Bongs ban proposed

[Chiral]

SOURCE

THE State Opposition is proposing to put a stop to the sale of drug-smoking equipment.

Opposition leader Ted Baillieu said a Coalition government would ban the sale of bongs to reduce the harm to Victorian families caused by cannabis.

“Cannabis is a dangerous drug which causes serious mental and physical damage to many Victorians every year,” Mr Baillieu said.

“Banning the sale of bongs sends a clear message that cannabis is a dangerous and harmful substance,” he said.

The Victorian Government does not support a ban on bongs.

Instead, it will continue to focus on prevention, education and working closely with police around law enforcement a spokesman said.

Mr Ballieu highlighted the fact that Mental Health Council of Australia findings showed marijuana users were three times more likely to develop psychosis.

He said the report also found Victorian secondary school students who use cannabis weekly are five times more likely to harm themselves.

“As long as John Brumby allows bongs to be sold freely at more than 100 outlets across the state, Victoria’s young people and families will continue to suffer from the damaging effects of cannabis,” Mr Baillieu said.

“Victorians can’t trust a government that claims it is tough on drugs yet won’t take this important step to reduce drug use.”

Mr Baillieu said that when Mr Brumby was the opposition leader in 1996, he introduced a Private Members Bill to decriminalise cannabis.

A Government spokesman said Victoria was tough on drugs and had a focus on prevention, protecting young people and reducing demand and the uptake of illicit drugs. “In contrast, the Opposition has no comprehensive drugs policy and continues to tinker around the edge of this serious issue - addressing the symptoms and not the cause.

“Feedback we get from the community is that the issue is complex and difficult be

cause unlike ice pipes - which are banned in Victoria - some items are used to legally smoke tobacco.”

He said an internet education campaign that ran in 2009, about the dangers of cannabis use, had an incredible response with hundreds of hits per day.

[Bush Turkey]

"The Victorian Government does not support a ban on bongs."

seems like Vic gov has their head screwed on alot more than WA's gov. but still...

Edited January 5, 2010 by Bush_Turkey

[santiago]

are they going to ban cans of cooldrink

[Rabelais]

are they going to ban cans of cooldrink

 

...rubber hose, metal tubes, tin foil...apples. For Pete's sake, will someone please think of the children.

[paradox]

"The Victorian Government does not support a ban on bongs."

seems like Vic gov has their head screwed on alot more than WA's gov. but still...

 

it's all just bollocks... the only reason they don't support it is because the opposition supports it. if it weren't so tragic it'd be fucking halarious lol

[ref1ect1ons]

QLD banned these items years ago under the blight government, I only found out about it recently and so now some people are exposed to more chemicals through a home-made 'garden-hose' device.

'Mr Ballieu highlighted the fact that Mental Health Council of Australia findings showed marijuana users were three times more likely to develop psychosis.'

This is not a fact, this is heuristic reasoning. Simply these figures were not obtained through experimental design and thus represent results obtained from a correlation type study, that is, people responding to a survey of some type.

These types of studies can never determine causation, because of confounding variables and the chicken and the egg problem.

Are these people from low socio-economic backrounds which are inherently more strssful, another factor may be genetics.

I personally think that many mentally ill people will self-medicate with weed, and so it is difficult to determine whether the 'cannabis' use is a result of the illness or the illness a result of cannabis use.

I hate it when people twist their bullshit agendas.

[san p]

we have had similar bans on bongs here in nz for probably 10years now.however the only thing that really changed was that headshops are now selling bongs labelled as "vases" and the stem and cone are sold seperatly,sometimes labelled as incence holders.

base pipes have a total ban in nz and most headshops refused to stock them before it was inforced anyway.

[Birdwing]

Yep banning bongs that'll stop those goddamn hippies smoking cheeba for sure!!

[naja naja]

And what about my love of consuming legal herbals through the bong. I believe this law is in W.A. too. Hasn't changed a thing. They still sell bongs and AFOAF still buy's them

[stiched up]

QLD banned these items years ago under the blight government, I only found out about it recently and so now some people are exposed to more chemicals through a home-made 'garden-hose' device.

'Mr Ballieu highlighted the fact that Mental Health Council of Australia findings showed marijuana users were three times more likely to develop psychosis.'

This is not a fact, this is heuristic reasoning. Simply these figures were not obtained through experimental design and thus represent results obtained from a correlation type study, that is, people responding to a survey of some type.

These types of studies can never determine causation, because of confounding variables and the chicken and the egg problem.

Are these people from low socio-economic backrounds which are inherently more strssful, another factor may be genetics.

I personally think that many mentally ill people will self-medicate with weed, and so it is difficult to determine whether the 'cannabis' use is a result of the illness or the illness a result of cannabis use.

I hate it when people twist their bullshit agendas.

 

i agree and i wonder whether the subjects were also consuming alchahol that wasnt taken into acct

the mental problems are there whether theres pot involved or not its all about the $$$

[troywedi]

same here in SA. A person I know of who works for a legal high smoke shop here has begun placing "ornamental bongs" , with flowers and all, behind the glass cabinet. People are free to make a donation to the shop for which in return you are allowed to take an ornament. Such a nice place here.

[rogdog]

same here in SA. A person I know of who works for a legal high smoke shop here has begun placing "ornamental bongs" , with flowers and all, behind the glass cabinet. People are free to make a donation to the shop for which in return you are allowed to take an ornament. Such a nice place here.

 

Nice one Troy, are you coming to the bot garden meet on sunday?

This crazy law was brought in (the south aus version)by Anne Bressington, a mother whose daughter died via heroin overdose. Thats a tragedy for sure, but she is barking up the wrong tree. Worse still, is that she was voted in by default, on Nick Xenophons excess votes(No pokies ticket). The change in law was well advertised, and everybody with thier thinking cap on stocked up, but it is so stupid to believe this will change anything. I can still buy papers and filters at any servo or supermarket

Why cant our representatives just get on with making Australia a prosperous nation, and bringing fresh water to outback communities..things we gave them a mandate to do, instead of screwing around with petty law matters

Edited January 6, 2010 by rogdog

[ref1ect1ons]

I just watched The Union

God I would love SBS to show this doc and then see how the dumbass pollies try to spin it.

It's all about the weed trade, and how people are suffering under prohibition. Emeritus Professor, proffessors, ex-police chief and the lot are giving some good positive and logical opinions for those who are interested in maybe seeing it.

cheech or chong whichever one was actually jailed for nine months for lending his name to a bong company < i never knew this.

Edited January 6, 2010 by ref1ect1ons

[nabraxas]

for lending his name to a bong company

abit more than just lending his name:

On September 11, 2003, comedian Tommy Chong was sentenced to nine months in prison, a fine of $20,000, and the forfeiture of about $120,000 in assets. He also had to give up his internet domain name of tommychong.com.

Chong, best known as half of the famed pot-comedy duo Cheech and Chong, was the founder of a business called Nice Dreams, which manufactured and sold bongs under the name Chong Glass. The business was operated by Chong's son, Paris.

In May 2003, Chong plead guilty to charges of "conspiring to distribute drug paraphernalia," after a sting operation in which federal agents in Pittsburgh ordered his bongs over the Internet, thus ensuring that the items were sent across state lines.

Undercover cops also bought two of Chong's bongs at a store in Texas. They received Chong's autograph on the bongs, and got a t-shirt depicting Chong smoking from one.

Chong's bust was part of a larger anti-bong police effort called Operation Pipe Dreams, which involved over 2,000 federal, state and local law enforcement officers. The operation culminated on February 24, 2003, with simultaneous raids against multiple paraphernalia retailers, distributors and manufacturers, including Chong (CC#43, Bong shops under attack!).

Most of these raids against pipe-selling shops and businesses, which had operated openly for years, involved SWAT teams with semiautomatic rifles drawn and helicopter units as backup. The unhappy date is now known as "2/24" among the glass-blowing culture. The raids led to the seizure of tons of pipes and bongs, and left hundreds of people unemployed. 22 people from a variety of pipeselling businesses have been convicted so far, with about 40 still under indictment. Chong was the first of the Operation Pipe Dreams defendants to plead guilty, and also the first to receive jail time.

April 5 2004

http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/3264.html

[troywedi]

Nice one Troy, are you coming to the bot garden meet on sunday?

 

I'm actually doing a houseboat trip down through the Murray this weekend, damn! Sorry to hijack the thread but is there a link to the meet on the forum? Would love to come along next time around

EDIT : Found it! Cheers.

Edited January 6, 2010 by troywedi

[Chiral]

Pathetic that one can be arrested or fined for paraphernalia, particularly new stuff that doesn't even have a relationship to any drug or analog thereof...better lock up all those Orchy drinkers and people watering their lawns with their Bunnings hose pipes.

[tassiejd]

they have been banned for about a year in tassie now, and what did it achive, more people getting their garden hoses stolen and chopped and people going back to using plastic bottles, garden hose, and foil cones, nice harm minisiation there folks, have to love pollies looking out for our health.