed their minds yet. theres a critical time of development that doesn't carry into adulthood, that period doesn't compete well with altered states of consiousness.
kids smoking pot=kids not developing. and you cant catch up later. its like trying to learn a language at 25.
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Sheepish


Registered: 04/02/02
Posts: 10,137
Loc: Exile
Last seen: 5 years, 10 months
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Re: More kids smoking pot than cigs [AU] [Re: cateyes]
#4990364 - 11/28/05 04:03 PM (18 years, 3 months ago) |
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I never said it didn't cause harm for kids. I don't believe kids should be smoking pot or doing any drugs, period. But to use this excuse as a reason for prohibiting it further is backwards. It's like saying because there's under age drinkers we should all of a sudden make alcohol illegal for adults to consume. The harm from drinking as a teenager is just as great.
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Young_but_cool
Stranger


Registered: 08/16/02
Posts: 1,726
Loc: Old Europe
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Re: More kids smoking pot than cigs [AU] [Re: Mitchnast]
#4993192 - 11/29/05 06:58 AM (18 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
kids smoking pot=kids not developing. and you cant catch up later. its like trying to learn a language at 25.
Hey, I learned a new language at 25. Worked out just fine.
Your point is valid though.
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