Morning everyone, hope you're well.
Like the title asks- Do you think it will?

Seeing as we seem to follow the U.S in a lot of ways- music, fashion, our kids imitate, tv shows etc etc will we follow them in changing our M.J laws?

Be great to hear your opinions.

Kenny

[aussiepurp]

i hope so i hate hiding what i love to grow id love to have my friends and neighbours over for a bbq and a smoke where we dont have to be discreet and just puff away and be merry

[Persephone]

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[rustlin'leaves]

i would like to think yes but our policies are so far behind whats happening in the rest of the world regarding marijuana change....will we see change i think yes BUT it will be a long and winding road....

Gday aussiepurp, It's an upcoming party i'm kind of obligated to go to that got me thinking about this. There are going to be about 80 odd-and yes we're all pretty odd-people there and about 1/4 of them are cleanskins(don't smoke and i don't need them knowing that i do). Nothing new about that. I'm not going to be drinking much cos i'm taking a lovely lady to the party and we don't need extravert Kenny making an appearence so i'm mainly going to smoke bongs. Well i'll have to smoke pipes for discretion purposes and do it somewhere out of site- What an utter inconvenience. Like you Purp', be cool if i could just chillout in the comfort of my chair with my bong strapped around my neck

Hi persephone, was wondering what your take would be . I agree. Would Bob Brown be maybe a better choice or has he got his head up his butt these days? Wonder how Peter Garret would go? I'd like to think he's still got a bit of Aussie Rocker in him. (For people who don't know Peter Garret is a politician(minister for environment or something) and former lead singer of one of Australias best rock/alternative pop bands called Midnight Oil. He was very against nuclear disarmourment, very much for aboriginal rights, then the environment. Used to have a good head on his shoulders. Don't really know these days. I'm not that into politics.

Originally Posted by rustlin'leaves

i would like to think yes but our policies are so far behind whats happening in the rest of the world regarding marijuana change....will we see change i think yes BUT it will be a long and winding road....

So true Russ, but like Persephone said-We have come a long way in even the past 10 years. Let's hope we keep moving forward

[hard rain]

Originally Posted by ThirstyKenny

Gday aussiepurp, It's an upcoming party i'm kind of obligated to go to that got me thinking about this. There are going to be about 80 odd-and yes we're all pretty odd-people there and about 1/4 of them are cleanskins(don't smoke and i don't need them knowing that i do). Nothing new about that. I'm not going to be drinking much cos i'm taking a lovely lady to the party and we don't need extravert Kenny making an appearence so i'm mainly going to smoke bongs. Well i'll have to smoke pipes for discretion purposes and do it somewhere out of site- What an utter inconvenience. Like you Purp', be cool if i could just chillout in the comfort of my chair with my bong strapped around my neck

Hi persephone, was wondering what your take would be . I agree. Would Bob Brown be maybe a better choice or has he got his head up his butt these days? Wonder how Peter Garret would go? I'd like to think he's still got a bit of Aussie Rocker in him. (For people who don't know Peter Garret is a politician(minister for environment or something) and former lead singer of one of Australias best rock/alternative pop bands called Midnight Oil. He was very against nuclear disarmourment, very much for aboriginal rights, then the environment. Used to have a good head on his shoulders. Don't really know these days. I'm not that into politics.

Why on earth would Bob Brown or Peter Garrett want to be involved on legalising pot? Brown has just retired and is now captaining a Greenpeace ship and Garrett is a member of the Labor Party.

We are about the furthest from legalisation as we have been in the last 30 years. I doubt I will see it legalised in my life time. Neither major party has any plans to support legalisation of pot. All the major media organisations are still only doing negative pot stories.

While we follow America in many things, there are huge fundamental differences between our cultures. You just need to spend some time here and you will see. There was a large social movement to get medical pot up and running in the States which does not exist here. In addition we have a public health system (although not going too well). The main plus is that as pot becomes more mainstream in the States this will filter into movies and TV programs that may eventually influence us here a bit.

The only organisation I know of thta is interested in legalising pot is the HEMP party based in Nimbin. It has next to no support outside that area. It is basically treated as a joke by the mainstream media. I would suggest Mullaways Medical cannabis is going to be treated similarly. I wish both organisations the best but just don't think they are mainstream enough.

Hope I am wrong.

[hard rain]

Originally Posted by Persephone

I'd like to think so.....but given we're 5 to 10 years behind most European countries and the States...it's going to take a while and a lot of effort!

Look at Gillards' reaction the last time a paper on this was put up for discussion...she dismissed it out of hand.....no way, not on her watch...head in the sand ignorance!!

And Abbot.......he won't even allow women control over their bodies!!

Still, we're a lot further along than we were even 10 years ago.

P.

In what ways have we come a lot futher than 10 years ago?

The only differences i can think of atm is that Australian society has opened it's eyes to the fact that not only does cannabis get you high but it a great alternative medicine compared to the pharmaceuticals. It's also no longer seen as a taboo gateway drug in a lot of circles. When i was a kid the adults saw it as bad as heroin. Ignorant i know, but thats the way it was. I got caught smokin weed when i was about 15 by my father after hed had a big night at the pub. I'll never forget the flogging i got for that. Ignorance and irony surely must be cousins. That's not the last decade i know but since i was a youngun, opinions have definately changed.... But that's probably more societies views changing compared to our pollies'

[hard rain]

Originally Posted by ThirstyKenny

The only differences i can think of atm is that Australian society has opened it's eyes to the fact that not only does cannabis get you high but it a great alternative medicine compared to the pharmaceuticals. It's also no longer seen as a taboo gateway drug in a lot of circles. When i was a kid the adults saw it as bad as heroin. Ignorant i know, but thats the way it was. I got caught smokin weed when i was about 15 by my father after hed had a big night at the pub. I'll never forget the flogging i got for that. Ignorance and irony surely must be cousins. That's not the last decade i know but since i was a youngun, opinions have definately changed.... But that's probably more societies views changing compared to our pollies'

So how do you explain the fact that cannabis laws have got worse in at least WA and SA? In both those states cannabis laws were quite lax until recently. You could grow up to 10 plants in SA at one stage if I recall rightly? WA has introduced much tougher legislation (see below).
https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/west...-1225785442674

I thimk there are very few aussies who look on cannabis as a medicine?

As a 30+ year smoker I reckon people were more pro cannabis in the mid 70's to 90's than now. I remember several states looking at medical Marijuana legislation that just seemed to disappear.

When I was a kid my parents (who are totally straight) were fairly tolerant of cannabis. Many of their freinds smoked it. Now they firmly believe it causes mental illness. I don't think it is perceived as a soft drug any more for this reason. There have been some very negative stories linking MJ to schizophrenia for instance (despite very dubious evidence). Most of my work colleagues firmly believe that cannabis causes mental health problems. They don't even question it.