ronniesoak

My point still stands. I said weed is only used by Teenage boys (mainly, I know girls who do it as well), and criminals. Well 13.4 % of 4 million = 536,000 , and seeming the report Wikipedia references were stats taken from 2001, New Zealand had 245,370 (Stats NZ) involved in the court system in 2001 with 171,759 convicted for standard offending and 74,342 for serious offending, which leaves about 240,000 people unaccounted for to which Stats NZ says we had just under 700000 teenagers in 2001 Yes we have it high, but its in ratio. Which is why I said its not societally prevalent because well everyone here knows its illegal and dismisses it as a youth thing or a criminal thing, that not to say adults don't use it, my father in law does (though he thinks hes hiding it form me) . Plus to be fair I am going on what I feel my society is like which is anecdotal but I live here so I would have a better understanding that someone who quotes stats established by the UN In the population of more than 4 million, 13.4% of those between the ages of 16–64 use cannabis. This ranks as the ninth highest cannabis consumption level in the world

Also not to mention the lack of knowledge out their in regards to it all. For example ecstasy is a Class A drug, however kills almost nobody per year. Often the deaths are caused by other drugs that are thought to be ecstasy or dehydration caused by excessive pill consumption. Ergo should not be a Class A drugs and has many doctors / psychologists wanting to use it for medical purposes. Also Weed has a great effect on sufferers of epilepsy, migraines, seizures and some psycho motor disorders, however its the CBD in weed that has the medicinal benefits not the THC. So yes weed shoudl be used for medicines but either as a pure CBD concoction like a Nasal spray (in development) or as a plant that has had the THC bred out of it (currenlty being done by weed growers in California). This has not been communicated to those who think that getting weed legalized means they can go lie to their doctor about pain usage and expect unlimited pot. Sorry thats not wahts going to happen. My next point will be address in the below response You and me could sit here and throw arguments at each other until the cows come home and neither one of us will change the others ideals, so i would like to keep this thread as civil as possible, which it has been to date but you seem slightly annoyed that I hold an opinion contrary to yours. The reason why I see weed as different to the currently legal use of alcohol and cigarettes is: timing. Scientific evidence exists that suggests Weed use is harmful, but not enough. A metric shit tonne of scientific evidence exists that suggests that Alcohol and Cigarettes are harmful but the thing is those studies came out after they were legalized. Its too late to undo the legalization of alcohol and cigarettes. Too ingrained in our society and economy. Now the issue around Weed, and we are just talking about weed here not Ketamine or anything else is that we now have the science and laws surrounding this stuff to do the research first. Remember smoking was originally marketed as good for you, same with sun bathing, then 15 years later they turned around and said oops we were wrong a bunch of you now have medical issues. The point here is to avoid that. Enough studies exists to suggest that we need to do our research first before blanket legalizing it. You may want it now but what happens in 15 years time when it turns out to cause severe medical issues? People blame the government, the government then has to put more money into treating it, then tonnes of money into making campaigns to lessen its use blah blah blah I want science to say its safe to the 0.05 percentile before supporting it, that's why.

We call it recreational drugs here as a holistic term, i think because we have a massive problem with synthetic highs and other party pills (benzos) that kill a lot of students while NZ also has a massive Amphetamine problem so thats not exactly recreational. But if you want to get pedantic; yes Caffeine, Tanin, theobromine , tyramine, etc

It really is the biggest catch-22 going. I personally see drug use as wrong and IMO should remain illegal. To some degree I judge those who use drugs but as someone who did his degree in Psych and worked for social services I feel for those who are are addicted and its controlled their lives, on the same note if it's legal in your place I can still have my feelings but I really can't scold you are further than I would those who drink. Their is no one stance you can take in regards to drug use and remain clean.

Fair Enough, here in NZ Weed is illegal and commonly only used by teenage men and criminals. Its really not that prevalent, societally.

Is that because, to a certain level, it is legal in your country? Then you should understand how its baffling to those who live in countries where its NOT legal.

Oh im more than happy to be the scape goat for logical change.

THAT WAS ME! So Sorry? / Not Sorry & Hi!

Same, however I respect the Idle Thumbs team quite a lot to give them a pass. Not to mention while its not legal in my country (New Zealand) it is legal in their state.

I guess because I haven't played a city sim for some time the pedestrian / cyclist option is apparent to me.

im going to copy you!

I'm not sure im a 'quiter' so to say more just a serial non-completer of games.

I am in the exact boat, hate my job, it's not what they advertised they do things I object to morally, my boss treats all my opinions as wrong because I'm not as old as him and he bases everything on how much tax he pays and yet I feel bad for looking for other jobs.

It must be so hard to make a game like this .

Nope, Nope, Nope, Nope, Nope, My city fails due to my own inability to play the game, natural disasters are the worst. Somebody WILL mod them in, but I wont be installing that mod.

to what end?

While I am personally against drug use you hit the point on the head. Video games feature drug use heavily, many gaming companies are in California where it's legal and to be honest people like Danielle are a personality to whom is allowed freedom of speech in her work about her issues which brings in a following. If being a recreational drug users adds to the following the companies are probably for it.

I get that too. But I do however find this game hard. Maybe I'm just stupid

I'd say she would be fine as it's legal in that state but I'm personally against the use of drugs so I've never done it. I rarely drink because it can make me sleepy so I've never really got drunk while gaming

Hey Team This is just an introductionary thread to say hello, I listen to many podcasts and have had a brief look at all the forums for each and you just can't be an active member of them all so I have decided to be an active member of just one and I have chosen this one. I have decided that this podcast is my favourite because while Beyond, Bombcast, Rebel FM, Radio Radar, The Patch etc are all great, Idle Thumbs feels genuine in the sense that Chris, Jake, Danielle, Sean and even Nick just come accross as decent human beings with no underlying acting, personality peformance or agenda. So Hi, i think the podcast is great and they talk so often about their great forums so i thought why not join.

Does anyone have any issues with this game (and other strat games) where you want to make it 'right' from the start and you just cannot. Also I dont like how your city has to start from the off ramp. Its logical but its often too far away from the water and so i either spend heaps of $ extending it out or Iconnect two lane roads to the one way roads and that causes issues later. Or do you all just bulldoze later?

Well that would be why.... Going well, the Auditors are on my back though, quite annoying.

cheers! I hope your father(and mother) have many many years ahead of them.

Sorry guys didn't see a stickied introduction thread....