Counillor to make formal complaint to Gardai about Ming.

Humans eh!

longshanks wrote: »

Tell the truth, you doobie laughing at them

I think that the Irish people have thick skins which, to be blunt, allows them to roll with their sticky buds and not allow a token joint decision to encroach on their enjoyment. It is not set in stone that the grass is greener on the other side and stop bonging on about it and weed out the score.
When the smoke clears and the haze is lifted we should consult Mary Jane at 4.20 before we reefer out of it and she gets vapourised and it her stashing the pipe indicates a wasted opportunity.

Roll on

Now thats out of the way. Can we continue the thread.
IMHO I think that Ming is being forthright and is challenging the law with a hope to creating debate, I would like to see a fund set up to collect some money from stoners (if we could be arsed) to pay his fines etc should the hypocritical Fianna Fail upstanding citizen pursue it.

Debate is one thing but not doing anything and expecting things to change won't help at all. I can't see cannabis being legalised in this country in our lifetime but decriminalisation would be wonderful.
Watching kids wandering around pissed carrying alcohol yesterday in a national celebration of inebriation while I became a criminal lighting a small joint in my own home last night is pure hypocrisy.
Allowing adults to enjoy a non lethal recreational drug in the privacy of their own home is a right I would love to see realised. But sadly i can't see it because it would involve a good hard look at ourselves and all drugs of which I count alcohol and tobacco as two of the most serious.

My name is URL

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

I didn't say all stoners are wasters. I said all stoners that I know are wasters. The drug seems to bring out an inherent laziness in a lot of people.

Define 'stoner' though.. Smoking weed does not make you a stoner, just like drinking beer does not make you an alcoholic. People can certainly overdo it on the weed but from my own experience the majority of people can function properly once they don't abuse the drug.. and it can be abused, just like any other.

Einhard

RichieC wrote: »

Alcohol can destroy not only your motivation, but your life and your families life, it causes deaths on our roads and kills millions world wide... oh but oh!! weed!!! some old prick who isn't even alive anymore said it should be illegal... you fking sheep...

Don't be such an asswipe. People can have legitimate concerns and views in their own right, and it's idiotic to make out that people who have different opinions to you have them purely because other people have them.

To state that alcohol destroys lives and is legal, and therefore that hash should be legal, isn't exactly the most compelling argument to be honest.

mikom

Coonan is a prize tit who runs to the guards at every opportunity.


A CONSTITUENT who accused a local politican of 'lies' when he met him out canvassing was convicted of engaging in threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour at Kilkenny District Court yesterday (Tuesday).

Martin Ryan, 8 Marble Crest, Loughboy had denied the offence at Dukes Meadows in the city on April 9. John Coonan, a Fianna Fail Councillor and a retired psychiatric nurse took the stand and recounted the incident which took place in the run up to the local elections last June.


“I had commenced canvassing for the local elections and was at the door of number 10 in Dukes Meadows, which is close to where I live when I heard, ‘Hey John, John Coonan, liar, lies, liar’. I turned around and saw Martin Ryan with his dog and he was walking up and down the footpath. I thought he would stop but it started again and the dog who was on a leash was jumping up and down.
“He said, ‘What about your patients who died in our care? What about Paul?’.


I said that I didn’t want to speak to him and I got into my car and drove down to the end of the road and locked myself into the car and called the gardai. I told them that I was being harassed and intimidated. After some time I composed myself and got out of the car and recommenced my canvass at the other end.


I heard a voice say, ‘Lies, lies, Fianna Fail, Fianna Feck’. He took a mobile phone and said to me, ‘So you phoned the gardai and told them that you were being harassed’. Under cross examination by the defence solicior, Mr Tom Walsh put it to the witness that he was suggesting that his client, Martin Ryan had access to garda movements. “That is absolutely untrue,” replied Mr Coonan.

“I was seriously stressed at this stage and sat in the car. It seemed like ages but it was probably only between five and eight minutes. I started the car and drove to the entrance and saw a garda car and waved them down and got into their car. I couldn’t make a statement as I was so upset but I called to the station the next day and made one,” Mr Coonan said. He added lived just a few hundred yards ago at Willow Close and saw Mr Ryan regularly as he mother lived in the same estate at Marble Crest.
Solicitor Tom Walsh put it to Mr Coonan that his client had engaged in a ‘political discussion’ about pay cuts to the public service, mental health services, the old age pension and a locally-operated casino. Mr Coonan told the court that the incident ‘had nothing to do with politics’ adding that he was ‘well-used to debate’. “He sought my views on a casino that had opened in the area. My son was involved but he is no longer involved and I gave a hand with teas and coffees but that was all,” added Mr Coonan.

“He had a small dog on a leash and he angrily spoke to me and the dog was jumping up and down. I was seriously intimidates. He was speaking to me in an aggressive manner,” Mr Coonan told the court.


http://www.kilkennypeople.ie/news/lo...case_1_2171957




Oh, and the judge that convicted Martin Ryan is the same one that said this......


Judge William Harnett’s comments over HIV and cannabis. The judge had made comments linking HIV and cannabis in a court case, stating: “People with HIV or those who die of AIDS all started by taking cannabis resin”. Councillor Walsh submitted a letter for Judge Harnett’s attention before last week’s sitting of Waterford District Court calling for him to publicly apologise for the comments. As yet no apology has been made, nor has the judge replied to councillor Walsh, who said the comments displayed “pure ignorance”. Councillor Walsh told Tramore Town Council that the judge had inflicted pain on those suffering from HIV and AIDS. “This is a terrible stigma to put on people dying from AIDS”. He reiterated his comments in the letter to judge Harnett in his letter, stating: “As an educated person how can you link cannabis use to HIV. As you should well know HIV can only be contracted though contaminated needles and body fluids”


http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...=www.google.ie



I despair




People have little to be worrying about if they go after Ming........ but if they do I reckon Ming has a Plan B........ or perhaps this is Plan A all along.
Watch this space....

PogMoThoin

Tahuti wrote: »

The irony of that statement in a thread about a pot-smoking TD.

+1 Who's into running marathons, snooker and kayaking. Hardly a layabout waster

karma_

Einhard wrote: »

And dumb aphorisms are dumb aphorisms. Do you take that line with all laws then, oh wise man? Such a legend, flouting the "rules" like that.

I don't wish to punish Ming. I'd prefer if cannabis remained illegal, but it wouldn't bother me too much if it was legalised. However, what does bother me, is when a person states that he will break the law, and people react as if he's a hero for doing so. He's a legislator now- if he wants the law repealed, he can get to work trying to do so. Otherwise, he should remember that laws are not made for other people.

With all laws, yes.

I don't consider myself a necessarily wise man but I know the difference between right and wrong, and I know a stupid law from a good one.

Also...

However, what does bother me, is when a person states that he will break the law, and people react as if he's a hero for doing so.

Rosa Parks.

BluePlanet

How lazy is it to have run as an independant candidate without having access to wealth during the Celtic Tiger years?

And after loosing those election bids one after another, continually persisting. Having to change goals, target different races in different constituencies but always running as an independant.

That means having no political organisation behind you, no young Fianna Fail/Fine Gael youth to volunteer their time and budget for you, no big businesses or fabulously wealthy backers. Nope, just you're own perserverance, and whatever media personality you can cultivate from the small and limited media outlets that exist here.

It's a fecking Mountain to climb.
Fair play!

Knasher

k_mac wrote: »

And you'd be happy to have that doctor work on you after a night smoking pot?

I wouldn't be happy with a doctor working on me when he was hungover. As a matter of fact if I had a choice between the two I'd be much happier with a doctor that was stoned the night before against one that was drunk. But ideally I'd expect him to be a professional and responsible adult around either substance.

k_mac wrote: »

I don't drink often and when I do I don't go out to get wasted. I don't need to introduce a chemical stimulant to have some fun.

Clearly you are capable of acting like a responsible adult around drink, why would you assume that you (and others) wouldn't be able to do the same around hash.

mikom

PogMoThoin wrote: »

+1 Who's into running marathons, snooker and kayaking. Hardly a layabout waster

With the same partner for years, married to her, and is raising two children.
What a waster......

Einhard

mikom wrote: »

People have little to be worrying about if they go after Ming........ but if they do I reckon Ming has a Plan B........ or perhaps this is Plan A all along.
Watch this space....

Alternative translation: People have little to be worried about if they go after those who break the law.

Seriously, Ming has a chance now to change the laws on cannabis. Until he succeeds (or not), I'm not happy having a legislator openly breaking the law. I don't understand how people can condemn other politicians for their misdemeanours and then applaud when another breaks the law.

oppenheimer1

My name is URL wrote: »

Define 'stoner' though.. Smoking weed does not make you a stoner, just like drinking beer does not make you an alcoholic. People can certainly overdo it on the weed but from my own experience the majority of people can function properly once they don't abuse the drug.. and it can be abused, just like any other.

I did define it. I said those who I know who smoke at weekends, every weekend and more frequently I consider to be stoners. I know at least ten people who had great potential and were far cleverer than myself turn into lazy wasters since they started using. It was the drug that took their drive. This is however a side argument. The drug is currently illegal and shouldn't make Ming immune from prosecution. Ming is in a position however to change the law, perhaps he should try that rather than flout the existing ones?

karma_

Einhard wrote: »

Don't be such an asswipe. People can have legitimate concerns and views in their own right, and it's idiotic to make out that people who have different opinions to you have them purely because other people have them.

To state that alcohol destroys lives and is legal, and therefore that hash should be legal, isn't exactly the most compelling argument to be honest.

You should come down from that big ol' ivory tower from time to time.

mikom

Einhard wrote: »

I don't understand how people can condemn other politicians for their misdemeanours and then applaud when another breaks the law.

The openess of it may have something to do with it.
Rather than the usual politicians way of circle-jerking in closets.

120_Minutes

Humans eh! wrote: »

Debate is one thing but not doing anything and expecting things to change won't help at all. I can't see cannabis being legalised in this country in our lifetime but decriminalisation would be wonderful.
Watching kids wandering around pissed carrying alcohol yesterday in a national celebration of inebriation while I became a criminal lighting a small joint in my own home last night is pure hypocrisy.
Allowing adults to enjoy a non lethal recreational drug in the privacy of their own home is a right I would love to see realised. But sadly i can't see it because it would involve a good hard look at ourselves and all drugs of which I count alcohol and tobacco as two of the most serious.

This sadly, is the painful truth.

Debate on the issue cannot even begin until the country as a whole grows up.

Forgive me for sounding holier than thou, but if the least you can expect for being fall down, puking in the street drunk is that you're looked down on and a "a shure thats what a night on the batter will do to ya" the next morning then shouldnt the least I expect for enjoying a toke in my own home
be the same?

I may be breaking the law, but I believe the law to be wrong

Humans eh!

mikom wrote: »

Coonan is a prize tit who runs to the guards at every opportunity.


People have little to be worrying about if they go after Ming........ but if they do I reckon Ming has a Plan B........ or perhaps this is Plan A all along.
Watch this space....

1) I agree wholeheartedly.

2) Plan A and/or plan B......
I am intrigued !


:pac:

oppenheimer1

karma_ wrote: »

Rosa Parks.

You're not actually comparing Ming to Rosa Parks?:eek:

Einhard

Rosa Parks.

Jesus wept. We live in a democracy, where everyone has the right to run on a particular platform, and seek to change the laws as they see fit. Ming actually proves that point. At the moment though, the prohibition of drugs is the law. For an elected representative to ignore such a law is hypocrisy.

mikom

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

You're not actually comparing Ming to Rosa Parks?:eek:

Ming walked to school rather than took the bus......... so they're incomparable.

BluePlanet

Einhard wrote: »

Jesus wept. We live in a democracy, where everyone has the right to run on a particular platform, and seek to change the laws as they see fit. Ming actually proves that point. At the moment though, the prohibition of drugs is the law. For an elected representative to ignore such a law is hypocrisy.

Every single day i see lawbreakers with their cars parked with 2 wheels up on the footpath, partially obstructing pedestrain access.
And yet, the Gardia don't do anything.
Quick, lets get a lynching party!

RichieC

Einhard wrote: »

Don't be such an asswipe. People can have legitimate concerns and views in their own right, and it's idiotic to make out that people who have different opinions to you have them purely because other people have them.

To state that alcohol destroys lives and is legal, and therefore that hash should be legal, isn't exactly the most compelling argument to be honest.

not all concerns are legitimate, all you prohibitionists do is leave weed for criminal gangs to profit from, where legitimate tax paying businesses could be.

And to point out the hypocrisy of alcohol being legal is certainly uncomfortable for you prohibitionists it's still quite certainly a compelling argument.

like it or not.

Save the drug gangs! keep weed illegal!!1

FTGFOP

Don't like Cannabis. Fully pro legalising it.

Full disclosure: I have shares in Dominos.

karma_

I never realised how close to reality Judge Dredd actually was. I fear that any day now I will wake up in Mega-City one.

StephenHendry

fair play to ming, at least he was honest enough to admit that he smokes the odd joint, hasn't he already been caution by the gardai and that he has refused to pay the fine,


anyway your man is a typical ff gombeen who really hasn't a clue about the real issue on drugs , we need to have a proper debate on drugs , not the mass hysteria surrounding the head shops thinking by banning would solve the problem , i mean in countries like holland cannabis is legalised and is less serious than other drugs such as cocaine

Einhard

karma_ wrote: »

You should come down from that big ol' ivory tower from time to time.

Umm, that makes no sense. Sorry.

mikom wrote: »

The openess of it may have something to do with it.
Rather than the usual politicians way of circle-jerking in closets.

There's probably something to that. It's slightly depressing though, to think that we would laud people for breaking the law, as long as they're doing so openly.

mikom

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvJiYrRcfQo

MagicSean

120_Minutes wrote: »

I may be breaking the law, but I believe the law to be wrong

Why didn't you say so? Well I'm off raping so. I know it's technically illegal but I dont believe women should have the right to say no.:rolleyes:

mikom

k_mac wrote: »

Why didn't you say so? Well I'm off raping so. I know it's technically illegal but I dont believe women should have the right to say no.:rolleyes:

There's a victim there.
Try again...

For my next act I will leap the Grand canyon.

BluePlanet

k_mac wrote: »

Why didn't you say so? Well I'm off raping so. I know it's technically illegal but I dont believe women should have the right to say no.:rolleyes:

Right, so smoking a recreational substance is the same thing as forcible rape?

And with that we've crossed the rubicon into the domain of the insane!

Snakeblood

k_mac wrote: »

Why didn't you say so? Well I'm off raping so. I know it's technically illegal but I dont believe women should have the right to say no.:rolleyes:

There's a victim in rape, it's less apparent who suffers from drugtaking, particularly in the case of marijuana.

mikom

Einhard wrote: »

It's slightly depressing though, to think that we would laud people for breaking the law, as long as they're doing so openly.

Ummm..

Mr Coonan said cannabis had "harmful side effects".
"I know one of the most serious side effects of cannabis is depression.

RichieC

Einhard wrote: »

There's probably something to that. It's slightly depressing though, to think that we would laud people for breaking the law, as long as they're doing so openly.

This Lawful neutral act is tiring.

karma_

k_mac wrote: »

Why didn't you say so? Well I'm off raping so. I know it's technically illegal but I dont believe women should have the right to say no.:rolleyes:

Fair enough, but as long as you realise that makes you a sexual predator and pretty much a sexist, we only want to enjoy a joint from time to time.

Spunge

k_mac wrote: »

Why didn't you say so? Well I'm off raping so. I know it's technically illegal but I dont believe women should have the right to say no.:rolleyes:

Not only is there a victim there but Ming doesn't go around saying rape should be legal and thats why you should vote for him.

TheZohanS

k_mac wrote: »

And you'd be happy to have that doctor work on you after a night smoking pot?

I don't smoke weed but I have done so in the past and on any of the times I have smoked I've conked out after a few joints. I certainly don't think it's something you could spend the night doing and the "hangover" from smoking pot is a lot less severe than drinking for the night.

Ming grows his own and smokes it, he's certainly not adding to any of societies woes or lining the pockets of any undesirables.

RichieC

k_mac wrote: »

Why didn't you say so? Well I'm off raping so. I know it's technically illegal but I dont believe women should have the right to say no.:rolleyes:

False equivalence, but you know that, right?

Einhard

BluePlanet wrote: »

Every single day i see lawbreakers with their cars parked with 2 wheels up on the footpath, partially obstructing pedestrain access.
And yet, the Gardia don't do anything.
Quick, lets get a lynching party!

Nobody is arguing that people should be allowed park their cars wherever they want. You though, are arguing that people should eb allowed to break whatever laws they disagree with. Ironically, you're on the side of those people that annoy you by obstructing pedestrian access...

And please, can we keep it real here? Nobody has suggested that Ming be lynched. If the law is changed- wonderful, happy days for Ming. Until it is changed though, I don't think it's too much to ask that legislators obey the damn thing!

BluePlanet

Einhard wrote: »

Nobody is arguing that people should be allowed park their cars wherever they want. You though, are arguing that people should eb allowed to break whatever laws they disagree with. Ironically, you're on the side of those people that annoy you by obstructing pedestrian access...

moving goalposts?
I said they were parking their cars with 2 wheels on the footpath, not "wherever they want".
It is specifically against the law, yet goes unpunished. WHY?

Einhard

RichieC wrote: »

not all concerns are legitimate, all you prohibitionists do is leave weed for criminal gangs to profit from, where legitimate tax paying businesses could be.

Umm, that's a slightly disturbing sentiment. I prefer to believe that all laws passed by a democratic institution are legitimate.

And to point out the hypocrisy of alcohol being legal is certainly uncomfortable for you prohibitionists it's still quite certainly a compelling argument.

It's not a compelling argument at all. You point out that alcohol is a legal social evil, and from that argue that weed should also be legal. That's a pretty crappy argument to make.

120_Minutes

k_mac wrote: »

Why didn't you say so? Well I'm off raping so. I know it's technically illegal but I dont believe women should have the right to say no.:rolleyes:

stupid post is incredibly stupid, as others have pointed out.

that argument cant be used in the case of rape. it can with smoking a joint.


and here comes the godwin, 4 pages in:

The nazis passed laws to curtail the rights of jews in prewar germany. now, i'm not directly comparing jews to stoners, but a bad law is a bad law. and should you stand idly by and allow bad laws to be passed and enforced, or do you speak out? are we in a dictatorship?

anyone of sound mind knows that rape is wrong, and laws against it are good.

try again mac.

Einhard

BluePlanet wrote: »

moving goalposts?
I said they were parking their cars with 2 wheels on the footpath, not "wherever they want".
It is specifically against the law, yet goes unpunished. WHY?

It shouldn't go unpunished. Nobody is saying it should go unpunished! But what people here are arguing, is that if people don't wish to obey such a law, they don't have to, and what's more, shouldn't be prosecuted for it! Even those idiots parking that way wouldn't have the arrogance to claim that they're above the law. yet that's exactly what Ming is claiming, and what you're supporting.

Craebear

Einhard wrote: »

Until it is changed though, I don't think it's too much to ask that legislators obey the damn thing!

I find myself wondering this. Imagine it's 1990 again, homosexuality is illegal. Would you say that a gay politician should stop being gay or face persecution?

I know the comparison is a bit wonky, but the point is : Illegal is not the same as wrong.

Tahuti

Einhard wrote: »

And please, can we keep it real here? Nobody has suggested that Ming be lynched. If the law is changed- wonderful, happy days for Ming. Until it is changed though, I don't think it's too much to ask that legislators obey the damn thing!

Well, perhaps he is.

From Murdoch's Irish Law Dictionary...(Murdochs 2nd Edition.)

NATURAL LAW: The Law which is based on value judgements which emenate from some absolute source eg, Gods revealed word. Natural Law is both anterior and superior to positive law or man made Law. There are many personal rights of the citizen which follow from the Christian and democratic nature of the State which are not mentioned in Article 40 of the 1937 Constitution at all.

(Murdochs 2nd Edition.)

NATURAL RIGHTS: Rights which come from the Natural Law. Natural rights or Human rights are not created by law but the Constitution confirms their existance and gives them protection. The individual has Natural and Human rights over which the State has no authority.

karma_

Einhard wrote: »

I prefer to believe that all laws passed by a democratic institution are legitimate.

And some people believe there's a god up there but that doesn't make them right.

whoopdedoo

Einhard wrote: »

Alternative translation: People have little to be worried about if they go after those who break the law.

Seriously, Ming has a chance now to change the laws on cannabis. Until he succeeds (or not), I'm not happy having a legislator openly breaking the law. I don't understand how people can condemn other politicians for their misdemeanours and then applaud when another breaks the law.

because this law is a pure farce, cannabis was banned to make way for synthetic fibres and to stop interfering with other industries, the world was told thc would send you crazy and America forced us all to ban the plant yet we now have big pharma extracting the very same thc, putting it in a pill and selling it at a price of about £10 gbp per day for effective treatment.

treating us all like children will not work anymore, I didn't believe them 16 years ago and a lot more people have woken up to their ways since

Wile E. Coyote

mikom wrote: »

There's a victim there.
Try again...

For my next act I will leap the Grand canyon.

Since when is cannabis a victimless crime?

karma_

Wile E. Coyote wrote: »

Since when is cannabis a victimless crime?

Since you grow and smoke your own.

Einhard

karma_ wrote: »

And some people believe there's a god up there but that doesn't make them right.

Seriously, dumb retorts tend to undermine any argument you might make...

whoopdedoo

Wile E. Coyote wrote: »

Since when is cannabis a victimless crime?

planting and smoking your own is pretty victimless

Tahuti

Wile E. Coyote wrote: »

Since when is cannabis a victimless crime?

Who is victimised when I smoke a joint?

Einhard

whoopdedoo wrote: »

because this law is a pure farce, cannabis was banned to make way for synthetic fibres and to stop interfering with other industries, the world was told thc would send you crazy and America forced us all to ban the plant yet we now have big pharma extracting the very same thc, putting it in a pill and selling it at a price of about £10 gbp per day for effective treatment.

treating us all like children will not work anymore, I didn't believe them 16 years ago and a lot more people have woken up to their ways since

Well great. And now Ming has a chance to change the law. It's called democracy. Until it's changed though, is it too much to ask that people obey legislation passed by a democratic institution?