Responsible Choice was established out of concern over the distinct lack of visible debate regarding the illicit status of cannabis in Australian society. This is especially pertinent when we consider that current research has clearly shown cannabis to be non-toxic, unlike alcohol, which is both lethal, legal and aggressively marketed at our youth.
It is the express intention of Responsible Choice to enliven the debate as to whether or not cannabis should enjoy regulation within Australian society, comparable to alcohol. It is also our intention to provide recent, relevant and factual information regarding both cannabis and alcohol including
– their recreational uses
– corresponding relevant legislation (both historical and current)
– their costs to, and effects on individual users, their families and Australian society as a whole.
The responsible choice should ALWAYS be the safest option available. Without a choice we cannot make a responsible one.
Drug policy SHOULD always be based on the ideals of harm minimisation.
Up-to-date and well-researched information provides the foundation upon which sensible and considered decisions MUST be made.
The future of our children’s health depends upon us making the responsible choice now, so that they in turn have the opportunity to make it for themselves.
Our resident writer Tim, posting as Responsible Choice, is an educator and parent.
‘I have had enough experience now in my life to have seen the negative effects of alcohol on my life personally and on the lives of my friends and family. As an educator I realise the profound responsibility we have as adults in providing our youth, being our own family and those belonging to our society collectively, with the information and experiences they will need to make responsible and informed decisions in their later life.
As a parent I have come to realise that alcohol is a recreational drug I would not encourage my children to use. Knowing full well that when the time comes the choice will not be mine to make, I have made it a goal of mine to investigate, research and comment on current drug policy, with a view towards providing researched-based information to those who are seeking it. This has allowed me to see the place that cannabis should rightly have in our society, specifically in its capacity to reduce the harmful effects of alcohol, as it provides a far less harmful substitute.
As a superior choice to alcohol in terms of its relative harm and negative impact on society, cannabis legalisation, or a repeal of cannabis prohibition, would spell a reduction in alcohol-related death, disease and injury, whilst at the same time providing all responsible adults with an infinitely safer alternative to alcohol for their recreational drug use. Current drug policy is not based on the ideals of harm minimisation, nor is it grounded in the latest scientific research into the relative harms of drugs to users and those around them. This for me is unacceptable, as it flies in the face of what I consider to be the purpose of any policy enacted by any form of government, namely to protect the rights, best interests, health and well-being, and freedom of ALL citizens of the society in which it operates. Current Australian drug policy does not embody this; instead it reflects the fundamentally flawed approach to drugs and their use we have endured globally for the last 50 years.
In light of this fact I cannot, and will not, sit idly by and watch the horrific effects of the global ‘War on Drugs’ continue unabated on our children, our youth, and our families and friends. Nor can I watch our society continue to treat drug users as criminals, less than human, and as objects of derision and stigma. For me, action is the responsible choice.’