[Archived] Drugs

[Ozz]

Indeed, just one pint of water before you retire and you will wake up in the morning to a perspiring Kelly Brook begging for more.

"Sorry Kelly," you'll say "I've got a marathon to run, I'll be back in about three hours, keep the bed warm love."

And in fact you'll be back, after running the marathon, and you will satisfy Ms Brook to her heart's desire. Then she'll cook you a fried egg sandwich. Naked.

And it'll be all down to that pint of water.

363368[/snapback]

Substitute water with LSD and that makes more sense Col.

[FourLaneBlue]

Dan, not sure if you are suggesting that beer is a solution to dehydration but beer/alcohol is a diuretic = makes you pee, therefore makes you dehydrated. Hence the pint of water before bedtime to stave off the overhang.

363341[/snapback]

Most hangover cures actually contain alcohol. Not sure why but it helps your body get rid of last night's excess by having a (small) bit more in the morning. A hangover doesn't solely relate to dehydration, there is still the matter of getting the crap out of the system from what you have drunk. Hence why red wine gives a worse hangover than white wine.

[Ozz]

It`s because of withdrawl symptons.

[Dan Furness]

Dan, not sure if you are suggesting that beer is a solution to dehydration but beer/alcohol is a diuretic = makes you pee, therefore makes you dehydrated. Hence the pint of water before bedtime to stave off the overhang.

363341[/snapback]

No Colin I wasnt suggesting that. It certainly does make you feel like you cant pee, the infamous 'stood trying to pee for 10 mins' effect comes into play and some very strange looks

[pg]

BTW in case you are interested an Aussie is sentenced to hang in Singapore in two days for being caught smuggling about 400 grams of heroin whilst in transit to Australia.

The national reaction to this is close to mass hysteria.

[FourLaneBlue]

Why PG? I'm no supporter of the death penalty but if you go to another country and break their laws you have to take their punishment.

Mind you it is Singapore, where smacking someone's backside for dropping gum gets a tanned hide. That's a little bit harsh but certainly a no-nonsense approach.

[blue phil]

I wonder if it'll deter any other would be smugglers going to Singapore ...? Id say it probably might just do

[Flopsy]

doubt it - it hasnt worked in Thailand.

[pg]

Why PG? I'm no supporter of the death penalty but if you go to another country and break their laws you have to take their punishment.

Mind you it is Singapore, where smacking someone's backside for dropping gum gets a tanned hide. That's a little bit harsh but certainly a no-nonsense approach. 

363875[/snapback]

I have no idea why.

People are calling for one minutes silence. The PM has been criticised for attending a cricket match tomorrow (the day of the hanging).

Aussies can be a strange bunch sometimes.

[SouthAussieRover]

It must be a city thing

In a Morgan poll yesterday 47% supported the sentence, 46% against and 7% undecided.

[FourLaneBlue]

I have no idea why.

People are calling for one minutes silence.  The PM has been criticised for attending a cricket match tomorrow (the day of the hanging).

Aussies can be a strange bunch sometimes.

364145[/snapback]

A one-minute silence for a convicted drug smuggler???...and people were moaning at having one for George Best!

[dave birch]

FLB, it's not because he's a convicted drug smuggler, it's because he's being put to death.

There are a number of people who think that hanging this guy is barbaric, and that no civilised state should be invovled in capital punishment.

SAR's stats sum up the feeling of the country

[blue phil]

doubt it - it hasnt worked in Thailand.

364081[/snapback]

Well I bet the number of Aussies smuggling in Singapore goes down in the next couple of years if this scumbag is put down .

BTW - Why do say it hasn't worked in Thailand ; have they tried a "before" and "after" policy to the death penalty ...?

[Gareth]

The government has decided to come up with even more pointless drug laws, which, going on previous experience, will be a complete failure.

The new regulations specify an amount above which a person is to be resumed to be dealing drugs, not possessing them for their own use:

* 120g cannabis resin,

* 500g cannabis leaf,

* 10 Es,

* 7g of heroin, coke, or crack cocaine, and

* 14g speed

There doesn’t appear to be a specific limit for mushrooms or LSD; maybe they want us to see things… What about ketamine?

The fact that the drugs laws (along with most other policies based upon 1920s-USA style prohibition) are completely ineffective (as the government admits (see also my comments)), give criminals a licence to print money, cause high-levels of crime and poverty appears irrelevant (see this report for details).

This government always wants to appear to be “hard on drugs”, despite the fact that we are just past an election so even they don’t even have that use (unlike with the Drugs Act 2005, which criminalized the sale of magic mushrooms, even though they grow wild in the UK. How the (Please don't use that word again) can you make a plant illegal?) and despite the fact that they (likely) new Tory leader David Cameron is on record as saying that the laws should be scrapped and replaced by a legal, regulated system for the production and supply of currently illegal drugs.

Depressingly, though it should be completely expected, both the Daily Mail and Daily Express (about half-way down the page) are opposed to the new laws, but not because they won’t work, but because they don’t go far enough! These are the types our Dear Leader panders to with these sort of laws…

They seem to think that by having more laws it'll make people go off 'em. Guess they're unaware of the concept of a forbidden fruit...

On a related topic, despite the government’s intention to re-classify grass as a Class B substance (a pre-election ploy to get their downgrading of it out of the headlines), according to the Sunday Times, the government’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (the body assigned with the task of deciding what to classify drugs as) as said that it will remain a Class C substance, for the following reason: although there was evidence linking cannabis and mental illness, it was not strong enough to justify raising its classification.

The police will be happy, as it means they don’t have to waste their time enforcing a failed policy and can get on with other, mote important tasks, e.g. murder, rape, terrorism, all of which are slightly more important to society than trying to stop someone inhale the fumes of a plant…

Been speaking to someone about this & he says they're very liberal amounts, compared to what's normally allowed! I said they'll be reduced once the Mail & Express have big campaigns against 'em & it's the fact they're enforcing an admitted failed policy is what pisses me off - you can't keep doing the same thing and expect to get different results.

Edited December 1, 2005 by Gareth

[1864roverite]

If I was going to pick out a single point of view which makes me weep then this has to be it.

The government makes the whole bloody country work, without it the whole fabric of society would fall apart. If you feel strongly about it, join it. Become a civil servant or lobby to be an MP so you can improve things with your superior assessment of ideal governance.

363380[/snapback]

jbn

this govenment is systematically robbing every single one of its workers

the taxes are greater than the current rate of inflation

council tax is nearing another 4% rise for next year with the average wage rise no more thatn 2.4%

car tax is getting more expensive yet the roads are not any better

fuel is rocketing

vat is being added to EVERYTHING

the police/ambulance and fire service all want US to pay an extra 1.2% extra on top of the additions to council tax

get my point ?

we are paying and for what exactly ?

Edited December 1, 2005 by 1864roverite

[Flopsy]

Well I bet the number of Aussies smuggling in Singapore goes down in the next couple of years if this scumbag is put down .

  BTW - Why do say it hasn't worked in Thailand ; have they tried a "before" and "after" policy to the death penalty ...?

364351[/snapback]

no they let the army run the whole drugs network - much more efficient

[dave birch]

Well, Van Nguyen has been executed.

Let it be an example to anyone who thinks they might get away with importing misery.

I only have two problems with his execution:

1. It's never the Mr Bigs that get caught and sentenced.

2. It won't stop anyone trying to import drugs in the future.

I wonder what's in store for the "Bali nine" now?

[SouthAussieRover]

I wonder what's in store for the "Bali nine" now?

364420[/snapback]

It should be noted that the basis of their defence is that the Australian police shopped them in to the Indonesians rather than arresting them here.

Death vs a cushy jail term

[dave birch]

That won't hold for much in Indonesia, though SAR.

From the photo's of them with the drugs taped around their waists is probably enough evidence to ensure their guilt. It's what happens when sentence is pronounced.

[FourLaneBlue]

FLB, it's not because he's a convicted drug smuggler, it's because he's being put to death.

There are a number of people who think that hanging this guy is barbaric, and that no civilised state should be invovled in capital punishment.

364205[/snapback]

I'm against capital punishment but, when in Rome...

[dave birch]

FLB, the story behind this is quite sad really. I think I've got it right.

The guy (a twin) was born in a refugee camp in Thailand. With his family they came to live in Australia. Struggled, as lots of refugees do, grew up etc etc.

Anyway, his twin brother gets into gambling problems. Van Nguyen (the guy hanged) decides to help his brother out by becoming a mule, only to get caught in Singapore. He wasn't a user or a long term dealer as far as I know.

How would his brother feel now?

[pg]

FLB, the story behind this is quite sad really. I think I've got it right.

The guy (a twin) was born in a refugee camp in Thailand. With his family they came to live in Australia. Struggled, as lots of refugees do, grew up etc etc.

Anyway, his twin brother gets into gambling problems. Van Nguyen (the guy hanged) decides to help his brother out by becoming a mule, only to get caught in Singapore. He wasn't a user or a long term dealer as far as I know.

How would his brother feel now?

364461[/snapback]

His brother has also two convictions for heroin possession, as well as assault with a deadly weapon (machete).

His brother should have offered to take his place.

[FourLaneBlue]

So I guess he is of Thai ancestry then?

If he was an Aussie 'born and bred' (for want of a better phrase) then it is unlikely they would ever hang him. It's a similar situation in other countries. They will use the death penalty on their own citizens or even those who have since become citizens in other countries but won't usually use it on anyone from the western world. Similar situations seem to happen throughout the east.

[dave birch]

Oh no, FLB, he was of Vietnamese stock. His mother got out after the American war and eventually to Australia. A lot of Australians are supporting him. It's not that he's Aussie, it's the hanging bit that upsets 47% of Australians.

He's dead now, he took his risk, he failed.

edit:

It would not matter where he came from, be it England/Australia/US, I reckon the Singaporese would hang them, Full stop.

Edited December 2, 2005 by dave birch

[SouthAussieRover]

46% Dave.

Now the Bali nine are claiming they didn't know what was in the packages strapped to their bodies