There was another thing that happened in my town. About 10 years ago the changed the law again, to no smoking indoors. We were the first city to adopt that in the Province.
At the time, there were a lot of independent restaurants in my city ... apparently the highest number of restaurants per capita in Canada. It had been like that since I can remember. Chains couldn't really compete ... Wendy's opened up three locations, and two years later they were all bankrupt. They tried again under new owners, and they went bankrupt too. That kind of thing.
Well, within a year of the new bylaw, 20% of the restaurants in the city closed down. A year later another 10% were out of business. A lot of bars had problems and either closed or had to re-invent themselves, usually by going upscale at higher drink prices.
it's a college town (20,000 students) and there was a real impact on jobs for students. Even those who managed to weather the change had a drop in business overall. So, there was a price to pay.
Over the last few years, the chains have moved in. So, now we have more cookie-cutter eateries and much fewer independents. I don't think it's a change for the better.
It's illegal to serve alcohol and have nude dancers in this province (strippers are not illegal, but try running a club selling pepsi ... you'll go broke. So, there are really no nude clubs anywere). One bar owner, with his business down due to the smoking bylaw, decided to challenge the drinking/dancing law, with the goal of bringing in dancers to all his bars to make up some revenue, and one of the bars they owned was a lesbian hangout in the city.
So, they had that bar bring in male strippers, and just sat there every night waiting for the police to show and lay a charge. Apparently the regular clientele didn't mind the new faces that brought in to the place. The cops showed up after about a week, and they were able to win the first lower court decision, so prosecutions were put on hold until it could be settled, and no new charges were brought. That was a direct result of the smoking bylaw in the city.
That meant anyone could bring in nude dancers, and that's exactly what happened. So now that smoking bylaw in one city starts to affect life everywhere in the province. Small rural bars, who were struggling pretty much embraced that opportunity, and after about a year they all had them, a real change for these communities whom had never seen such a thing, ever.
It took about five years before the challenges ... which went right to the Supreme Court of Canada ... worked their way through the courts, and the law was finally upheld. So, the strip bars closed down, and another wave of bankruptcy hit the industry. To placate the remaining, they brought in Video Lottery Terminals to bars. So, now, virtually every bar has slots. That continues to cause a lot of problems.
It's all related. Smokers are gregarious people, and they keep a lot of entertainment venues alive. Convince them to stay at home, and the non-smoking crowd that I alluded to in my first post aren't going to come out in droves to fill in the gap. They don't go out much, clean air or no clean air. So, it won't be pain-free, at least in the short term.
At the time, there were a lot of independent restaurants in my city ... apparently the highest number of restaurants per capita in Canada. It had been like that since I can remember. Chains couldn't really compete ... Wendy's opened up three locations, and two years later they were all bankrupt. They tried again under new owners, and they went bankrupt too. That kind of thing.
Well, within a year of the new bylaw, 20% of the restaurants in the city closed down. A year later another 10% were out of business. A lot of bars had problems and either closed or had to re-invent themselves, usually by going upscale at higher drink prices.
it's a college town (20,000 students) and there was a real impact on jobs for students. Even those who managed to weather the change had a drop in business overall. So, there was a price to pay.
Over the last few years, the chains have moved in. So, now we have more cookie-cutter eateries and much fewer independents. I don't think it's a change for the better.
It's illegal to serve alcohol and have nude dancers in this province (strippers are not illegal, but try running a club selling pepsi ... you'll go broke. So, there are really no nude clubs anywere). One bar owner, with his business down due to the smoking bylaw, decided to challenge the drinking/dancing law, with the goal of bringing in dancers to all his bars to make up some revenue, and one of the bars they owned was a lesbian hangout in the city.
So, they had that bar bring in male strippers, and just sat there every night waiting for the police to show and lay a charge. Apparently the regular clientele didn't mind the new faces that brought in to the place. The cops showed up after about a week, and they were able to win the first lower court decision, so prosecutions were put on hold until it could be settled, and no new charges were brought. That was a direct result of the smoking bylaw in the city.
That meant anyone could bring in nude dancers, and that's exactly what happened. So now that smoking bylaw in one city starts to affect life everywhere in the province. Small rural bars, who were struggling pretty much embraced that opportunity, and after about a year they all had them, a real change for these communities whom had never seen such a thing, ever.
It took about five years before the challenges ... which went right to the Supreme Court of Canada ... worked their way through the courts, and the law was finally upheld. So, the strip bars closed down, and another wave of bankruptcy hit the industry. To placate the remaining, they brought in Video Lottery Terminals to bars. So, now, virtually every bar has slots. That continues to cause a lot of problems.
It's all related. Smokers are gregarious people, and they keep a lot of entertainment venues alive. Convince them to stay at home, and the non-smoking crowd that I alluded to in my first post aren't going to come out in droves to fill in the gap. They don't go out much, clean air or no clean air. So, it won't be pain-free, at least in the short term.
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Since they banned smoking here pubs are dying like flies. Non-smokers do not make up the numbers, indeed many non-smokers stopped going as well because the smoke covered up the stench of stale beer!
They said smokers cost the NHS tax payers money but the tobacco tax brought in 3x that.
Obesity costs the NHS more but it does not bring in any extra tax revenue.
Btw a very large study (10 000 participants) has shown that people who smoke cannabis without tobacco are at no greater risk of lung cancer than people who do not smoke at all. Indeed it has been shown that cannabis reduces the growth of human cancer cells by half and is particularly effective on cancer cells apparently immune to chemo therapy.
They said smokers cost the NHS tax payers money but the tobacco tax brought in 3x that.
Obesity costs the NHS more but it does not bring in any extra tax revenue.
Btw a very large study (10 000 participants) has shown that people who smoke cannabis without tobacco are at no greater risk of lung cancer than people who do not smoke at all. Indeed it has been shown that cannabis reduces the growth of human cancer cells by half and is particularly effective on cancer cells apparently immune to chemo therapy.
Yeah sometimes the governments get all twisted up. Here in the Netherlands you can buy pot for own use (5 grams) in so called 'coffee shops'. Ask SY for directions 
.
BUT, you can still be arrested for having it on you. In the frontier towns there's a lot of people coming in from other countries causing a lot of troubles, so here's the solution:
The government gives you a credit-card like 'pot pass' only if you are a resident, which you can use to buy pot. Then, you can get arrested for having pot bought on a government-issued pass....
It's pragmatic, but even that can be overdone I guess...
jan didden
.BUT, you can still be arrested for having it on you. In the frontier towns there's a lot of people coming in from other countries causing a lot of troubles, so here's the solution:
The government gives you a credit-card like 'pot pass' only if you are a resident, which you can use to buy pot. Then, you can get arrested for having pot bought on a government-issued pass....
It's pragmatic, but even that can be overdone I guess...
jan didden
Or Italians are a dirty, filthy breed of humans compared to us.
Tokyo is the public urination capital of the world. For some sociological reason impenetrable to the gaijin mind, peeing onto public surfaces is apparently OK as long as it's through a chain link fence. More drunken vomiting on any given night than in New Orleans. The subway is full of people picking their noses ostentatiously- amateur brain surgeons. Despite what newspapers in the US told me, there were legions of homeless street people. Everything reeks of fish.
Thanks, I'll take Italy.
It'd be nice to have that confirmed. I have a big vested interest in this, but I have seen so many 'studies' of cannabis, all of which I have ultimately concluded were conducted by people who were merely trying to demonstrate what was for them an article of faith from the outset, that I fear that reliable information on the subject (cannabis and health), one way or the other, is impossible to obtain at present.
w
The best evidence about pot is what the US government has not found. They have been researching it for a long tome specifically looking for proof of the harm it does so the odds are that everything they have not found is probably not there to find. They haven't found a whole lot. It is for sure harmful but also for sure less harmful than any other drug. It may be as cancerous as tobacco but most people who smoke pot do not smoke near as much of it as people who smoke tobacco smoke tobacco. I don't personally know of anybody who has gotten lung cancer that didn't smoke tobacco.
I know that if the DEA were to succeed in their marijuana eradication act it would throw this country into a recession and other countries into even deeper recessions. It is the number 1 cash crop in the US. Number 2 is corn. Even though the people growing most of it do not pay taxes on it they still put a lot of money into the economy.
They could be collecting taxes on it if they would pull their heads out.
Another thing that is insane is not using hemp for making paper and all kinds of other things. You can grow a whole new hemp plant each year but it takes 20 or 30 years to grow another tree. And the hemp that makes good products like paper makes lousy weed for smoking anyway but it is still illegal.
I know that if the DEA were to succeed in their marijuana eradication act it would throw this country into a recession and other countries into even deeper recessions. It is the number 1 cash crop in the US. Number 2 is corn. Even though the people growing most of it do not pay taxes on it they still put a lot of money into the economy.
They could be collecting taxes on it if they would pull their heads out.
Another thing that is insane is not using hemp for making paper and all kinds of other things. You can grow a whole new hemp plant each year but it takes 20 or 30 years to grow another tree. And the hemp that makes good products like paper makes lousy weed for smoking anyway but it is still illegal.
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I have been smoking pot for the last 15 years. I haven't seen a doctor all of this time but I have visited many dentists. The 'munchies effect' is to be blamed for this. You can find chocolate bars all around my house. My Uni friends have been dropping this habit one by one. It seems it's not compatible with their ordinary lives. I've never felt the need to quit maybe because mine isn't really is what you would call 'ordinary'.
Tobacco is bad, not only for possible future health problems but for your immediate present. Spirit is less sharp after a ciggie. Yes, tobacco can really have serious drawbacks.
Indonesian man loses six teeth after ciggie explodes in mouth
Oh and Spaniards suck BIG TIME. I was born there so I can tell. They're DIRTY. I don't walk that much anymore. The litter on the streets annoys me, drunkards annoy me, noisy people annoy me - I'm getting old. Not that others countries don't stink as well, everyone sucks for different reasons. The desert, top of mountains or sea are the only places where I could possibly have positive vibes about the human race.
Tobacco is bad, not only for possible future health problems but for your immediate present. Spirit is less sharp after a ciggie. Yes, tobacco can really have serious drawbacks.
Indonesian man loses six teeth after ciggie explodes in mouth
Oh and Spaniards suck BIG TIME. I was born there so I can tell. They're DIRTY. I don't walk that much anymore. The litter on the streets annoys me, drunkards annoy me, noisy people annoy me - I'm getting old. Not that others countries don't stink as well, everyone sucks for different reasons. The desert, top of mountains or sea are the only places where I could possibly have positive vibes about the human race.
YouTube - Dr. Donald Tashkin Marijuana Lung Cancer Study Pt 1 of 2
Cannabis destroys cancer cells | Laboratory News Archive
BBC NEWS | Health | Cannabis compound 'halts cancer'
Run From The Cure: How Cannabis Cures Cancer And Why No One Knows | Cannabis Culture Magazine
Addiction Inbox: Cannabis and Cancer
Cannabis Chemicals Stop Prostate Cancer Growth
Cannabis compound slows lung cancer in mice - health - 18 April 2007 - New Scientist
Cannabis as a possible treatment for lung cancer
Dailymotion - Cannabis Cures Cancer - a News & Politics video
That's what I could dig up in a reasonable amount of time.
Recently the UK gov chief drug advisor has been sacked because his research did not fit its political agenda. According to him (Professor Nutt) the main or even only danger of cannabis use is the fact that it is illegal. That is a potential drug conviction for cannabis use is more detrimental to the individual and society than the use of cannabis could ever be.
Cannabis destroys cancer cells | Laboratory News Archive
BBC NEWS | Health | Cannabis compound 'halts cancer'
Run From The Cure: How Cannabis Cures Cancer And Why No One Knows | Cannabis Culture Magazine
Addiction Inbox: Cannabis and Cancer
Cannabis Chemicals Stop Prostate Cancer Growth
Cannabis compound slows lung cancer in mice - health - 18 April 2007 - New Scientist
Cannabis as a possible treatment for lung cancer
Dailymotion - Cannabis Cures Cancer - a News & Politics video
That's what I could dig up in a reasonable amount of time.
Recently the UK gov chief drug advisor has been sacked because his research did not fit its political agenda. According to him (Professor Nutt) the main or even only danger of cannabis use is the fact that it is illegal. That is a potential drug conviction for cannabis use is more detrimental to the individual and society than the use of cannabis could ever be.
Most of us are very proud of this measure, we have recovered pubs and restaurants as a place for family meetings, dining, etc, and now even if we have small childs we can take them with us. No need for washing the clothes inmediately after 5 min. in a pub, also.
The only thing to regret, to my opinion, is that we are not a bit more civilized in Spain and we haven't applied this banning much earlier. Some years ago it was even possible to share your workplace with a smoker (I mean, smoking) and you have to suffer that no matter how little you liked it. Can you imagine?
The only thing to regret, to my opinion, is that we are not a bit more civilized in Spain and we haven't applied this banning much earlier. Some years ago it was even possible to share your workplace with a smoker (I mean, smoking) and you have to suffer that no matter how little you liked it. Can you imagine?
The real reason that pot/hemp was made illegal in the late 30s in the US was because of heavy lobbying by DuPont. They wanted to clear the road to make a profit on nylon.
Hemp not only makes much more environmentaly friendly paper, it makes much better paper.
dave
I think I have read too much into Peckerwoods statement re legalization,
with a bit more reflection I agree with his statement as it it is.
Sending addicts to prison does not help anyone especially since most drugs appear to be available in most prisons.
Doctors should be able to prescribe heroin, methadone is no solution.
Given the little info I have on crack I have no idea how that could or should be approached. It's a strange one…
As with regards to the smoking ban (just to get back on topic) the bars in Spain I've been to have at least one advantage over british pubs: None of them were carpeted and thus easy to clean. Nearly all UK pubs I've been too were carpeted and the stench of accumulating beer spillage is/can be truly revolting. I know a number of non-smokers who have stopped frequenting some pubs because of that smell. It really is worse than cigarette smoke.
I've lived in London and was surprised by this. I didn't notice the stench, maybe it was masked by tobacco smoke.
I like warm Guinness so I prefer UK pubs to drink (less noisy to) but if I'm hungry I'd MUCH rather be in a Spanish bar.
About tobacco ban; now it's the turn to tell the industry: no more smoke please. Oh and no more smoking cars.
Another thing I noticed in spanish bars before the smoking ban was the absence of ash trays. It took me awhile to casually flick my ash on the floor like the locals.
With regards to Guinness: The darker the beer the worse the smell when it goes off!
And yeah the tobacco smoke masked a lot of bad smells.
With regards to Guinness: The darker the beer the worse the smell when it goes off!
And yeah the tobacco smoke masked a lot of bad smells.
It's grown here in Canada for industrial/health/cosmetic/paper purposes. There is research going on for health properties ... health food stores sell "hemp hearts" which is the germ, zero THC, nutrient rich. Cosmetics firms are using it, it's the world's best naval rope material, can be used for paper pulp similar to what we now use flax for; eg paper money.
A farmer I know grows some ... you are required to have high fencing to keep curiosity-seekers out so it's mostly very small areas of the farm that are unproductive for grain due to being cultivated for too long, perhaps 25-40 acres. So the initial input cost is high, but there's a break-even point in 3 years or so. It grows on the worst farm land very well ... I could see it being a good crop in parts of the southern US where they had grown ginsing (which completely depletes the soil of all nutrients in a few years so that almost nothing will grow there again, and it would fit the smaller landholdings typically found east of you).
Median family operated grain farm here is 12 sections, some guys farm 30+ (a section is 640 acres), probably a bit bigger than the average Texas grain farm. He complains about not being able to keep seed for next year's cultivation ... you have to buy seed every year, which goes against the farmer's way of doing things.
Apparently it pays decent; better than the 25 bushels/acre old land will generally yield on wheat but not so good that you would want to put your best land on it (new, cleared land with decent soil here will yield 90 bushels/acre, good land in cultivation for 40+ years will yield 35-60).
The strains good for industrial use, and the method of pollination is exactly the opposite of what illegal use crops would want. You could probably make a good argument that if it hadn't been banned as an industrial crop the modern, illegal, high THC yield practices may never have been developed to the extent they are at now. You want tall plants with lots of seeds and thick, stringy stalks and fully pollinated flowers for industrial use; THC content is way below the lowest quality illegal product.
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Can I imagine? I remember smoking in HOSPITALS, and not just designated areas ... patients smoked in their beds, doctors smoked doing their rounds.
my family moved to Chicago for a year in 1969: from Australia, when I was 4. My mother recalls being unable to go to the movies because smoking was allowed in cinemas!
For those complaining about govt do-gooders meddling in private affairs - well, balance that against the do-badders of the tobacco industry - they have had a good run in the 20th century glamorising their product, covering up health reports, lying to govt inquiries, bribing politicians etc. Finally the health costs are outweighing all the "donations" and tax revenue they provided to govts around the world. Their final refuge will be in countries with corrupt govts where there is no free press to unveil their activities. Although hopefully the power of the internet will prevail.
Check this out:
Asia's economic rise comes with a hefty cost: coughing, wheezing, and many deaths
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