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| Results of the Sydney University study. |
“Most studies didn’t detect ‘next day’ effects of cannabis use, and the few that did had significant limitations,” Dr McCartney said.
“Overall, it appears that there is limited scientific evidence to support the assertion that cannabis use impairs ‘next day’ performance.Great to see the ACT decriminalising drugs. Amusing to see butt-hurt conservatives, welded to prohibition myths from last century, bleating "It sends the wrong message" and ensuring they will never be elected.
Alarm must be spreading through police drug squads as they see their dream wicket of easy busts, helicopter joyrides and regular promotion under threat. I predict they will follow the example of some US states after legalisation and ramp up actions like roadside drug tests and sniffer dog patrols so they can lie: "See, usage has gone through the roof. We told you so!". That of course will be amplified by the Murdoch press.
This follows the discovery of a new unknown drug, sold as ketamine, by the ACT's pill testing centre – another measure slammed by conservative fossils for "sending the wrong message". Because good information and facts are left-wing, you know. Far better to ride high on the fictions and lies of the likes of Donald Trump, Alex 'Sandy Hook' Jones and Sky News. Reality is very inconvenient.
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| Welcome to NSW, the family-friendly state |
Meanwhile Sydney's Postcode Wars will continue, underpinned by rivers of drug money enabling public executioners to be paid six-figure sums as shown in the recent Four Corners episode. That program, however, joined a conspiracy of media silence by never once mentioning Prohibition, the framework that enables these criminal gangs. That, apparently, is the 'right message'. https://www.abc.net.au/.../the-postcode-wars.../14051188
... data indicates 41 per cent of Australians support legalising cannabis use and support for legalising cocaine and ecstasy use stands at eight per cent and 9.5 per cent respectively.
Those numbers are up markedly from the 2010 reporting period
However support drops markedly in some regions.
National Drug Research Institute Adjunct Professor Dr Nicole Lee said people were recognising the current system was not working.
"Most people believe that drugs are illegal because they're dangerous, but it's actually the other way around. So they're actually made more dangerous because they're illegal," she said.
Professor Lee said research showed majority of people who used illicit drugs recreationally did not have issues or require treatment. And she said there was no evidence suggesting the number of people using drugs had increased in places where drugs had been legalised."
Is there some way we can persuade the hold-outs, especially those in government, to Google "Portugal's drug policies" and wake up from their delusory dream?
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| MLC Cate Faerhmann |
EG it appears there is zero research or evidence linking cannabis use to NSW accidents. The Police merely noted its presence in 60 out of 264 fatal accidents. By my maths, that's about 22% which is not far off the number of people who use it. So is that significant? If, say, left-handed people were 22% of the population and were involved in 22% of accidents, could you say that being a southpaw contributed to tragic road deaths?
"Canadian researchers analyzed data from 57 studies assessing the influence of cannabis and alcohol on driving behavior and crash risk.
They acknowledged that cannabis exposure was typically associated with deviation in drivers’ lateral positioning (lane weaving) and a decrease in their average speed. Cannabis use was “not associated with an increase in crashes in experimental studies.” Authors also found “no compelling evidence” that cannabis influenced hazard response time, headway variability, time out of lane, speed variability, speed exceedance, or time speeding.
They concluded, “Specifically, for the measures reported here, there are no instances where the average effect of cannabis is equal to or greater than the driving performance decrements associated with BAC concentration ranging from 0.04 to 0.06 percent.”
"Today I announce a raft of measures central to the life of Australians, and Australia. That’s why I am surrounded by Australian flags and am wearing an Australian flag face mask, as well as my Australian flag lapel badge. Because Australians like that. It makes them feel we in Australia are all in this together, pushing through the windscreen.
Clearly these measures are vital to Australia, a place where Australians never look into the rear-vision mirror, even when reversing at full speed.
Australians already like the Positive Energy we are bringing to Australia, because they clearly support technology like clean coal rather than the punishing taxes Labor will propose one day. Just look at the brown hydrogen we are already exporting from Australia.
Some Australian journalists are so desperate for content they have actually accused Australia’s Prime Minister of lying. I stand before you today to solemnly assure Australians I have never lied. Australia is better than that.
Today I ask Australians to Stand Strong, because our Australian focus groups show that Australia now prefers two-word slogans to the old three-word ones. If Australians stand strong and push through, Australia has a bright future in the eyes of God, my personal mate.
Australia can only benefit from having children driving forklifts and importing cheap foreign workers, because Australians have better things to do than train for skilled Australian jobs. Australia is better off importing technology and cars, for instance, while exporting any bright ideas Australians might have. That enhances Australia’s reputation in the world, especially in France and Serbia.
We are clearly best at managing the Australian economy to benefit Australians. We have cleverly arranged for future generations of Australians to pay off our manageable debt, while bringing wealthy Australians unprecedented tax cuts in the tradition of one of Australia’s favourite books, the Magic Pudding. We have fostered record prices for Australian family homes, making many Australians better off than they have ever been.
We understand the pain Australians are going through because of this global pandemic that’s all China’s fault. But we also recognise that Australians want to keep prices down in Australia by blocking pay rises or unaffordable staffing ratios for Australian heroes like nurses and aged care workers. We salute these heroes as they underpin the profits of our rich Australian mates, proving that if Australia privatises everything, Australians are better off.
But Australians can rest assured that one day this pandemic will fade from memory, like a miracle, just before Australia’s next federal election, when the wisdom of letting it rip will be obvious to all Australians who didn’t die from it.
But more immediately, I urge all Australians to get behind Australia Day, that sacred celebration of white Australia’s supremacy, culture and Australian beer. I’ll be having one myself while watching my favourite Australian footy team and wearing a Chinese-made baseball cap and eating an Australian meat pie for the Australian photographers. With sauce of course.
I urge First Nations people, here before Australia was even Australia, to celebrate our unity as Australians and don’t look in the rear vision mirror. It’s time Australians moved on from our history, except of course for the glorious achievements Australia can boast. Thank you Australia. We won’t be taking any questions at this time, or ever if we can help it. Amen."
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| Leading Liberals Domicron and Morrison prefer praying in cosplay to fixing actual problems. Labor is not much better. |
The latest National Drug Strategy Household Survey spells it out clearly.
"One particular question asked, was whether they ‘believe the possession of cannabis for personal use should be a criminal offence’. The data tells us that 15.9 million Australians think cannabis should be decriminalised. The trend has been on a steady [upward] slope since the question was first asked in 2010."
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| Lying racist Henry Anslinger at the height of his corrupt power. |
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| Mindless persecution in the name of road safety. |
Confirming the old story of the police pulling over the hippie Kombi van because it was driving so slowly, a new study compared regular smokers with occasional smokers and non-smokers being put through their paces on a driving simulator.
The results make a further mockery of NSW's increased quotas for such tests, especially as they target particular areas such as the Northern Rivers. As many campaigners have pointed out, this is especially harsh as there is little public transport there and loss of license can have serious consequences for victims who live some distance from their nearest town or workplace. Our 'justice system' is designed for injustice.
Still, both Liberal and Labor state administrations refuse to relax these rules, let alone make progress towards regulated legalisation or even scale back their intrusive sniffer dog/strip search regime.
And just as the original corrupt prohibitionist Harry Anslinger did in the 1930s, police continue to demonise and target small-time users and people of colour so their impressive arrest statistics ensure ever-increasing budgets and promotion opportunities. It's a racket.
The original study is here.
The sting uncovered a wealth of drugs and drug money along with very welcome takedowns of people planning murder and violence. Conservatives and police have leapt on this opportunity to reinforce the old but false prohibition narrative, conflating drugs and criminal violence.
This is essentially a circular argument because the only link between drugs and criminals is of course prohibition. In essence it reads “we need prohibition because prohibition”. The police always boast that huge drug hauls have been “taken off the market” rather than admit they are evidence prohibition has failed. The unspoken assumption is that drug use will increase under a legal, regulated framework, despite clear evidence it does not.
Another fallacy in this narrative is the lumping together of all illicit drugs. These spruikers push a moral panic around ice, heroin and cocaine and rarely mention more benign and non-addictive drugs like cannabis and MDMA.
“There is nothing social about illicit drug use in this country,” intoned a pious and triumphant Prime Minister Scott Morrison, eagerly taking some credit for this operation, while conveniently deflecting from more troublesome issues denting his popularity. He went on to appeal to Australians to stop using drugs because it fuels organised crime.
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| Taylah Gray. Pic: Max Mason-Hubers/ Newcastle Herald |
"Police in NSW pursue more than 80 per cent of Aboriginal people found with a small amount of cannabis through the courts while letting others off with warnings.
"Start with bail and stop locking black people up, let our children home. Bailey Mackander whose inquest was happening today was a 19-year-old boy in prison."
Thus spake University of Newcastle PHD candidate and Wiradjuri woman Taylah Gray in the Newcastle Herald today.
While Australia struggles with solutions to the problem despite the Black Deaths Royal Commission laying out several actions, legalising and regulating cannabis (and even all other drugs) would eliminate one of the big four reasons First Nations people are locked up in the first place.
Of course it would solve many other problems, and could even create revenue for the government, as is now clear from the success of legalisation and decriminalisation in other countries and states.
There is no rational reason for prohibition. We know it does not work, with history including Al Capone waging Tommy-Gun battles on the streets and now daily drive-by shootings, stabbings and murders in some parts of Sydney as criminal dealer gangs fight out their differences.
But Liberal and Labor governments turn a blind eye to the obvious and perpetuate this failed, expensive, murderous policy. More people should punish them at the ballot box!
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| A misleading message from a Howard-era anti-cannabis campaign. |
The injustice is pretty clear –
"users were impaired for between three and 10 hours after taking moderate to high doses of the intoxicating component of cannabis, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
THC can be detected in the body for weeks after cannabis consumption, meaning users can face fines and loss of their licence, despite being unaffected by the drug." (from the linked ABC News story)
Furthermore the 10-hour figure applied to heavy oral consumption. Smokers and long-term users had a shorter period of impairment.
