To Jozef. To clarify, the city of Amsterdam did not, and does not, plan to close the coffee shops they have open. Only cities in the borders of Belgium and Germany were forced to close down http://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-10-24/dutch-towns-close-coffee-shops-in-drug-tourists/180830 and this was met with with criticism by Dutch economists, business owners and the frequenters of the coffee shops, obviously, so much so that many coffee shops have ignored the ban and continue to sell to anyone. I’m not exactly sure where you got your information from, and if you could link me to the articles where you found a correlation between the sale of marijuana and the increased death of herion junkies I would be glad to read it; as I previously said, I want to discuss both the good and bad sides of decriminalization.
The reason the border cities were forced to close down, by the way, was because of increased crime in those areas. What was the increased crime, I hear you ask? Belgian and German criminal organizations were going to Holland and buying large amounts of cannabis to take back to their country and sell at a huge profit. The prohibition in their countries of cannabis led to the cannabis market(which will always exist whether you like it or not) being pushed underground, opening up many business opportunities for unscrupulous people. So, because of the criminal organizations in Belgium and Germany, who still have 1920s prohibitionist laws, the country that actually had science based laws (Holland) had to attempt to stop the criminal flow into their country through this ineffective plan.
I hope the message is clear; prohibition does not in any way decrease drug use, all it does is push it underground, and cause a very successful billion euro/dollar trade to spring up. Just to put it into perspective, in Mexico alone over 40,000 people have been butchered, beheaded and killed since 2006 due to drug cartels taking over everything there to produce product to send to North America and Europe. The USA government had spent over 15 billion dollars in 2010 alone to conduct a failing War on Drugs. Then you look at a country like Holland which has decriminalization of cannabis and see that not only do the Dutch use cannabis much less than most European countries (since they grow up with it it doesn’t have the rebellious kick to it that we get in most prohibitionist countries and they are educated and informed about it, unlike the misinformation that we have here) but they are making lots and lots of money off of tourists from prohibitionist countries coming in solely to smoke the weed. So why do we insist on continuing this failed, failed war on drugs? The only reason I even got into being an activist was because of the injustice occurring on our islands; a man gets 12 years in jail and stigma for life for growing 2 plants, yet others do hit and runs, or sexually abuse children and are let off with suspended sentences or even go scott free due to an error on the charge sheet!
I will gladly continue to discuss the matter of drug policy and decriminalization with anyone who wants to discuss it in an informed and intelligent manner, please head to our facebook group if you are interested. Just remember, you would you rather controlled the drug trade (bearing in mind that drugs are harmful), the government, like they do for alcohol and cigarettes already, or the criminal underground? This isn’t about cannabis anymore – this is about what’s good for society and how we are going to reduce the harm being done due to drugs in our society.

PS: Sorry for the long post :p

Guy on the left – nice way to show the show respect to the leader of the opposition.

This article literally killed me.

Mat, as far as I know Joseph hasn’t promised any specific rights for gays….publicly. There was some vague promise if you like.

According to Cyrus, Joseph is only a good listener.

Please note that it will not create work, does not create any immediate cash flow problems and most probably will add more burdens on taxpayers, in the form of surviving partner’s (widow’s) pension and less tax contributions in the future.

Issa addio ghaqal. Issa garanzija fuq kollox lil kulhadd.

Issa nisperaw li din hi garanzija ta’ itwal minn sena, ghax sa sena ohra mhux zgur tkun ghadha saret l-elezzjoni, u allura hemm cans li l-garanzija tkun diga skadiet.

Judging people based on their outward appearance…I see we have a real intellectual here :/. Certainly people like Durkheim, Weber and Einstein would have failed your test of intelligence.

To the secret warrior,

Could you explain why the city of Amsterdam has recently banned the sale of cannabis to tourists?

Do you confirm there must be some scientific reason for the decision to retract the culture you promote?

Do you consider the plausibility of a correlation between the exponential increase in heroin junkies dying in public parks, red light district workers requesting the closure of coffee shops and the chemical modification of marijuana by the competing outlets to provide an unforgettable trip to Amsterdam?

Cut the crap to your cool factor and take responsibility for what you propose.

Joseph’s ‘ghaqal’ seems to be totally focused on toppling Gonzi.

Daphne is right.
And when you visit the Leader of the Opposition and of the Partit Laburista, wear a long-sleeve shirt and a jacket. And a blue tie. And a blue shirt if possible.