Irish politician claims legalisation of cannabis can aid recovery from economic collapse

i am an alcoholic and through the use of alcohol i lost everything eg:family,jobs,daughter,i collapsed into a depression the likes of which most would commit suicide ,i had been to doctors and psychiatrists and psychologists - none of whom helped in any way and matters just became worse but then i found weed,i now no longer drink any alcohol because of weed,i haven't smoked weed in over 4 years and i miss it,life is so much more unbearable without it,i moved to an area where i do not know anyone so i cannot get any.the thing is alcohol is bad weed is good yet alcohol is legal and weed is not(it baffles the mind),educate yourselves before making a judgement, weed makes you not want to do anything but relax and reflect upon your existence which helped me see an underlying problem i was not seeing yet weed helped me to see it and i realized that alcohol abuse is due only to underlying unseen issues within the individual,weed brings peace of mind which in turn brings good health plus everything tastes so good when your stoned,(if all the companies that sell foods realized how much more food they would sell if everyone has the munchies then they would fight to legalize it too) my story is far to long for this short 'para' but watch the videos and maybe learn something.

2 videos on Marijuana The Union: Business behind Getting High you tube /watch?v=jT-UIe7l3-Q Super High Me you tube /playlist?list=PLDE779EFD7A72B85B

2 videos on weed/hash/hemp/Marijuana The Union: Business behind Getting High Super High Me i posted a comment with links to these but it didn't show so you guys will have to google the videos,watch them before you make a judgement

to much of weed could never kill you it has never ever happened you people should go and read up on a few things before you go around saying things that are not true and try and think for your self's instead of believing every thing you hear. we have free will and we should be able to smoke the herbs the good lord made us in peace.

i smoke cannibus but as they say 2 much of anythin can kill u not just weed everything luke ming is right i know for a fact that the money people get on dole goes straight to a dealer if it was legal maybe the country could pull itself out of death when we pay the goverment for weed only for weed id be depressed with the way things are now cant even get a job what a job country is turnin into a kip

POLITICAL NONSENSE,YES THERES A FORTUNE IN DRUGS,thats why there isnt a zero tolerance death penalty for dealing,the filth that is destroying the young of the western world needs wiping out,not encouraging by stupid polititions.

lokionline- True, I am not especially knowledgeable about cannibis. However, a friend of mine became schizophrenic after several years of heavy cannabis use and died of a condition brought on by this schizophrenia. Also, several heavy skunk users in the UK have been convicted of murders committed while they were addicted to the substance. so I think, overall, it is a bad thing. But you are entitled to you opinion, and I respect that.

EphraimKibbey makes a strong and valid point, it is worth considering. Right now in the U.S., it is the legal opiate/pain killer drugs that are causing the most problems: they are prescribed initially by doctors,the patients get hooked and then the criminal element takes over. The other poisonous, danger drug, meth, is cooked up in labs that many times are inside apartment buildings Cannabis production does not explode or kill by fumes. The plant that carries THC is just that - a plant that, frankly, is Mother Nature's tranquilizer. It is not a "door-way" drug by any means. The white-powder "Speed" drugs are quite the opposite - they give a sense of power and that is why they are the drug of choice for Wall Street Barons. Why not try to regulate cannabis and make sure that the age to use is the same age for alcohol. If regulated, it could not be treated with PCP and would be safer in the long run. Its use in calming pain has already been established.

the choice of picture in this story says more about the views of this publication and its support for prohibition than it does about the politician and his attempts to end the criminal empires that are funded by cannabis in this country. any one with 5 min s to spare can find out the truth about cannabis, anyone with 20 euro to spend can buy cannabis but still this country spends a fortune every year on police and a failed policy of prohibition. so why does this publication support prohibition and why to they seek to mock people who want to end the criminals empire?

@Curitiba... you should think twice before make comments like this about the efficacy of substances you clearly have little experience with.

"Also, the tax money raised can be used to pay for mental health treatment for those whose brains are turned to mush by it, and policing for those who commit crimes while under the influence of powerful varieties, such as skunk."

Comments from folks who have no real experience with THC in any concentration illustrate how ignorance (as usual) is being worn as a badge of honour by those who would deny many who benefit enormously from this benign substance.

Tried it (Moroccan black) once myself in my midteens at a free house (no parents at home) party in south Dublin, and unlike Bill Clinton - I did inhale, though I later wished I hadn't. Bad trip - maan! Distinctly ungroovey! Had a near out of the body experience I could have done without. Like my body was in 5th gear but my spirit was in reverse. Still, can speak for everyone. And with the poverty of philosophy in Irish politics at the moment, can't help but wonder if legalising it might improve Irish governance. Whadya know - Woodstock comes to Dail Eireann. PS Anglo term "parliament" comes from the French 'parler' - i.e. to speak (perchance to make sense)! Anywhere one speaks is surely a parliament? And anyone who speaks a parliamentarian.

Ming Flanagan is right about pot/hemp/hash/cannibas. It is a benign weed, and could really perk up the devastated economy. I don't understand the Dutch, I guess they don't want any more tourist income?

legalize, tax it, tax it, tax it, regulate, control more people, sorry I was leaning to the left.

I can't see cannabis been more destructive than alcohol.From what I can see it has a calming effect on people.For some it defiantly would be a better drug than alcohol.Hard to judge the effects and dangers of cannabis unless they legalized it. They should give it a go.

Legalizing pot is stupid --- ask anyone in lawenforcement. His photo indicates he must have just had a few joints.

Patrick Counihan, Ireland doesn't have a Parliament, per chance you're confused with the United Kingdom??? We have an Oireachtas and Ming Flanigan is in the lower house called Dáil Éireann.

Laughable the usual holier than thou comments from the Americans. According to the WHO you're the leading marijuana user in the world.

RedBranch, the Dutch are closing their cannibis cafes to tourists, not shutting them down.

Not my cup of tea (if you pardon the pun), but yes, legalise it, tax it, regulate it. Then you can set about making it antisocial, like smoking, rather than something forbidden and exciting. Also, the tax money raised can be used to pay for mental health treatment for those whose brains are turned to mush by it, and policing for those who commit crimes while under the influence of powerful varieties, such as skunk.

Alun Buffry I agree with you, if more people read up about this plant they would know how beneficial it could be. Big pharma companies, and more would definitly be against it. I was in terrible pain a few years ago, morphine just barely helped, but I did not want to get addicted to it, my own GP. suggested I find someone who uses cannabis and get some, as it was know to be around town, Got it and smoked it each night, had not been able for months to get a painfree sleep. Using it I slept like a baby, such relief was unbelievable. I would be all for it being legal, health wise and for all the other benefits we can get from growing it. Alcohol is way far more dangerous. I remember watching American films in the 50s-60s where the couple would smoke it like a nite-cap.

In the US, Nixon started the war on drugs, and pot in particular, as a distraction from the war in Vietnam. Its in his tapes. It also was a direct attack on the anti-war groups who were know to indulge and were saying bad stuff about him. His "war" has cost the US billions and countless lives here, and is destroying countries to our south. Much of the spread of drugs in this country has been caused by the mystery that surrounds them as a result of their treatment as forbidden fruit. By legalizing pot you put the criminals out of business. In America's dry counties (they still have probition,) it is the moonshiners who argue loudest and with the most money for keeping the county dry. If the alcohol was available legally, they would be out of business. It is the same with the drug cartels. They have lots of money to influence our politicians and keep them as the only game in town. It is time that reason won out over the hysterical scare tactics of those with a vested interest in keeping drugs illegal. The money that would be needed for treatment programs would be vastly less than what we spend to enforce our bans, lock up those who break them and run the treatment programs as we do now.

Why are the Dutch on the point of shutting down the 'cannabis cafes' in their own country?'

Actually the cost to healthcare is already there. All the money you are afraid we will spend is already being spent. And the problem will not be as greeat as Alcohol and tobacco becasue of the safeness of cannabis. It might cause some to be disoriented but they should not use it. You can not kill yourself with it becasue it is imposible. So I am not sure what if any arguments the antis really have. Most of their arguments come from the disinformation out fo the USA and there was a lot of that - yes the government has lied to you yet again. sorry but it is true.

Cannabis was outlawed under the premise that "Our white daughters" were being influenced by the jazz people who at the time were blacks and mexicans. But actually it was outlawed for money, the DuPonts, Hearsts, and Rockefellers did nto want it so their industries could make more money and pollute the environment. yes it has all been an American smae put forth to the whole world. Legalize tax and regulate = driving black market activity down.

The increase costs to society in healthcare, education, treatment and accidents, will amount to a great deal more money than the revenue produced. This is just another false argument by the legalization movement.

You will be causing more harm than good by legalizing its usse. Whiskey and alcohol were bad enough, now getting high is safe?? Wake up everyone.

Cannabis could be grown in huge quantities on waste land; the tops and heads available for medicinal and recreational use, the seed used as food and animal food, the seed oils used too, the hurd and textiles used for clothing, paper, canvas, even building bricks and chitboard, and plastics too - what is left used to make biofuels, safely, easily, locally and environmentally friendly. Anything left, thrown back into the land. The revenue from sales of bud would mean virtually free fuel! The people would gain more independence from giant petrochemical and pharmaceutical companies, from drug dealers, suffer less pollution and save money. Any Government that refuses to acknowldge that are liars. Any Government that still claims that the harm caused by cannabis outweighs the benefits, are either fools or have a vested interest in prohibition, just like the alcohol-gangster-supporting prohibitionists in the USA that supporteed alcohol prohibition last century.

Leagalize it, regulate it, tax it, benefit from it! And yes hemp is a wonderful plant with all those other uses.

If they do not wish to legalize pot per se, how about hemp itself. Wonderful plant with an incredible amount of uses from making clothing, producing gas substitute, to healthful oil for inside and out.

6 counties turned to grow fields for pot !