3 ms·

One of the most stupid and authoritarian laws to exist. Although, you don't hear of 13-year-olds doing random chemicals bought for a tenner from headshops and d

One of the most stupid and authoritarian laws to exist. Although, you don't hear of 13-year-olds doing random chemicals bought for a tenner from headshops and dying anymore. They're just sold as the more popular drugs. The war on drugs is going about as well as Russia's war on Ukraine.

dekken_ 4y ago
And if you read into it you see that it was brought about to subjugate some voting demographics https://www.vera.org/reimagining-prison-webumentary/the-past-is-never-dead/drug-war-confessional https://www.vera.org/reimagining-prison-webumentary/the-past... Whether this is true or not, it's certainly enraging.
- klondike_klive 4y ago
  Your last line could be the epithet for our times!
  - dekken_ 4y ago
    I owe much of my personality to Chris Morris ;)
- nibbleshifter 4y ago
  In the UK you don't lose your voting rights after a conviction. That is specific to the USA, where you lose a bunch of rights if you are a felon.
  - t-3 4y ago
    Most US states don't remove the right to vote from a felon unless they are incarcerated or on parole (and many not even then). Employment discrimination is generally more of an issue than civil rights for felons, because almost noone supports hiring felons anywhere.
    - lazide 4y ago
      TIL link for those curious [https://www.aclu.org/issues/voting-rights/voter-restoration/felony-disenfranchisement-laws-map https://www.aclu.org/issues/voting-rights/voter-restoration/...]. Looks like only a couple permanent-disenfranchisers.
AlecSchueler 4y ago
I personally support the legalisation of psychedelics so it's not a law I support, but I've always found it a very clear and fair piece of legislation, if one accepts that the government legislates within a certain framework of precedent. If we take a look at countries like Germany or the Netherlands we see a cat and mouse game where each parliament outlaws the latest psychedelics and then the psychedelic community unveils their new analogue or precursor. We can mark the years by small additions to the basic LSD molecule. We've gone from 1p-LSD and 1cp-LSD to 1V-LSD and now onto 1B-LSD. The stimulants and dissociatives communies seems to favour flouride, it's easy to and doesn't bind to much. The UK law bans anything sold primarily for inducing psychotropic effects, while the scheduled substances sections at the end add very fair provisions for items commonly sold as food. That's why it's actually an exaggeration to say the law could affect the spicy food trade, as food trades are one of the explicit exemptions.
- hbrav 4y ago
  This was a very enlightening comment, thank you!
- xnyan 4y ago
  >The UK law bans anything sold primarily for inducing psychotropic effects You may have misread, but this is not correct. The act claims to ban substances that are _only_ used for their psychoactive effect. From the act: "The act only captures substances which are solely for human consumption for their psychoactive effects." I'll agree it's a given the number one reason for the use of cannabis is to get high, whatever that means. That said, it's also inarguable that pain relief is a significant and not uncommon reason to use weed also. I worked in a community in south America where a group of south american Mormons (yes, the ones who don't drink coffee) grew cannabis to produce a tincture for the treatment of arthritis pain. Research seems to agree (there needs to be more, it's a new subject for modern research) that it's a useful substance in pain management. The UK psychoactive law is non-scientific and inconsistent, which is unfortunately common. Alcohol and nicotine have real psychoactive effects, and both are sold only for their effects, yet they are legal. The difference is an established power base controls one and not the other.

dekken_ 4y ago

And if you read into it you see that it was brought about to subjugate some voting demographics https://www.vera.org/reimagining-prison-webumentary/the-past-is-never-dead/drug-war-confessional https://www.vera.org/reimagining-prison-webumentary/the-past... Whether this is true or not, it's certainly enraging.

klondike_klive 4y ago
Your last line could be the epithet for our times!
- dekken_ 4y ago
  I owe much of my personality to Chris Morris ;)
nibbleshifter 4y ago
In the UK you don't lose your voting rights after a conviction. That is specific to the USA, where you lose a bunch of rights if you are a felon.
- t-3 4y ago
  Most US states don't remove the right to vote from a felon unless they are incarcerated or on parole (and many not even then). Employment discrimination is generally more of an issue than civil rights for felons, because almost noone supports hiring felons anywhere.
  - lazide 4y ago
    TIL link for those curious [https://www.aclu.org/issues/voting-rights/voter-restoration/felony-disenfranchisement-laws-map https://www.aclu.org/issues/voting-rights/voter-restoration/...]. Looks like only a couple permanent-disenfranchisers.

AlecSchueler 4y ago

I personally support the legalisation of psychedelics so it's not a law I support, but I've always found it a very clear and fair piece of legislation, if one accepts that the government legislates within a certain framework of precedent. If we take a look at countries like Germany or the Netherlands we see a cat and mouse game where each parliament outlaws the latest psychedelics and then the psychedelic community unveils their new analogue or precursor. We can mark the years by small additions to the basic LSD molecule. We've gone from 1p-LSD and 1cp-LSD to 1V-LSD and now onto 1B-LSD. The stimulants and dissociatives communies seems to favour flouride, it's easy to and doesn't bind to much. The UK law bans anything sold primarily for inducing psychotropic effects, while the scheduled substances sections at the end add very fair provisions for items commonly sold as food. That's why it's actually an exaggeration to say the law could affect the spicy food trade, as food trades are one of the explicit exemptions.

hbrav 4y ago
This was a very enlightening comment, thank you!
xnyan 4y ago
>The UK law bans anything sold primarily for inducing psychotropic effects You may have misread, but this is not correct. The act claims to ban substances that are _only_ used for their psychoactive effect. From the act: "The act only captures substances which are solely for human consumption for their psychoactive effects." I'll agree it's a given the number one reason for the use of cannabis is to get high, whatever that means. That said, it's also inarguable that pain relief is a significant and not uncommon reason to use weed also. I worked in a community in south America where a group of south american Mormons (yes, the ones who don't drink coffee) grew cannabis to produce a tincture for the treatment of arthritis pain. Research seems to agree (there needs to be more, it's a new subject for modern research) that it's a useful substance in pain management. The UK psychoactive law is non-scientific and inconsistent, which is unfortunately common. Alcohol and nicotine have real psychoactive effects, and both are sold only for their effects, yet they are legal. The difference is an established power base controls one and not the other.