More states legalize Pot 8) when for Oz?

[think positive]

The author is right people are terrible

[HAL]

Oh, author is.

[K]

Use of higher purity ecstasy on the rise among young Australians

https://www.theage.com.au/national/use-of-higher-purity-ecstasy-on-the-rise-among-young-australians-20181007-p5087s.html

[K]

Canadians Already Smoke a Lot of Pot. Now It’s About to Become Legal.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/14/world/canada/marijuana-legal.html

"Statistics collected by the national census bureau reveal that 42.5 percent of Canadians have tried marijuana and around 16 percent have used it over the past three months. A 2013 Unicef report found that among people ages 15 to 24, one-third had consumed cannabis in the previous three months — making Canadian youth the biggest partakers in the world.
...

Andrew Hathaway, a University of Guelph sociology professor who has also studied cannabis use, wonders how corporatization and regulation will affect the stereotypically peacenik, liberal and anti-establishment cannabis culture.
...

One big question is what will happen to the huge illegal marketplace, pegged at 5.3 billion Canadian dollars by Statistics Canada. Since legalization will provide governments with a new income stream in taxes, most people expect the police to crack down on the gray areas."

[Jezza]

Canada becomes the second country after Uruguay to legalise recreational marijuana.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45806255

[K]

From the BBC article:

'On Monday, the Canadian Medical Association Journal published an editorial calling legalisation "a national, uncontrolled experiment in which the profits of cannabis producers and tax revenues are squarely pitched against the health of Canadians".'


Here is the CMAJ editorial:

http://www.cmaj.ca/content/190/41/E1218

"Predictably, given the federal government’s stated commitment to pushing this legislation through, investment in cannabis firms has risen substantially over the past year in anticipation, and new producers, large and small, have been popping up across the country. Their goal is profit, and profit comes from sales — sales of a drug that, according to Health Canada, will cause a problem in nearly 1 in 3 adult users and an addiction in close to 1 in 10, with higher risks in youth.
...

Marketing efforts may include encouraging current users to increase their use or enticing a younger demographic. The track record for tobacco producers has not been encouraging in this regard, and it is unlikely that cannabis producers will behave differently.
...

Even the food and beverage industry is joining in with plans to augment their products with cannabis."

[roar]

As mentioned above, pot was already extremely popular in Canada so it will be interesting to see how(if?) this changes anything.

[Culprit]

http://vt.co/news/weird/canada-is-apparently-almost-entirely-out-of-weed-just-two-days-after-legalisation?utm_source=vt&utm_medium=junglecreations&utm_campaign=post


Canada is apparently almost entirely out of weed just two days after legalisation

[roar]

Panic stations!!

[stui magpie]

^

Makers of BBQ Shapes (or whatever the Canadian equivalent is) are frantically slowing production as we speak.

[K]

Fairfax's article on Mumford, with video:

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/afl-investigates-as-video-appears-to-show-ex-player-snorting-powder-20181023-p50bcp.html

The article's statement that
"The club is satisfied that Mumford, who is now married with two children, does not have a drug problem."
seems a bit odd compared with GWS's quoted statement that
"The club ... understands that Shane requires a level of medical support with his health and well-being in mind...
"The club will be working with Shane to ensure he engages in a rehabilitation program along with a range of other measures."

I wonder what the "employment law ramifications" the article mentions are.

[David]

Interesting timing, to say the least. Sounds like someone has a score to settle.

[stui magpie]

[David]

I wouldn’t underestimate the AFL’s incurable urge to be seen to be “doing something”, but I have noted that some common sense has started to creep in lately regarding how they deal with recreational drug use. Let’s hope that wins out and this (clearly malicious) leak is thrown in the trash where it belongs.

[K]