...or ill thought out laws.

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La mujer más oscura puede mover montañas si lo quiere.

So don't you think it is a bit ridiculous for irish citizens to travel hundreds of miles for some cannabis when they could easily go to their own local koffieshop, all it takes is a change in the law.. with the stroke of a pen"illegal" becomes "decriminalized" and the world keeps on turning except now Irish citizens will be treated with DIGNITY and given a decent CIVILIZED choice.

The Dutch seem to value the freedom of the individual, and while some negative consequences flow from that, on the balance freedom is more important.

Again, I do not understand the need some people have to impose their views and prejudices on others. If one does not wish to do X, then don't do it. That is one's right. But one should respect the rights of others to make decisions for themselves.

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Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus

Tantum religio potuit suadere malorum

"During the 1990s the Netherlands faced a shortage of prison cells, but a decline in crime has since led to overcapacity in the prison system. The country now has capacity for 14,000 prisoners but only 12,000 detainees."

here

Since the publication of this article the authorities in the Netherlands have decided to take prisoners from neighbouring countries so they can continue to keep staff etc. paid from the revenue created.

There has been a total of 8 prisons closed in the Netherlands, and all of our prisons are overcrowded with prisoners being released before their sentences are served. The plans for a new Super-prison have been scrapped due to lack of funds.

This does not suggest an increase in criminality, in fact the opposite.

What the people on this thread are suggesting does way more than allow ordinary everyday people to have a smoke of cannabis without fear of being criminalised.

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Are you talking about me, Cato? I'm not seeking to impose anything on anyone. If you have a problem with the drugs laws in the Republic of Ireland, you need to call upon your political representatives to do something about that. I'm not out looking for current drugs laws to be tightened or even retained. I don't think drugs are a good thing and I think the benefits to the healthy are non-existent. The dangers seem to be unclear and not adequately understood. I think decriminalization is more problematic than people are prepared to admit. There are legal and social consequences to unilaterally relaxing drug laws in Ireland.

I think freedom is enormously important. It would seem to me that one surrenders one's freedom and control when one takes drugs.

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La mujer más oscura puede mover montañas si lo quiere.

ZB, there are all manner of things that aren't openly available in Ireland but are legally available elsewhere. Just because something has been decriminalized elsewhere, does not mean that it should automatically be decriminalized everywhere.

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La mujer más oscura puede mover montañas si lo quiere.

Frankly, yes. That seems to me to be one of the main motivation. That and the peculiar need that some people have to impinge on the freedom of others.

The law on this issue cannot be justified. For me that is enough to cause the law to be modified or revoked. It is an unjust law that impinges on the liberty of the individual.

Hence why I said 'regulate it'. It should only me made available to over 21s. As to the rest, this has already been rebuffed by other posters. You have simply chosen to ignore them. Alcohol has much more series effects than cannabis; would you like to see it prohibited. Like everything moderation is the key, but any individual may do it to excess. Frankly, as long as it does not harm anyone else, that is their right.

On that point I could agree, but only on a practical basis. We would need to get the UK, at least, to jump with us to avoid those consequences. Do you really think that the criminal element would be worse or better than it is now? Right now the policy of prohibition that you support is enriching gangs here in Ireland, needlessly criminalizing users, costing the state a fortune in enforcement, and making the drugs, because of contaminants, dangerous. Are you happy with all of those consequences? Really?

That's merely your uninformed judgment. Nobody here has reported being 'controlled' by cannabis. Drama much?

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Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus

Tantum religio potuit suadere malorum

Fair enough, but do you apply the same principles to pharmaceutical drugs??

You really think that that's what's going on? Myself and others just want to control how everyone else leads their life? My background may be in law but I am actually not in favour of an overly rule/law-bound society. Most modern countries do however operate according to a complex set of legal norms. As I said before, if you have a problem with that or the norms in question, you need to take it up with your political representatives. The argument you are making here could be used to justify legalizing all drugs and indeed most things, if not everything.

How do you know it can't be justified? Have you researched this issue? Do you know the exact harms and benefits, the gains and the losses likely to flow from decriminalization? You seem to be assuming that there is no harm and therefore no just cause for prohibition. You are adopting an absolutist position and one which could potentially see all drugs decriminalized.

So, if I point to an newspaper article suggesting that cannabis can produce neglectful parents, and a pro-cannabis persons says they disagree, that's my argument rebuffed? You are showing your bias, Cato!

So we would have to get the UK to adopt the same laws? What about France, Italy, Spain, Portugal? Drugs and drug trakfficking represent a global phenomenon/challenge. National solutions won't suffice.

Multiple posters have spoken of trying to source cannabis, how much they spend on it, the efforts they go to to get it, the risks they expose themselves to to consume it, how they basically can't function without it, etc. If that doesn't constitute being in thrall to something, I don't know what does!!

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La mujer más oscura puede mover montañas si lo quiere.

If we have any chance of legalising cannabis, I feel it will be on the basis of medicinal grounds in which case you will need the support of medicinal users and more importantly, potential medicinal users.

Two weeks ago I watched "run from the cure", I have since convinced six other people to watch it and I'm trying to convince more. I firmly believe that if it was shown to everyone in this country, we would have the support to change these pointless drug laws, Since watching this documentary I have downloaded forms for LCI and I've started sending emails to all the politicians through contact.ie, calling for a change in our drug policies.

This is a must see for everyone,