Germans oppose pot legalisation by more than 2:1

[Franknburger]

Before anybody starts celebrating victories or emerges on socio-psychological analysis of "Germans", let's put this poll into context. I haven't found a documentation on the exact question that has been polled, but press reports suggest that it was along the lines of "Do you support complete legalisation of Marihuana or not"?

There had been a more differentiated poll in 2010, which provided the following options for answering:

Maintain or even tighten the (rather liberal) regulation:                 40%
Maintain formal prohibition, but de-criminalise usage:                   30%
Completely legalise possession (but not trade):                              5%
Legalise it similar to alcohol (taxation, sale only to adults, etc.):    19%
No opinion:                                                                                 7%

If we take options 3 & 4 as more-less corresponding to the legalisation option given in the recent FORSA poll, the support for complete legalisation has gone up from 24% in 2010 to 29% in 2013.

It is also worth noting that, unlike the US, the issue isn't discussed much on the political level. Most importantly, no politician has so far presented an estimate of the additional tax revenue, and the reduction in prosecution cost, that could be obtained by legalisation similar to alcohol. We should be easily talking about 1-2 bn € p.a. here. Once such figures enter the public debate, knowing my fiscally sensitive fellow countrymen, I am quite sure the opinion would change substantially towards liberalisation & taxation.

Oh, did I say the issue isn't discussed much politically? Well, there is one exception - Berln's CDU Senator of Interior in 2012 came out with a proposal to reduce the amount below which possession of Cannabis is tolerated from 15 grams to 6 grams. FORSA, the same pollster that did the current poll, in June 2012 polled Berlin citizens' opinion on that proposal: 47% supported less tolerance, 51% were in favour of Berlin's current liberal regulation or wanted even more liberalisation. 34% of respondents had already consumed Cannabis. There is also an interesting East-West split, with people in East Berlin having less consumption experience (27% vs. 38% West), and in majority favouring stronger prosecution.

[Franknburger]

Hilfy, you are missing a number of points here.
First of all, look at the question that was asked: "Are you supporting complete legalisation of marihuana"? A pretty vague question - doesn't make clear whether its legalisation to anyone, or only adults, whether any kind of government control (taxation, no advertisement, quality standards etc.) shall be included, etc. On such a vague question, even I, a strong supporter of controlled legalisation, might have answered "no". This poll was asking a crappy question, we have got a crappy result, and actually still don't have a clue what the German population (or even the hopefully representative sample that was polled) really wants. [And if you are in social science, you should know that - check your source first, before you build your argument on it.]

Secondly - what is the situation in Germany now? Marihuana is illegal, but tolerated. Does that keep anybody from using it? No. The only effect is police having to record anybody who is found possessing marihuana, sending the case to the prosecutor's office, who then turns it down and sends a letter to the incriminated that his case will not be prosecuted further. What a great way to throw taxpayers' money out of the window... [To the American readers: This is one of the reasons why most people in Germany don't bother about the legalisation issue - there is no prosecution or criminalisation].

Thirdly - Drugs damage society. No, damaged people abuse drugs, but the damage has come from somewhere else (I am talking 'mild' drugs here, not Heroine or LSD, there I agree with you). Ever heard of chocolate abuse? Gaming addicts? People spending too much time on the internet? Yeah, let's ban it all. People will find something else (nutmeg is also a mild narcotics, there's cola nuts, various mushrooms, etc.). Doesn't solve anything.

Fourthly - the real danger is with drugs that are not quality controlled and standardised - the "home-distilled, but unfortunately includes methanol" case. Shoe-shine used to be popular for stretching dope. Most drug-related deaths stem from overdosing, because the stuff was purer than expected. These are real, substantial health risks that legalisation can remove.

Finally - the drug market is there, its large, and, when illegal, it creates a huge demand for money-laundering, and nourishes organised crime. Arms smuggling is a great way of balancing the trade flow, especially when it comes to supply sources such as Pakistan and Afghanistan. Ever thought about the social structures such illegal international trade networks create? Devote your academic qualification on a bit of research about how international terror finance works, and then come back here..

[Franknburger]

And for those who are complaining that I'm not providing a proper argument against Marijuana, this forum is absolutely filled with people who fail to provide any reasoning whatsoever for supporting various causes and figures. Yet for some reason only my stance on this seems to be an issue. I don't recall anyone questioning the integrity of my argument when I just recently stated I supported water fluoridation or poured vitriol over me by suggesting that my ancestors must have been avid Hitler supporters because of it. I'm surprised many of you let people get away with suggesting the latter, yet you throw hissy fits when I mention the O word.

Hifly, I am with you when it comes to speculation on your ancestors, which is clearly inappropriate. I tried to address it mildly, but a more explicit statement might have been required:

Before anybody starts celebrating victories or emerges on socio-psychological analysis of "Germans", let's put this poll into context.

OTOH, generalisations like "this forum is absolutely filled with people who fail to provide any reasoning whatsoever", or boosting on your academic qualification is also not really helping discussion.

I assume that you have taken notice of the arguments in my previous post and will comment on them later on.