[andrewstuart]

Pot is still illegal in Australia because, you know, it's bad.

[cnp]

http://www.thecannabist.co/2016/02/10/australia-medical-mari...

> The bill that would legalize cultivation of Australia medical marijuana is guaranteed to become law, with the main opposition party immediately pledging support

[simplexion]

This is annoying though because it is nothing more than a step towards legalisation based on pseudo-science (since there isn't any great evidence for the efficacy of cannabis in treating anything). Why can't we go straight to legalisation without all the wasted time and money used on the whole "medical" cannabis step?

[tamana]

It's a path that worked in USA, so (social) science endorses this policy path

[leeoniya]

But alcohol is, you know, grrrreeeat!

/s

[dllthomas]

You're confusing alcohol with, you know, Frosted Flakes.

[bitwize]

Isn't sugar known to be just as addictive and almost as harmful as alcohol these days?

[david-given]

Ban oxygen. Approximately 93% of all people who have ever consumed it, even once, have died.

[simplexion]

Oxygen is necessary to you living... sugar not so much.

[smsm42]

Sugars are as necessary for your body to work as oxygen is [1]. Of course, you don't have to take them as refined sugar, there are much better ways.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucose#Energy_source

[ocdtrekkie]

The fact that we have one terrible substance that is legal isn't a justification to legalize another.

[leeoniya]

you're right. however, pot is less terrible than alcohol in basically every way.

except that alcohol currently and historically has generated huge tax revenue. if i were the alcohol lobby, i would make damn sure than no other drugs become legal and taxed.

[bitwize]

That's why we should follow the Dana Carvey plan for marijuana: "Legalize it, tax the shit out of it."

(I believe Carvey originally made this statement about prostitution, but I'm not sure.)

[doyoulikeworms]

Pot isn't a terrible substance. Especially not when compared to alcohol.

[conceit]

That's always a question of proportion. It's all in the mix. It's sure carcinogenic and surely beats the lung up in a lot of ways. It also does statistically, by my own observation, lead to a significant lack of all kinds of activities.

For example, it frequently leads to a lack of believe in - or even just consideration for - how terrible substance consumption is, over all if not for the sake of nutrition.

[mystikal]

Also if you are prone to developing a psychotic disorder (prevalence of psychotic disorders is ~3%), pot consumption before the age of 20 increases the chances of it happening.

[conceit]

Which is probably just a consequence of other complications.

[Gibbon1]

Frosted Flakes though man, not even once