Pubdate: Sat, 25 Jul 2009
Source: Irish Independent (Ireland)
Section: Lifestyle
Copyright: Independent Newspapers (Ireland) Ltd
Contact:  http://www.independent.ie/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/213
Author: Shane Dunphy
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Marijuana - California)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)

TURN ON, TUNE IN, LIGHT UP

Arnold Schwarzenegger believes it could solve California's spiralling
financial crisis and supporters rave about its positive effects, so
could marijuana be coming to a shop near you? Shane Dunphy reports

Changing attitudes: Legalising cannabis may be on the horizon in
California, thanks to a softened stance from Arnold
Schwarzenegger

The drug of choice for the free-love counterculture, marijuana has
probably received more mixed press than any other recreational drug.
Regular users speak of its positive effects: relaxation, warm,
friendly feelings towards others and an expanded world-view.

Medical research, however, suggests that marijuana smoke actually
contains more toxic substances than tobacco smoke. A study
commissioned by the Canadian government, for example, determined that
marijuana smoke contained 20 times more ammonia, and five times more
hydrogen cyanide and nitrogen oxides than its legal counterpart,
making it potentially much more harmful.

Yet the debate as to whether marijuana and its various related
substances (hashish, kief, and hash oil) should be decriminalised
continues, and the latest place to consider the ramifications of such
a move is the US state of California.

Supporters of legalised marijuana claim that the drug can solve
California's spiralling financial crisis. A series of television ads
was launched last week supporting a bill by Democratic assemblyman Tom
Ammiano that would regulate and tax the sale of marijuana in the
Golden State, where Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration is in a
$26bn (€18.7bn) black hole.

One of the 30-second films features an "actual marijuana user". She is
a retired, 58-year-old civil servant called Nadine Herndon, shown in
front of her family portraits at home in Sacramento County, where she
began using the drug after suffering a series of strokes three years
ago. She speaks of the huge cuts to police, schools and healthcare
that are imminent due to California's budget crisis. She points out
that Schwarzenegger and his legislature are ignoring millions of
Californians who want to contribute by paying taxes on their marijuana
usage.

The series of advertisements seem to have achieved their goal, as even
the arch-conservative 'Governator' has softened his stance, and
publicly stated that it is time to open the debate on fully legalising
the weed, medical use of which was introduced in California by a
majority vote in a 1996 referendum.

Commentators propose that there is a huge demographic in California
who will support legalisation -- children of the participants of the
Summer of Love, who were raised within a hippy ethos, believing that
smoking the occasional joint is perfectly normal.

The logical extension to this argument is obvious: if legalising
marijuana can solve bankrupt California, then why not Ireland? A
recent survey by the HSE showed that as many as 15pc of the Irish
population use marijuana regularly (at least once a year), while 2pc
use it daily. The highest using group, the study found, was 15--34
year olds.

Marijuana, as most people encounter it, is a dry, shredded green and
brown mix of flowers, stems, seeds, and leaves derived from the hemp
plant Cannabis sativa. The main active chemical in marijuana is
delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol; THC for short.

The average user will buy marijuana by the quarter ounce, the average
price of which is around €100. This will make approximately 20 average
sized joints, putting the price of a joint at around a fiver, making
it a reasonably competitive alternative to alcohol. Whether
legalisation and an added tax would increase this price is open to
conjecture. Perhaps a government sanctioned hash farmer, growing in
bulk and without the need to hide from the law, would be able to
produce a crop more cheaply than the current black market gardeners.
And think of all the green jobs.

The campaign for legalisation in Ireland has been ongoing for many
years, making a minor celebrity out of its most outspoken and
flamboyant spokesperson, Luke "Ming the Merciless" Flanagan, currently
a county councillor in Roscommon. Occasionally a TD (usually in need
of some cheap publicity) will attempt to reopen the legalisation
debate, but Ireland has never taken the argument really seriously -- a
fact that might change if California bites the hemp bullet.

Legalisation has been tried in other countries, with varying degrees
of success. Some countries, Belgium, for instance, while not overtly
legalising cannabis, tolerate its usage, and so long as the amount in
your possession could be reasonably defined as for personal usage, the
authorities will turn a blind eye. Canada legally permits small
amounts of the drug to be held for personal usage, although marijuana
is still grown and traded on the black market and is not yet centrally
controlled.

Holland has become synonymous with the legalisation of marijuana,
where it can be purchased legally through specially designated coffee
shops, in the form of marijuana cigarettes, in teas and in cakes and
biscuits. Interestingly, Holland does not condone the purchase of
marijuana wholesale or in bulk, and this has, apparently, led to
continued problems with the black market sale of the drug, and what
the Dutch describe as "nuisance drug users".

Recent studies of schools in Amsterdam show that the incidence of
young people using marijuana regularly is slightly higher than
Ireland, at 15.8pc. These studies have also commented on the growing
levels of THC, the active ingredient, in Dutch cannabis, suggesting
that long-term exposure has created an appetite for stronger and
stronger crops, which private growers are doing their best to engineer.

New findings which link regular use of the drug to depression and
lethargy have also brought the Dutch government under fire, and
earlier this year 27 coffee shops were closed, all within 200 metres
of schools. The traditional Dutch stance that marijuana is a harmless
and relatively innocent soft drug seems to be under revision.

So while California is considering broadening its laws, Holland, with
many years' experience of selling marijuana openly, is tightening its
legislation.

It would seem that this is a debate we will be hearing much more about
as the international recession continues. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake