The European Union Countries seem to have taken a step backwards in their tolerance of individual freedoms.
Although they may not prosecute you in Austria for possession of cannabis, they will not tolerate its use in any
social context. A friend who visits your home may be offered a whiskey, but offering a joint will be deemed as dealing.
The likelihood of Austria introducing Cannabis cafe’s as they exist in the Netherlands is made even less likely since the
EEC has encouraged and seen the blanket ban on tobacco smoking in all indoor public spaces introduced and enforced
throughout the Union.
Although Austrians may feel the present laws on decriminalization (US spellchecker) are a great leap forward in terms of the removal of the threat of a criminal record and the massive loss of rights that would entail; the drawback is that cannabis users are again being sidelined by the community. If smoking cannabis, alone, at home, becomes the norm; I see a massive rise in the damage done to the mental state of isolated individuals, particularly with the new high strength ’skunk’ varieties,
which might well lead to a backlash from the parents of apparently affected children. A backlash that has already led in the United Kingdom to an irrational re-classification of cannabis back to a Class B drug, on a par with amphetamine, barbiturates and LSD.
As an Englishman with a criminal record for drug possession myself, I am barred from a career in medicine, the law, teaching, taxi driving; In fact almost every career that is out there. I will never be called for jury service and I will never be able to become an MP to represent the two and a half million cannabis smokers that exist in the United Kingdom. This I can cope with. But being prevented from enjoying a cigarette anywhere other than in my home or in the wet gutter is a
greater curb on my personal liberty and pursuit of happiness than having to keep my hash in my underpants and having to fear a twenty pound fine.
Smoking cannabis in the Europe of the early seventies was a great deal more fun than it is now despite the apparent tolerance displayed in Austria. Decriminalization is not all that is necessary to make the life of cannabis users free.
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