the market

this one is not without some introspection. First off I had a discussion a while ago with my sons about drugs in general; I was full and open about my drug history and that it was occasional when I was young and dumb. My concern was a whole new range of drugs available today and you have no idea what are in them. I have inhaled in the past but whatever you do, to coin a phrase, please stay away from the chemistry set. I asked my eldest straight up how long would it take to get hold of the majority of drugs available today. His response? Half an hour. He also told me about a party he went to that deterred him from any chemical based narcotic. This girl totally spaced out on Ketamine terrified him to his core.

the main point of focus here is marijuana. So what are the side effects? Without going into an extensive list, I discovered many of those side effects are similar to alcohol. One point raised on the news was that a record cannabis crop was found recently in New South Wales and the proceeds of that crop were being used to fund the manufacture and distribution of harder drugs, mainly Ice.

when I used to record proceedings in the courts I remember how boring pot house cases were for all concerned, where individuals set up entire houses for growing dope. Because they are so prevalent they take up a great deal of Police resources and fill up the courts with plea cases. One exception was this hippie who wanted to plead to possession but not distribution. He grew it in his back yard but never sold it - he gave it away. Even had a few of his hippie mates testify to this. One was even asked questions by the judge. He said he never bought it and sometimes when the accused wasn't home he would occasionally just pluck it from the plant. But what he said next was breathtaking,

"It was good shit, but. Oh fuck, I just said shit in front of a judge! Now I said fuck!"

he then proceeded to go into what I could best describe as a thirty second "shit fuck" loop, to which the judge responded for the witness to remain calm.

my main point is this. Marijuana is readily available drug. He chooses not to, but even my eldest can obtain it without any great deal of trouble. The proceeds of the sale of it lead to the manufacture and distribution of harder drugs.

just legalize it and regulate it. Personally, I find the consumption of it kind of boring and pot heads boring in general, but people are doing it anyway. 

perhaps go to this site and have a look around. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/alcohol/alcohol-tobacco-other-drugs-australia/contents/drug-types/cannabis

just under the heading of key findings alone - 

Cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug in Australia.

Cannabis was the second most common drug type identified at toxicology for transport accident deaths in 2016.

Recent use of cannabis among the Australian general population increased significantly between 2016 (10.4%) and 2019 (11.6%).

People who use cannabis are older than they were previously—the average age increased from 29 in 2001 to 35 in 2019.

Cannabis is used more frequently than other illicit drugs—37% of recent users reported weekly use compared with 6.7% and 4.5% of ecstasy and cocaine consumers respectively.

There has been an increase in tolerance for regular adult cannabis use among the Australian general population, rising from 14.5% in 2016 to 19.6% in 2019.

In 2019, 41% of Australians supported the legalization of cannabis for personal use.   

sure, there is the detracting factor in relation to road deaths, but people - a lot of people, are doing it anyway.