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Cannabis use in public/on public transport

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bnm

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I'd never smoke weed in public. Nor have I ever.

Well... maybe at the odd music festival. I do remember attending the first V Festival at Chelmsford in 1996, where we were searched on arrival at the campsite. My 1/4oz lump of hash, cunningly, so I thought, hidden in my washbag disguised in a hotel mini soap wrapper, was found by security. The chap returned it to me, saying, "Good disguise, I didn't see that, okay?" But we were then told the 48 cans of beer we'd brought along weren't permitted. Only beers purchased inside the campsite were allowed. £48 for a 24 case of Budweiser 440ml cans. Sod that!

Myself and friends passed back out, ostensibly to visit a local pub for a bite to eat, skirted the outside of the perimeter fence and found a trustworthy looking group inside who helped us smuggle in our own beers. Fortunately the campsite guard towers weren't manned during arrivals.

I know, still off topic, but happy memories. Particularly of Layla who I met and shared a smoke and a tent with. Far more agreeable than sharing with a mate as planned... :D
 
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ChiefPlanner

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Groningen said:
The stationhall of Amsterdam Centraal between the doors and the checkin/out gates is full of cannabis smell. The citycouncil of Amsterdam is taking measures to reduce loudy behavior by Dutch and Brits nationals between 13 and 34 years of age. No; i am not making did up.

The link is in Dutch, but you get the message. Behave or you can pay when caught.
http://www.at5.nl/artikelen/182785/nieuwe-campagne-tegen-overlastgevende-britten-n-nederlanders
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Being happily retired and all that - my view is that a significant number of cannabis partakers in Amsterdam are citizens of the USA or Canada (that may of course change) , French , German and Italian. Not just British citizens. (though they may be immediately noticeable)

The AMS Centraal is surely "the last one before we get the train to the airport" scenario. The value to tourism is massive - 30% or so , regard it as an incentive.

I do agree however that discretion needs to be practised. Not good for the normal day to day travellers and population.
 
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Brain Drain

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61653 HTAFC said:
Cannabis use has it's problems, and can become a habit (it isn't chemically addictive unlike nicotine/opiates/cocaine, but can be psychologically addictive). I speak as someone who used it to self-medicate for many years due to the inadequacy of mental health provision and found it very difficult to break that habit.
However, to suggest that it is more harmful to society in general than alcohol is poppycock of the highest order. You hear of drunken brawls outside pubs every weekend. A "stoned brawl" would at worst be a few limp punches thrown and barely connecting, before both sides fell about giggling and then decided to share a pizza!

It really should be controlled in the same way as alcohol and tobacco: legal for adults to use, taxed at the point of sale, and sold by licenced vendors. Strength regulated based on scientific evidence and research, and displayed clearly on packaging. Usage restricted to in the home and in licenced premises, or at least prohibited in certain areas such as near schools.
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Completely agree - and I was a police officer for 30 years.
Cannabis users, no problem at all. friendly, giggly people who want to chill
Drinkers on a Friday night - Nightmare, brawling, fighting police, throwing up.
And I wouldn't use the expression 'high' when it comes to cannabis. Mellow, chilled, relaxed, but never 'high'.
 
najaB

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There's a ban on smoking in public places, it doesn't matter what you're smoking - tobacco or marijuana - it's all verboten.
 
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ChiefPlanner

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My young adults tell me that canny weed smokers now use Vapes , - which is pretty foolproof both smell and vision wise.....
 
Bromley boy

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najaB said:
There's a ban on smoking in public places, it doesn't matter what you're smoking - tobacco or marijuana - it's all verboten.
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Only indoor public places, as the fog hanging over many beer gardens always reminds me (on the days I’m disciplined enough not to contribute to it myself :lol:).

EDIT: I’m referring to cigarettes here, not cannabis, clearly!
 
Darandio

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ChiefPlanner said:
My young adults tell me that canny weed smokers now use Vapes , - which is pretty foolproof both smell and vision wise.....
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Not really, they do weed vaping which is a very different thing to what your average (and increasingly common) vaper is doing.
 
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Jonny

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Bromley boy said:
Only indoor public places, as the fog hanging over many beer gardens always reminds me (on the days I’m disciplined enough not to contribute to it myself :lol:).

EDIT: I’m referring to cigarettes here, not cannabis, clearly!
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Horrid smell and a waste of money to boot.
 
tsr

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Brain Drain said:
Completely agree - and I was a police officer for 30 years.
Cannabis users, no problem at all. friendly, giggly people who want to chill
Drinkers on a Friday night - Nightmare, brawling, fighting police, throwing up.
And I wouldn't use the expression 'high' when it comes to cannabis. Mellow, chilled, relaxed, but never 'high'.
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I’m afraid I have to disagree with you there. By far the most dangerous and aggressive people I’ve dealt with on the railway are those under the influence of weed. It’s a vast problem on my patch, leading to antisocial behaviour, vandalism and wilful avoidance of fares, and train delays to add to the list. All of this disregard for law-abiding society is found in tandem with monotonous regularity. Less commonly, I will also find similar behaviour linked to supposedly more offensive Class A drugs, or mixtures of different substances. When people are “high” or coming down off any significant illegal drug episode, it can be very alarming, not to mention dangerous for them, but with caution, I get more success in at least keeping the remainder of the public safe.

Drunk people on Fridays are usually fine. Weekend drinkers, and those during the promotional events on other days (Thursdays are always worse than Fridays), are trickier. But with careful handling and good training, even people who’ve drunk up to their eyeballs are usually co-operative if you build the right sort of rapport. Yes, they may leave a mess, but I’d rather have someone puke messily around a toilet than threaten me with a baseball bat because they don’t want anyone in a uniform preventing them feeling relaxed with a joint (this has happened).

greyman42 said:
What does it smell like. Is there anything you can liken it to?
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AlterEgo said:
It’s quite unique. You will have smelled it hundreds of times but just don’t know what it is.
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The closest comparable smell I’ve found is (or rather was) the interior fittings on the S8 stock tube trains when they were brand new. I can only assume a chemical compound was present in something like interior glue which happened to smell the same.
 
najaB

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tsr said:
By far the most dangerous and aggressive people I’ve dealt with on the railway are those under the influence of weed.
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I'm not saying you haven't experienced it, but I suspect they were using something else in conjunction with cannabis. I've *never* heard of or seen violent behaviour induced by weed, and it seems a strange outcome given the method of action of THC.
 
Busaholic

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I was living in Amsterdam in 1969 when the local council or government ( or whatever official body it was) exempted two specific clubs, the Fantasio and the Paradiso, from the law prohibiting cannabis smoking. Like many clubs at that time, they featured many live acts, including groups from USA and UK, and I remember seeing the American group Steppenwolf (''Born to be Wild''), with 'psychedelic' light shows and recorded music the rest of the time. Cannabis never really worked for me, but I decided to never take anything stronger after seeing this guy regularly off his head on mescalin (apparently) dancing like a dervish and scattering all the other dancers. These clubs were open in the daytimes, too, and there were of course 'coffee shops'' where cannabis was smoked, and even sold, but I think this was on a 'blind eye' basis rather than the specific exemption for those two clubs, which was maybe a first in the Western world. Music was the reason I was there (I made some sort of living from selling 'Rolling Stone' magazine) but towards the end of my few months in the city the drug dealers had moved in, arriving in their big limos, and I became totally disillusioned with it all. A specific incident, or series of incidents, caused me to leave, with few regrets, never to return. I can't get too excited about cannabis use, but, as others have said, excess alcohol causes society far more problems imo.
 
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thenorthern

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Cannabis smoking on public transport is rare given that smoking of any kind on public transport is illegal.

Recently I read an interesting report that the United Kingdom has some of the strictest cannabis laws in Europe in that there is no "legal for personal use" provision unlike in countries such as The Netherlands, Spain and soon to be Canada where there is legal cannabis for recreational use. Also in other countries like Germany, Russia, Israel and Belgium the drug is decriminalised. In the United Kingdom however mere possession of the drug is a criminal offence and users are regularly convicted of possession. Apparently one of the main reasons the UK has strict laws is there is public support for keeping the drug illegal which is something I tend to support.
 
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thenorthern

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najaB said:
Why so?
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I'm just not convinced by the arguments to make it legal. I also don't really think the effects of legalising it in other countries have been positive and particularly think it would be even worse in the United Kingdom. I am not going to bore you with why though.
 
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Groningen

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Still remember years and years ago (before the Euro) that after the border at Emmerich, Germany someone showed us a small plastic bag with the "fine" stuff.
 
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thenorthern

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najaB said:
It would be much more enlightening to consider why it was made illegal in the first place. Hint: it had nothing to do with health.
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There are many explanations for why it was banned however the drug is still banned and as I say I am not convinced by the arguments for legalising it. Also I think that social changes over the past 30 years mean that now is possibly the worst time to legalise cannabis.
 
61653 HTAFC

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najaB said:
I'm not saying you haven't experienced it, but I suspect they were using something else in conjunction with cannabis. I've *never* heard of or seen violent behaviour induced by weed, and it seems a strange outcome given the method of action of THC.
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Chances are that the baseball bat-wielding psycho mentioned would have behaved in that manner without the weed. Whilst cannabis won't usually turn someone into a violent thug, it also won't necessarily (contrary to popular belief) turn a violent thug into a peace-loving hippy either.

Some people are just a-holes regardless of what they imbibe or inhale.
 
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bnm

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