cannabisnews.com: A Group Collects Votes for Marijuana





A Group Collects Votes for Marijuana
Posted by CN Staff on July 16, 2002 at 15:58:49 PT
Combined Reports  
Source: Moscow Times
A small but vocal political group called for the legalization of marijuana and hashish Tuesday, sparking an angry response from the country's top drug expert, who said such a step would be terrible for Russia. Members of the Transnational Radical Party held what they called a "street referendum" on Pushkin Square, extolling the virtues of legalizing light drugs and asking people whether they favor it. 
"Hemp and its derivatives are less harmful than alcohol and tobacco," said Anatoly Khramov, head of the party's Moscow office. "Light drugs remain under the control of mafia structures and bring them tremendous profits," he said, arguing that marijuana should be made legal to take it out of the criminal realm. Khramov called for three basic changes to drug-related legislation: to free drug users from criminal liability; to make a clear distinction between "hard" and "soft" drugs; and to provide free medical treatment and rehabilitation to addicts.Under existing law, people charged with obtaining and keeping even a small amount of marijuana face up to three years in prison. Distribution can bring sentences of seven to 15 years. Tuesday's street action prompted an angry response from Nikolai Ivanets, the Health Ministry's top drug abuse expert. Speaking on Ekho Moskvy radio, Ivanets warned that legalizing "light" drugs like marijuana would be a "danger to the nation." "It would be terrible if this is allowed," Ivanets said, adding that "from the medical point of view, marijuana opens the way to other harder drugs" that are more addictive. Drug use, especially of harder drugs like heroin, has exploded since 1991, leading to a sharp rise in AIDS cases among addicts who share needles. A recent poll of 1,600 people conducted by the All-Russia Public Opinion Center found that 99 percent of those surveyed said the country's drug problem is "very serious" or "serious enough." Only 1 percent called it "not very serious." The marijuana survey was the second headline-grabbing public action by the Transnational Radical Party in as many days. On Monday, members of the group boarded a Moscow riverboat and, just as it passed by the walls of the Kremlin, unfurled a banner calling for immediate peace talks between President Vladimir Putin and Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov.The party complained that Moscow authorities had denied their request to hold Tuesday's event for the whole day, instead limiting it to several hours. In a statement carried on its web site, the party said it had filed a complaint in city court. Valeria Konovalenko, 20, a psychology student and cigarette smoker, said she signed against legalization. "I think there are enough amusements for young people and nothing good will come of legalizing marijuana. It's bad for your health," she said.Nikita Karpov, a 17-year-old law student, voted for legalization because he considers marijuana a soft drug. "It should be like in the Netherlands," he said. "If they legalize it, there will be fewer users." State Duma Deputy Gennady Raikov disagreed: "It would be something awful if drugs were legalized in Russia. You have to take into account the culture and mentality of a people -- not compare them to, say, Holland." Source: Moscow Times, The (Russia)Published: Wednesday, July 17, 2002 - Page 3 Copyright: 2002 The Moscow TimesContact: oped imedia.ruWebsite: http://www.moscowtimes.ru/Transnational Radical Party http://www.radicalparty.org/CannabisNews Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #7 posted by RavingDave on July 16, 2002 at 22:48:26 PT
Soviet Propaganda
As someone who lived in Russia for a time, and who is married to a Russian, I like to fantasize that I have some first hand knowledge of the "Russian perspective."It's true that most Russians are alcoholics. They give new meaning to the word "professional." However, I disagree that drinking is a somber vomit-fest for them. On the contrary, Russians are an especially jovial bunch who go to great lengths to have fun and get drunk, although not necessarily in that order. The somber mood is reserved for sober times, and the length to which they go to display that solemn/angry character is a large contributor to the volume of steam they later blow off when drinking.As for the vomit troughs, I somehow doubt the validity of that claim. It's likely to be a single story which was blown out of proportion and used as a stereotype for all Russian bars. In fact, I don't think I have ever seen a Russian vomit after drinking, although I did a fair share of it myself, especially on my wedding night. They are, as I mentioned, extreme professionals, and they know a number of tricks to keep the stomach in line. One such trick is to eat lots of buttered bread while drinking. The butter helps to coat the stomach lining, while the bread acts to absorb some of the alcohol. One of the reasons Americans fall prey to the pros while socializing in Russia is that they fail to take notice of these habits and follow suit. There's a reason Russians always serve lots of snacks at parties!On the legalization note, I'd have to guess there won't be a lot of support over there. Drugs are largely frowned on; most people probably equate cannabis with heroin. There is little distinction in the public mind. Think Harry Anslinger. It's ironic, given the amount that they drink and smoke, but then Russians pretty much defined irony. 
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Comment #6 posted by freedom fighter on July 16, 2002 at 22:32:02 PT
Just a worthless point
Just to show that in EVERY COUNTRY, there will be some human being that wakes up in the morning and do alot of baking!ff
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Comment #5 posted by Lehder on July 16, 2002 at 22:04:11 PT
vomit troughs
...speechless.when vomit troughs are normal and you get 15 years prison for a tiny quantity of marijuana then you know that the drug warriors are absolutely insane and that prohibition has nothing to do with any health concern and everything to do with lunacy. It must be tough getting up in the morning in Russia.
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Comment #4 posted by E_Johnson on July 16, 2002 at 19:36:49 PT
very funny!
The alcoholics in Russia make up something like 80% of the adult population.Soviet working class bars had long tables with vomit troughs running down the middle.It was not a place to relax. Happy hour was not happy.Soviet drunkeness is memorialized in the novel Moskva-Petushki by Venedikt Erofeev, who writes of a character fired from his job as a cable fitter when he produces a chart showing that his crew's productivity increases linearly with the number of vodka bottles consumed on the job
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Comment #3 posted by Robbie on July 16, 2002 at 18:27:22 PT
I love this
Cannabis law reform spreads the globe.My country--OUR country--being the last barrier to complete legalization of cannabis everywhere (though I think Malaysia may actually be the last holdout :-)
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Comment #2 posted by Lehder on July 16, 2002 at 18:11:03 PT
Great News
 Russians would do well to cut back on their drinking. Visitors to Russia tell me they're pressured there to drink socially, which means heavy drinking of vodka, and that there's a big problem with drunk and disorderly conduct, called there, I think, "hooliganism." It's a thrill to hear that the movement is spreading everywhere. Hey, maybe I'd be happier in Russia or even communist Red China!
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Comment #1 posted by null on July 16, 2002 at 16:40:03 PT
whoa
i have no idea what level of support there is in Russia for legalization. it would be both stunning and a powerful message for the U.S. if those former "godless communists" were living in a land more free than the US of A.E. Johnson, any idea what kind of public support there is for legalization in the former USSR? (You seem to be quite knowledgable about soviet block history.)
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