My first venture into 'political' forums

Welcome Monash.

And thank you for your service. We don't say that often enough to police officers or fire fighters, two jobs I would not like to have. I am grateful that some people run toward danger on my behalf.

Myself, I am a refugee of the political forum of the Baltimore Sun. They closed the forum. But by comparison this is a much more civil conversation. I don't know if that is due to better moderators or better people. But it is nice to have a civil discussion with people you strongly disagree with.

 

We have two police forces here (UK), one which makes the Keystone Kops seem like paragons of professionalism, and the other one which (to use your own words) run towards danger on our behalf.

 

I think, after 20 plus years in Policing and after having to interacted with many other law enforcement agencies (both domestic and foreign) I can honestly say all Police forces seem to be both part 'Keystone Cops' and part 'thin blue line'.

Most police officers, like nurses, paramedics and other emergency service workers join the 'force' because, at the most basic level they want to make a difference and by that I mean make their lives (or rather what they do with their lives) matter.

That said a small minority of officers (and sadly they are the ones who often rise to the top) think their careers matter more than serving the public. Add politicians to the mix and you get the 'Keystone Cop' element infecting all Police Forces.

 

Excellent observations. Welcome to PF by the way.

 

Around 50% of emergency room visits are alcohol related i.e. injuries from poor judgment, violence and a lot of failing health visits. Alcohol deteriorates every organ, weakens bones etc.
Around 1% of emergency room visits are pot related mostly from people eating a whole pot cookie instead of 1/8th like the package says to start with resulting in not feeling well. This is also a temporary spike due to ignorance and carries no real health risks.

They actually don't come close to being in the same basket.

 

As I noted previously there is no good answer to this problem. And BTW pointing out the potentially dangerous/adverse effects of the widespread, long term use of cannabis is not the same thing as endorsing the use of alcohol instead.

Different drugs have different medical effects, social and health costs. So widespread use of cannabis won't see waves of people turning up in emergency wards (unless it's mixed with other drugs (and no-one would be silly enough to do that would they)? However depending on how heavily its used it will see them turning up at their local GPs office suffering from mental health issues, long term memory and learning deficits as well as lung conditions related to smoking it. And like tobacco the cumulative effect of long term usage on public health budgets will only become apparent after some decades have past.

And yes, there are some positive medical benefits for some people suffering chronic pain but if that's going to be the major justification for using it then synthetic versions can deliver the pain release with out the 'high'. So that's not really an argument in its favor.

As I said earlier if society wants to legalize its widespread use - legalize away! But advocates of are full of BS if they think that decision is going to come 'cost free', after all alcohol is perfectly legal and that doesn't cause any problems - much.

 

Its been used for 1500 years, the potentate strains have been heavily used and mixed with other drugs for 25 years there have been enough studies on it and time to see that its pretty close to the bottom of things we need to worry about. It seem that fast food has a greater health risk and to much tv or video games has a far greater mental health risk.

I myself was using a half ounce a week of mid grade for two decades when I worked construction due to having 3 back injuries and then for 2 years a half ounce of weed that was twice as potentate which just meant I smoked less. I got sick of my brain feeling a little soggy and having some short term memory issues. Never anything extreme just a lot of why did I come into the kitchen.

I feel most of the concerns hyperbole.

 

Not hyperbole. Your CDC for example has a list of some of the negative health impacts. Which is not to say it doesn't also have proven medical benefits in some specific instances and that's before you take into consideration the other beneficial uses of the plant re: the production of food, oil and fabric.

Hemp is potentially a very useful crop for a range of reasons and I not against its use in a regulated manner. I just caution against those who think and argue that legalizing it's wholesale use comes without any social (or medical costs), all upside and no downside in other words.

There is always a downside with drug use - recreational or otherwise..

 

I believe abuse of drugs is a key word in a drug discussion.

 

It's interesting how an introduction thread can morph into a drug discussion, not that I mind, though.

 

The general rule on this forum is to not discuss other political forums, either positively or negatively. We do welcome you here, but lets keep things polite.

 

Welcome. I look forward to hearing your opinions.

 

Henry repeating rifles are being built and sold.

https://www.henryusa.com/henry-rifles-and-shotguns/

 

Thank you. I didn't know that general rule when I posted, but my intent was to note that this forum is very polite on the whole. I will do my best to live up to that.

 

No problem, just a gentle warning. It's not a published rule, but the mods have asked us to enforce it. This is a fairly polite forum, especially for a political forum. Part of the reason I've been here so long.

 

Can I get a government voucher for one?

 

They are beautiful but beyond my pay grade. A single shot cost $448.00. Irony: it's not a repeater.

I can dream, though.

 

Street prices are much lower than the MSRP. You can get a .22 LR repeater for less than $300.

https://www.sportsmansguide.com/productlist?k=henry+rifle

 

I didn't get it either but I look forward to hearing your opinions & contributions.

Welcome!