Op Ed in Wall St Journal: decriminalise cannabis. Where's the liberal Irish Media?

[cyberianpan]

For some reason some people seem to think the Irish Times is a liberal newspaper, I've no idea why. I find it very conservative, little mention of sex & timid on even alcohol let alone other drugs

The rest of the Irish news media is to my mind even more conservative , though Hotpress & others try to fill the gap.

The Wall St Journal, hardly a bastion of American liberalism, published an Op Ed arguing for the decriminalisation of cannabis:

The War on Drugs Is a Failure
We should focus instead on reducing harm to users and on tackling organized crime.

The war on drugs has failed. And it's high time to replace an ineffective strategy with more humane and efficient drug policies.

Prohibitionist policies based on eradication, interdiction and criminalization of consumption simply haven't worked.

Next, we must shatter the taboos that inhibit public debate about drugs in our societies. Antinarcotic policies are firmly rooted in prejudices and fears that sometimes bear little relation to reality.

We also propose the careful evaluation, from a public-health standpoint, of the possibility of decriminalizing the possession of cannabis for personal use....But the available empirical evidence shows that the hazards caused by cannabis are similar to the harm caused by alcohol or tobacco.


A growing number of political, civic and c...But to be effective, the new paradigm must focus on health and education -- not repression.

Mr. Cardoso is the former president of Brazil. Mr. Gaviria is a former president of Colombia. Mr. Zedillo is a former president of Mexico.

3 former heads of State in the WSJ - when do we get to have a national debate ?

cYp

[JCSkinner]

Fair play to the Wall Street Journal.
Although the UK Independent was ahead of the game on this some years ago, before rolling back under pressure from unsubstantiated, ill-informed 'drugs are baaaaaad, mmmkay?' morons like Halliwell, the dimwit copper former drugs 'czar'.
We badly need to pursue these sort of policies here. Our prohibition laws have fuelled serious social problems caused by the criminalisation of heroin addicts, gangland involvement in cocaine and heroin trafficking and driving people to massively excessive alcohol abuse.
One also notes that the harm assessment by the medical journal The Lancet of various drugs found cannabis, ecstasy and LSD to be significantly lower than either alcohol or tobacco. Go figure.
Plus, decriminalisation, if not actual overt legalisation, would be good for the taxpayer too:
Skin Flicks: Time to free the weed?

[Bobert]

If only there was a liberal Irish forum who could hold this debate...

[JCSkinner]

If only there was a liberal Irish forum who could hold this debate...

We had a 13 page discussion about this in here within the past week...

[cyberianpan]

We had a 13 page discussion about this in here within the past week...

Indeed , p.ie is pretty potty

My point is the Irish mainstream media is not

cYp

[Bobert]

I wasn't talking about p.ie. I meant one that engages face to face.

[PhoenixIreland]

dudes...wheres my car?

[JCSkinner]

Indeed , p.ie is pretty potty

My point is the Irish mainstream media is not

cYp

I'd suggest the opposite.
But I get your pun.
What we need here in Ireland are firstly advocates for the anti-prohibition stance. In a recent communication I had with Mr Kushlick of Transform in Britain, I noted that apart from Ming Flanagan there is no voice for the anti-prohibition side of the argument.
We don't have the medics reporting on the real harm attributes like they do in Britain.
If we had these, then the media would have people to call up and give air time and column inches to, instead of ringing that dingbat Grainne Kenny all the time.

[Bobert]

The problem with advocates against prohibition (how else can I phrase that) is that they are seldom competent.

[JCSkinner]

The problem with advocates against prohibition (how else can I phrase that) is that they are seldom competent.

Are you speaking in terms of Ireland or more generally?
I don't think anyone could query the credentials of The Lancet article's authors, and Danny Kushlick is an admirable advocate and estimable debater on the issue.
And even in Ireland, Flanagan tends to wipe the floor with any prohibitionist foolish enough to debate with him.