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Opium And Ganja Sweets Bust


Ulysses G.

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I suppose you would class the person that gave my teenage daughter a "laced" joint at a party. harmless? You really have a warped view of life. I trust that they slot this dipstick for a considerable time, and then deport him!

It may well be you with the warped view of life, who knows. But having people like you clamouring for laws to be passed to protect people who aren't able to be responsible for their own behaviour in life is part of that ugly phenomenon of conservatism. Why should we pay the price for our own freedom because your daughter can't make her own decisions in life?

Just think though, if your daughter goes to an amsterdam cafe/bar, she'll be able to smoke a joint, but at least she'll be saved from smoking cigarettes. Which of course are far more harmful.

Slot this dipstick. Well, my view may be warped, but it does include empathy for my fellow human beings. Yours appears not to.

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according to the thai wife, no opium mentioned, at all, in the 2 thai articles posted here. Solely marijuana.

The second article's title is จับหนุ่มอเมริกันเชียงใหม่ขายลูกอมผสมกัญชา-ฝิ่นดิบ

(my translation) American caught in Chiang Mai selling sweets mixed with ganja - fresh opium.

It then goes on to say จากการตรวจนับของกลางว่ามีกัญญาอัดแท่งรวมทั้งหมด 13 กิโลกรัม ฝิ่น ดิบประมาณ 5 กิโล และพบลูกอมช็อคโกแลตที่มีส่วนผสมของฝิ่นดิบและกัญชาอีกจำนวน 100 ลูก น้ำหนักรวม ประมาณ 1.5 กิโลกรัม

(again my translation) The search uncovered compressed bars of ganja totaling 13 kg, about 5kg of fresh opium and 100 chocolate sweets mixed with opium and ganja, with a weight of around 1.5kg.

.....

I've got a feeling the "fresh opium" (ฝิ่นดิบ) may in fact be hashish.

I guess because he is not located on soi nana in BKK, we should cut him some slack? Or may be because he is of the wrong color from the stereotype drug dealer and only sold to adult from farang land, we should nt hang him high?

hypocrisy at best, he is not different from the Iranians with 'ice' or the Nigerian peddling crack. He is a scumbag for short.

Narrow-mindedness at it's best. Ice and crack are in a completely different league to marijuana. Do you tar people who smoke a bit of pot with the same brush as crack and ice heads? Are bar owners and tobacconists also "scumbags". Do you support the "war on terror"?

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.....

I've got a feeling the "fresh opium" (ฝิ่นดิบ) may in fact be hashish.

Big thanks for the translation! I believe you are probably correct on that being Hash. If I understand correctly, under Thai law hash would fall under the same Category V grouping as marijuana. That would make a huge difference in punishment as opium is a Cat II.

Looking at the Thai drug laws, punishment for Cat II:

Section 68 Any person who, in violation of Section 16, produces, imports, or exports the narcotics of category II, shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of one year to ten years and to a fine of one hundred thousand to one million baht. If the narcotics which constitute the corpus delicti are morphine, opium, or cocaine, the offender shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of twenty years to life and to a fine of two million to five million baht.

versus Cat V:

Section 75 Any person who in violation of Section 26 produces, imports or exports narcotics of category V shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of two to fifteen years and to a fine of two hundred thousand to one million and five hundred thousand baht.

All things considered, 2-15 years sounds considerably better than 20-life.

-Mestizo

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We do believe that regular, heavy, daily, use of ganja over many years can lead to profound pathological changes in the brain and body; but, we believe this to be also true of the "culturally sanctioned" depressive, inhibition-reducing, drug, alcohol, the culturally modal use of tobacco, and equally true of psychedelics, yaa baa (amphetamines), ecstasy, chronic television watching, chronic internet addiction, or computer gaming, or spending a life working for the "man" from eight to five in an unhappy marriage under the shadow of a balloon mortgage.

Excellent!

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I think it is wrong for any state or government to outlaw the use of drugs by adults or the sale to them of any. Pencil me in as a libertarian, on that issue anyway. In that sense, I don't think Bob 'deserves' any punishment at all.

Libertarian,

I wholeheartedly agree with you.

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I read something along these lines in a Thai newspaper a couple days ago.. Some American guy getting caught with drugs hidden in chocolate and candy stuff.. weird.

Not sure this is the same case.

But good to see that Americans are finally catching up with everyone else when it comes to crime. ;)

Some friends of mine were in a well known Burger Restaurant close to Chiang Moi rd when 3 plain clothes policeman apprehended a guy leaving the establishment with a parcel and approx 10 other policeman proceded to enter the restaurant, could well be that they had heard how good the burgers were but somehow i doubt it :o:D .

PS. One of the friends mentioned that there were was more camcorders at the scene than in the making of a porn movie :D

Yes well you only get to shoot once.rolleyes.gif

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Bob's a nice guy. Selling opium and the large amount they found could lead to the prosecutor requesting a death sentence. Bob really doesn't deserve this.

Of course he deserves it, the same as any other idiot that sells drugs. Nice guy or not. "Please your honour don't send him to jail, he's really a nice person" I can imagine that working in court.

A jail sentence is expected here in Thailand - that's the risk he took.

But deserving to be put to death!!!!

You're not Albert Pierrepoint by any chance?

On a side note, there were a lot of happy TV posters after having a Spanky burger. wink.gif

Edited by uptheos
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according to the thai wife, no opium mentioned, at all, in the 2 thai articles posted here. Solely marijuana.

Despite my personal thoughts and feelings on the matter - and i liked bob, his wife and his burgers too - and having been a substance abuse counselor for many years in SFO bay area,

he knew what the penalties are and... if you can't do the time, don't do the crime.

In my more youthful days, i had to pay for my own bad judgement... and we live by the laws of the country where we reside... not by the laws back in California.

Indeed the articles do both mention the opium. I believe they call it 'fin' here. You can see it in the photo.

After reading the above posts, perhaps it was hashish.

Edited by elektrified
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Deaths due to alcohol in and around greater Ciang Mai last month ~ 20-40. (Look up the stats for motor vehicle deaths in greater Chiang Mai and then look at the proportion where alcohol was involved, it's just a guess, but probably a good one). Deaths due to cannabis use probably zero.

Cannabis law is by and large (in my opinion) a knee jerk reaction to a larger and more serious drug problem. Yet with all this said and done, it's illegal and the end result of growing/using/selling it is dire. Using/growing/selling/dealing cannabis is a fools game--why bother? In the sixties in America getting caught with a joint was likely to be met with a scolding, today at a minimum it'll cost you $20,000 in legal fees and give you a life of grief as a felon--in Thailand it's worse, I cannot fathom why people even bother.

But 13kgh of opium---yikes! These people had a death wish. The only thing that I can think of is that low-level opium laced and/or cannabis laced products are somewhat tolerated in India, and perhaps this clouded their thoughts, but this is Thailand. Drug control here verges upon paranoia--it's a fact, get caught and expect the worst.

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Something that surprises me, in the relatively short time I've been in Thailand I've noted that a very common decoration on t-shirts, hats, etc. is a ganga/cannabis/marijuana leaf and often some accompanying slogan inferring approval, acceptance, support or the like. I've seen everyone from youngsters to grannies in such apparel, that would only be worn as a 'badge', by a younger generation back in Canada, to show that yes, "I am experienced". So I would surmise that here in Thailand there is either complete ignorance, naivite or total indifference to what the display of said graphics may imply. There's also lots of pipes and other paraphanalia openly for sale and on display. I would have expected that a country with such stringent drug laws would discourage such display and confiscate items that suggest there is some degree of acceptance of drug use. There are places in the USA in which possession of drug paraphanalia is a crime. Just my opinion, I have none on the accused other than he showed very poor lack of judgment. I'm a former regular 'recreational' user myself and am in favour of decriminalization, for what it's worth.

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Something that surprises me, in the relatively short time I've been in Thailand I've noted that a very common decoration on t-shirts, hats, etc. is a ganga/cannabis/marijuana leaf and often some accompanying slogan inferring approval, acceptance, support or the like. I've seen everyone from youngsters to grannies in such apparel, that would only be worn as a 'badge', by a younger generation back in Canada, to show that yes, "I am experienced". So I would surmise that here in Thailand there is either complete ignorance, naivite or total indifference to what the display of said graphics may imply. There's also lots of pipes and other paraphanalia openly for sale and on display. I would have expected that a country with such stringent drug laws would discourage such display and confiscate items that suggest there is some degree of acceptance of drug use. There are places in the USA in which possession of drug paraphanalia is a crime. Just my opinion, I have none on the accused other than he showed very poor lack of judgment. I'm a former regular 'recreational' user myself and am in favour of decriminalization, for what it's worth.

That's nothing check out the Opium Museum. http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/39712-the-golden-triangle-opium-museum/ Thread maybe 6 yeas old but it is still open.

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More harmless people caught up losing their freedom due to the most archaic laws possible in this, the 21st century. It's really rather distressing that normal citizens, providing a service to other citizens in the community are at risk of losing their freedom because of the stupid law book. Happens all over the world.

The only way this could have happened was someone shopping him. This person will have deliberated over his actions and the fact that he or she was causing an ordinary person to be committed to a horrible prison sentence. I hope that person feels well chuffed with themselves.

I feel quite sick about the whole news.

Poor man. Too trusting i guess was his 'downfall', although the blame must be squarely pointed at the law book.

Making criminals out of ordinary citizens is a far bigger crime.

I guess it's hopeless to hope that he somehow avoids a prison sentence.

Quite dreadful.

I suppose you would class the person that gave my teenage daughter a "laced" joint at a party. harmless? You really have a warped view of life. I trust that they slot this dipstick for a considerable time, and then deport him!

Gave the innocent teenage daughter a "laced joint" come on a joint is a joint and illegle, she should also be "hung High" There are no innocent teenagers they all know much more then adults will ever know.

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I suppose everyone has to choose the path in life they want to follow. Each path has its share of risks. Dealing drugs in Thailand is quite risky. It's a path I would never follow.

I suppose governments around the world have laws against drug dealers for a reason. With most governments having some kind of law against it, perhaps drugs really are bad for society. I suppose we are lucky we don't live in a place like Juarez, Mexico. Do you think current laws in Thailand dealing with drug users and dealers keep Chiang Mai safer compared to Juarez?

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After reading the above posts, perhaps it was hashish.

With the kind of "cooking" the unfortunate gentleman was engaged in hashish is indeed the more likely ingredient.

Consider;

Tobacco / deadly health consequences and physically addictive ... easily taxed by govts and a huge source of revenue.

Alcohol / serious health and social consequences also physically addictive ... easily taxed by govts and a huge source of revenue.

Cannabis / moderate health consequences and NOT physically addictive ... how do you tax "a few plants in the backyard"?

No revenue from taxes and lots of "decent businessmen" who are making a living peddling the legalized poisons that might have their

profits reduced .... Cannabis is evil.

Its not rocket science.

Its money.

Edited by ThunderDuck
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I suppose everyone has to choose the path in life they want to follow. Each path has its share of risks. Dealing drugs in Thailand is quite risky. It's a path I would never follow.

I suppose governments around the world have laws against drug dealers for a reason. With most governments having some kind of law against it, perhaps drugs really are bad for society. I suppose we are lucky we don't live in a place like Juarez, Mexico. Do you think current laws in Thailand dealing with drug users and dealers keep Chiang Mai safer compared to Juarez?

A weird comparison.

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I suppose everyone has to choose the path in life they want to follow. Each path has its share of risks. Dealing drugs in Thailand is quite risky. It's a path I would never follow.

I suppose governments around the world have laws against drug dealers for a reason. With most governments having some kind of law against it, perhaps drugs really are bad for society. I suppose we are lucky we don't live in a place like Juarez, Mexico. Do you think current laws in Thailand dealing with drug users and dealers keep Chiang Mai safer compared to Juarez?

A weird comparison.

lol..yes...I am wierd I suppose. Jurarez is a city full of drug dealers and killers and Chiang Mai is relatively safe in comparison. Do Thailand's way of handling drug dealers make Chiang Mai a safer place to live? Is it worth it to sacrifice a good man every now and then so the rest of us are safe? Do the needs of the many really out weigh the needs of the few?...or the one? (Star Trek)

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I guess because he is not located on soi nana in BKK, we should cut him some slack? Or may be because he is of the wrong color from the stereotype drug dealer and only sold to adult from farang land, we should nt hang him high?

hypocrisy at best, he is not different from the Iranians with 'ice' or the Nigerian peddling crack. He is a scumbag for short.

:thumbsup: +1

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according to the thai wife, no opium mentioned, at all, in the 2 thai articles posted here. Solely marijuana.

Despite my personal thoughts and feelings on the matter - and i liked bob, his wife and his burgers too - and having been a substance abuse counselor for many years in SFO bay area,

he knew what the penalties are and... if you can't do the time, don't do the crime.

In my more youthful days, i had to pay for my own bad judgement... and we live by the laws of the country where we reside... not by the laws back in California.

Indeed the articles do both mention the opium. I believe they call it 'fin' here. You can see it in the photo.

After reading the above posts, perhaps it was hashish.

You are correct, sir. I had sent my wife the links, but she only read one. The 2nd story does tell it like it is.

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Bob may be a nice guy but why does he deserve any less than a person who is not a nice guy.

People dealing in heavy drugs in the quantity Bob was may seem like a nice guy but have little concern for what they do to others. Just as long as they don't have to see it they think it is OK to make heavy drugs available to any one including children.

Ask your selves would you say it was OK to supply opium to your kids would you say he is a nice guy if it was in your back yard.

Would you consider marijuana, a heavy drug? And let's not confuse opium with heroin. They may be derived from the same plant, but they are quite different drugs.

Incidentally, I couldn't find any mention of opium in the first Thai article posted. Haven't read the second one yet.

The laws are archaic, but hopefully once California changes that, the rest of the world will follow suit. Hemp used to be one of the biggest cash crops in the USA, and not for smoking. It has a myriad of other productive uses.

http://www.documenta...d-getting-high/

For all you screaming parents, concerned about these unscrupulous drug dealers pushing drugs on your kids, give me a break!

Anyway, let's hope Bob has some friends in high places, a lot of money in the bank, and he gets off with a deporting.

You are just jumping in with no knowledge of the situation. Read all the posts. He had over 13 kilos of opium.

For my self being one of those rare farongs who dosen't have to use drugs or booze I would say that marijuana is no worse than booze and perhaps not as bad. As I said not having to use either one I don't know.

But I do know opium is a hard drug. and 13 kilos for sale is definetly a no no. Not sure why so many people are trying to defend him. As a earlier poster said would they care if it was a Thai. In a way I suspect some of them are trying to justify there own use.

For my self it was just marijuana I would say just send him back home. But we are talking a whole new ball game with opium in that quantity.

Just for the information of those who are defending him because he is a nice guy. There were people who said Hitler was a nice guy.B)

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according to the thai wife, no opium mentioned, at all, in the 2 thai articles posted here. Solely marijuana.

The second article's title is จับหนุ่มอเมริกันเชียงใหม่ขายลูกอมผสมกัญชา-ฝิ่นดิบ

(my translation) American caught in Chiang Mai selling sweets mixed with ganja - fresh opium.

It then goes on to say จากการตรวจนับของกลางว่ามีกัญญาอัดแท่งรวมทั้งหมด 13 กิโลกรัม ฝิ่น ดิบประมาณ 5 กิโล และพบลูกอมช็อคโกแลตที่มีส่วนผสมของฝิ่นดิบและกัญชาอีกจำนวน 100 ลูก น้ำหนักรวม ประมาณ 1.5 กิโลกรัม

(again my translation) The search uncovered compressed bars of ganja totaling 13 kg, about 5kg of fresh opium and 100 chocolate sweets mixed with opium and ganja, with a weight of around 1.5kg.

.....

I've got a feeling the "fresh opium" (ฝิ่นดิบ) may in fact be hashish.

I guess because he is not located on soi nana in BKK, we should cut him some slack? Or may be because he is of the wrong color from the stereotype drug dealer and only sold to adult from farang land, we should nt hang him high?

hypocrisy at best, he is not different from the Iranians with 'ice' or the Nigerian peddling crack. He is a scumbag for short.

Narrow-mindedness at it's best. Ice and crack are in a completely different league to marijuana. Do you tar people who smoke a bit of pot with the same brush as crack and ice heads? Are bar owners and tobacconists also "scumbags". Do you support the "war on terror"?

You could be rite on the quantity. I ran the two paragraphs I posted through the google translator. Besides I do believe that there is a chance the Thai news papers are as inept at reporting news as the English ones.

Makes no difference it is still more opium than one has for personal use and when it is sold no telling where it will wind up. Even in your own kids system. There is no way to check the distribution at the lower levels. And Bob knew that.

What made you think it was hashish?

Why when you try to flame Mega Rantor do you carry on like it was only marijuana he was selling.

first you put up a post that says he was selling Opium later in the same post you say you think it is only hashish. Finally you try to make it sound like it was only marijuana. if your post had been any longer it would have been he was selling ice cream.:(

Edited by jayjay0
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Bob's a nice guy. Selling opium and the large amount they found could lead to the prosecutor requesting a death sentence. Bob really doesn't deserve this.

Of course he deserves it, the same as any other idiot that sells drugs. Nice guy or not. "Please your honour don't send him to jail, he's really a nice person" I can imagine that working in court.

A jail sentence is expected here in Thailand - that's the risk he took.

But deserving to be put to death!!!!

You're not Albert Pierrepoint by any chance?

On a side note, there were a lot of happy TV posters after having a Spanky burger. wink.gif

Was it cheap?

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More harmless people caught up losing their freedom due to the most archaic laws possible in this, the 21st century. It's really rather distressing that normal citizens, providing a service to other citizens in the community are at risk of losing their freedom because of the stupid law book. Happens all over the world.

The only way this could have happened was someone shopping him. This person will have deliberated over his actions and the fact that he or she was causing an ordinary person to be committed to a horrible prison sentence. I hope that person feels well chuffed with themselves.

I feel quite sick about the whole news.

Poor man. Too trusting i guess was his 'downfall', although the blame must be squarely pointed at the law book.

Making criminals out of ordinary citizens is a far bigger crime.

I guess it's hopeless to hope that he somehow avoids a prison sentence.

Quite dreadful.

I suppose you would class the person that gave my teenage daughter a "laced" joint at a party. harmless? You really have a warped view of life. I trust that they slot this dipstick for a considerable time, and then deport him!

Gave the innocent teenage daughter a "laced joint" come on a joint is a joint and illegle, she should also be "hung High" There are no innocent teenagers they all know much more then adults will ever know.

I have to agree with you if she was innocent why did she take the joint?

Alas you are rite they do know much more than us.:(

Most of have no idea of the effects of high quality marijuana. That is not to say there are not a few here who could go into detail about it. We think back to the 60s and 70s. I have been out of contact with people that know what is happening back in British Columbia where I came from. When I last heard they were trading a kilo of BC Bud for a kilo of Cocaine across the border. That is not the same stuff we had back in the day.

My own experience with it in the 60s was after smoking a half a joint I felt nothing and said give me a drink. all through my party years into the late 70s I noticed that when a joint came out and was passed around most of us one take two tokes and move on to some thing a little bit better. At least in our minds we thought it was better. :)

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Keo translated the article best. If you plug stuff into google trans, and expect it to get things right, you're dreaming. This is a great example where you get all kinds of funny things, such as the misplaced commas, so that it it looks like 13kg of 'opium.' Indeed, it says that the 'kanya' or weed was 13 kg. The 'fin' is only (though substantial) 5 kg. The other pt to mention is the knee-jerk quickness with which some reporting takes place (totally different eg - 'Farang leaps to death'). But when you consider it just doesn't make sense people eating opium for a thrill out. But alot of cannabis lovers are also interested in hash. It's much much more likely that the 'fin' was really hash and because it was dark n gummy was just given a label quickly by police and press alike. I'm sure it will be assayed and the truth will come out. Five kg of opium does seem like an awfully big amount too. Again more reason to suspect it was hash.

Personally, I'm feeling bad for the guy. Yes, he knew the risks and I'm sure he is regretting many many of his actions and living in a version of hell in his own mind already. Poor guy, bad judgment or not. I had the pleasure of working with him as an extra in American Gangster when they filmed it here a few years back. It's just difficult when yo picture someone you know, though you would never be in his shoes, what his reality must now feel like. Freedom is a precious thing.

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I suppose you would class the person that gave my teenage daughter a "laced" joint at a party. harmless? You really have a warped view of life.

Did she give pull the old Clinton "I didn't inhale it dad, honest". Parents can be so gullible!

You could be rite on the quantity. I ran the two paragraphs I posted through the google translator. Besides I do believe that there is a chance the Thai news papers are as inept at reporting news as the English ones.

Makes no difference it is still more opium than one has for personal use and when it is sold no telling where it will wind up. Even in your own kids system. There is no way to check the distribution at the lower levels. And Bob knew that.

What made you think it was hashish?

Why when you try to flame Mega Rantor do you carry on like it was only marijuana he was selling.

first you put up a post that says he was selling Opium later in the same post you say you think it is only hashish. Finally you try to make it sound like it was only marijuana. if your post had been any longer it would have been he was selling ice cream.:(

You seem easily confused, let me spell it out for you...

The FIRST article has no mention of opium. I repeat, NO OPIUM mentioned in the first article. It says he was found with 100 ganja sweets, 10kg of marijuana compressed bricks and 5kg of "black rubber ganja" (ยางกัญชาสีดำ), known to westerners as hashish or hash.

The SECOND article article says he was caught with 100 ganja-opium sweets, 13kg of marijuana compressed bricks and 5kg of fresh opium.

The second article has misreported the hashish as being opium. At least that's how I understand it.

Let me know if you need anything cleared up, or maybe you can just run it through google translate...

Incidentally the last line of the first article says...

ดำเนินการเพิกถอนการอยู่ในราชอาณาจักรและขอขึ้นบัญชีเป็นบุคคลต้องห้าม ตาม พ.ร.บ.คนเข้า

เมือง พ.ศ. 2522 ต่อไปอีกชั้นหนึ่ง

Which seems to suggest that he will be deported and black listed. Not anytime soon I would imagine though.

But oh the horror of it, THINK OF THE CHILDREN!

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lol..yes...I am wierd I suppose. Jurarez is a city full of drug dealers and killers and Chiang Mai is relatively safe in comparison. Do Thailand's way of handling drug dealers make Chiang Mai a safer place to live? Is it worth it to sacrifice a good man every now and then so the rest of us are safe? Do the needs of the many really out weigh the needs of the few?...or the one? (Star Trek)

People smoking joints don't inflict violence on others unlike alcohol consumption. You need to mind your back over drinkers more than smokers.

If you like talking of 'drug dealers' maybe you should talk of tobacco dealers and alcohol peddlers. Those who deal in the former actually sell the product that informs its buyers it will kill them. Imagine that!! Saying it's going to kill you, but go ahead, we want your tax money. Go on, kill yourself.

Dope? Nah, you can't have that, that's dangerous... wait a minute, how do i know... ?

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Personally, I'm feeling bad for the guy. Yes, he knew the risks and I'm sure he is regretting many many of his actions and living in a version of hell in his own mind already. Poor guy, bad judgment or not. I had the pleasure of working with him as an extra in American Gangster when they filmed it here a few years back. It's just difficult when yo picture someone you know, though you would never be in his shoes, what his reality must now feel like. Freedom is a precious thing.

Nicely said. He's in a terrible zone, and this cannot be wished on anyone really. Never mind a decent citizen, silly or not. Humans have it inherent in their make up to make mistakes. Some make bigger ones and end up with bigger regrets.

I wonder if down the track he may be in prison whether this thread might get bumped to see if a group of people could take time to visit him with some food and stuff. Maybe a burger!

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