[BartSimpson]

There's a sweet irony in this in that several Canadians on this site typically celebrate Canada's pot culture while condemning the USA for 'allowing' guns to be sent to Canada.

It's truly a bit of sweet irony that if Canada cracked down on pot then that would cause your illegal gun problems to dry up.

[Ripcat]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

There's a sweet irony in this in that several Canadians on this site typically celebrate Canada's pot culture while condemning the USA for 'allowing' guns to be sent to Canada.

It's truly a bit of sweet irony that if Canada cracked down on pot then that would cause your illegal gun problems to dry up.

Or the US could legalize pot and crack down on guns and cause Canada's illegal gun problems to dry up....

[Ripcat]

ridenrain ridenrain:

Aside from the fact that there are no examples of this working anywhere in the world, why do you expect organized crime would stop and get real jobs?

Alcohol and tobacco are legal and taxed products yet there is still a large illegal trade in these items. Why do you expect that pot would be any different?

Did someone say organized crime would stop?

Did someone say that pot wouldn't be bootlegged?

The issue is that the profit margin would be much lower reducing the attractiveness to taking criminal risks, therefore fewer criminals. I grew up in the city, I met lots of people that dealt pot, I only recall one person that sold booze and the price was marked up from retail.

At the moment people can grow pot in suburban homes with street values from each grow-op exceeding a million dollars a year....

I don't know what the weight of 200 cigarettes worth of tobacco is but I know you can get a bag of 200 cigs for $10...that much pot sold on the street would probably net someone a thousand dollars or more....AND IT WOULDN'T EVEN HAVE ALL THE STALKS REMOVED AND ROLLED INTO NICE, STRAIGHT, EVEN BURNING JOINTS!!!

[BartSimpson]

Ripcat Ripcat:

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

There's a sweet irony in this in that several Canadians on this site typically celebrate Canada's pot culture while condemning the USA for 'allowing' guns to be sent to Canada.

It's truly a bit of sweet irony that if Canada cracked down on pot then that would cause your illegal gun problems to dry up.

Or the US could legalize pot and crack down on guns and cause Canada's illegal gun problems to dry up....

Our Supreme Court is getting ready to crack down on gun control so don't hold your breath on us banning guns any time soon.

[stemmer]

ridenrain ridenrain:

Maybe we'd better not let the drug abusers direct policy then.

The Conservative's new crime bill of mandatory jail time for gun crimes should go a long way to helping this problem.
The left can bitch and whine about these poor drug addicts being thrown in prison "American style" but that also means there will be one less goof on the street with a gun.

So very true....

[mtbr]

Ripcat Ripcat:

ridenrain ridenrain:

Aside from the fact that there are no examples of this working anywhere in the world, why do you expect organized crime would stop and get real jobs?

Alcohol and tobacco are legal and taxed products yet there is still a large illegal trade in these items. Why do you expect that pot would be any different?

Did someone say organized crime would stop?

Did someone say that pot wouldn't be bootlegged?

The issue is that the profit margin would be much lower reducing the attractiveness to taking criminal risks, therefore fewer criminals. I grew up in the city, I met lots of people that dealt pot, I only recall one person that sold booze and the price was marked up from retail.

At the moment people can grow pot in suburban homes with street values from each grow-op exceeding a million dollars a year....

I don't know what the weight of 200 cigarettes worth of tobacco is but I know you can get a bag of 200 cigs for $10...that much pot sold on the street would probably net someone a thousand dollars or more....AND IT WOULDN'T EVEN HAVE ALL THE STALKS REMOVED AND ROLLED INTO NICE, STRAIGHT, EVEN BURNING JOINTS!!!

and once they weren't making money on pot they would all switch to harder more profitable drugs .

amazing you seem to know a lot about joint"quality"

[stemmer]

Ripcat Ripcat:

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

There's a sweet irony in this in that several Canadians on this site typically celebrate Canada's pot culture while condemning the USA for 'allowing' guns to be sent to Canada.

It's truly a bit of sweet irony that if Canada cracked down on pot then that would cause your illegal gun problems to dry up.

Or the US could legalize pot and crack down on guns and cause Canada's illegal gun problems to dry up....

Why should the USA cave in to druggies, punks and thugs?

[ridenrain]

Legalizing or decriminalizing it in Canada would have no change because the pot being grown is for illegal export to the US, because that's where the market and money is. The prices or money would not go down because Canada is only 1% of their market.
None of this would be an issue if it was Canadians growing for Canadians but this is is all about organized crime and the danger they pose to all Canadians.

[BartSimpson]

stemmer stemmer:

Ripcat Ripcat:

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

There's a sweet irony in this in that several Canadians on this site typically celebrate Canada's pot culture while condemning the USA for 'allowing' guns to be sent to Canada.

It's truly a bit of sweet irony that if Canada cracked down on pot then that would cause your illegal gun problems to dry up.

Or the US could legalize pot and crack down on guns and cause Canada's illegal gun problems to dry up....

Why should the USA cave in to druggies, punks and thugs?

Because Canada does?

[ManifestDestiny]

Ban all guns, Legalize all drugs and put the gangs on welfare. Its a socialist dream

[uwish]

and one that Canada is heading towards, just like our big brother the UK.

And look at the UK, no problems there right?

/end rant

[Wally_Sconce]

ManifestDestiny ManifestDestiny:

Ban all guns, Legalize all drugs and put the gangs on welfare. Its a socialist dream

in other words....take away guns from law abiding citizens, and allow the government to get into the business of dealing drugs.

[uwish]

Shot Down: gun law study shows no effect

21 April 2008

In the spirit of the 2020 Summit, academics have released startling new evidence about the impact of Australian gun laws, and argue that future public policy must differentiate between what does and does not work.

In a new peer-reviewed study, Dr Samara McPhedran from the School of Psychology, and her colleague Dr Jeanine Baker, who also hold executive positions in the International Coalition for Women in Shooting and Hunting, show that the accumulated studies on Australia's 1996 gun bans and half billion dollar 'buyback' do not point to an impact.

The authors say that this provides a clearer foundation for evidence based policy development, particularly within the area of suicide prevention.

"This research will enhance the ability of policymakers to build upon inclusive programmes that have delivered outcomes, such as the National Suicide Prevention Strategy, rather than pursue measures that do not achieve the stated goals."

The study evaluated whether past published studies on the impact of the 1996 laws on firearm related homicide and suicide are consistent with one another.

"Using different analysis methods and time periods, none of the four studies found evidence for an impact of the laws on the pre-existing decline in firearm homicides," said Dr McPhedran.

"The statistical outcomes were in complete agreement, even though the conclusions varied."

According to the new study, disagreement over whether or not the 1996 legislative changes had an impact has not arisen from inconsistent results, but from different ways in which the same results are interpreted.

"We identified a series of interpretive misunderstandings that give the appearance of inconsistency. For example, some studies conclude the laws had an impact on firearm suicides, without realising that non-firearm suicides also began falling from the late 1990s onwards."

"This coincides with the introduction of comprehensive suicide prevention strategies, and implies that social changes such as greater awareness of mental health influenced suicides across the board."

The overall consistencies revealed in the review, and identification of how the appearance of incongruent findings has been created, show that disagreement can be put to rest.

"Just as one swallow does not make a summer, a single study cannot definitively answer whether or not the laws had an effect. Collectively, though, the research has become a flock of swallows with a very clear direction."

This issue was debated on the ABC's PM program on 21 April. See the transcript of the program.