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I never knew laws were so bizzare in Indonesia.


Gorgon

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http://www.japantime...20120921a9.html

 

It would be interesting to know what the effect of draconian drug laws have been. Are there markedly fewer drug addicts or just more people in prison.

 

It's a good idea to know the law when you are in a different country.

Either way I hope that the consulate takes this up, he should be tried by his home country's courts. Cultural relativism and all that jazz.

I'd say the answer to that question is kind of like the answer to "who's the sucker in this poker game?"*

 

*If you can't tell, it's you. ;)

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Backwards countries are continuing being backwards. It would be easier just to the deport the guy.

"Some men see things as they are and say why?"
"I dream things that never were and say why not?"
- George Bernard Shaw

"Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man."
- Friedrich Nietzsche

 

"The amount of energy necessary to refute bull**** is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it."

- Some guy 

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http://www.japantime...20120921a9.html

 

It would be interesting to know what the effect of draconian drug laws have been. Are there markedly fewer drug addicts or just more people in prison.

 

 

Personally I think this is a ridiculously strict penalty for a minor offense. But Muslim countries are very strict on drug related offenses. I travel to the Middle East for work regularly and there in most countries if you get caught bringing drugs into the country you could face the death penalty. So you could argue the teenager got off easy

"Abashed the devil stood and felt how awful goodness is and saw Virtue in her shape how lovely: and pined his loss”

John Milton 

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” -  George Bernard Shaw

"What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead" - Nelson Mandela

 

 

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http://www.japantime...20120921a9.html

 

It would be interesting to know what the effect of draconian drug laws have been. Are there markedly fewer drug addicts or just more people in prison.

 

 

Personally I think this is a ridiculously strict penalty for a minor offense. But Muslim countries are very strict on drug related offenses. I travel to the Middle East for work regularly and there in most countries if you get caught bringing drugs into the country you could face the death penalty. So you could argue the teenager got off easy

 

Well take it from somebody whose (geographically) closest neighbour is Indonesia: Indonesia is not so much a Muslim country (although it is the most populous one in the world) as it is an Asian country, and Asian countries hate drugs. Stupid, but that's how it is. They don't even drink much alcohol (so hey, at least they're consistent in they're vilification of drugs, unlike Western countries).

 

I just thought that it was worth pointing out that Indonesia's drug laws come more from that influence, although this century it is true that fundamentalist Islamic culture (mostly funded by extremists in Saudi Arabia) has tried to exert more sway in Indonesia on things like alcohol and porn. There's a big liberal pushback against that sort of restrictive socially conservative ****, too, though. And the people pushing back are Muslims themselves (hard not to be in a 90% Muslim country). It's the same story as in Turkey. Liberal Muslims vs extremist Muslims. It's the same story in the United States, too. Liberal Christians (Democrats) vs extremist Christians (Republicans).

 

The world moves forward. One day we will be rid of the current batch of bat**** social conservatives (even in Asia and the Mid East) as the younger generations replace them. I know that at least in Australia, conservatives my age are pretty okay with gay marriage and they want to solve and prevent global warming. They're also pretty lax about religion (at least by US standards - I still consider them pretty non-secular and extreme).

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http://www.japantime...20120921a9.html

 

It would be interesting to know what the effect of draconian drug laws have been. Are there markedly fewer drug addicts or just more people in prison.

 

 

Personally I think this is a ridiculously strict penalty for a minor offense. But Muslim countries are very strict on drug related offenses. I travel to the Middle East for work regularly and there in most countries if you get caught bringing drugs into the country you could face the death penalty. So you could argue the teenager got off easy

 

Well take it from somebody whose (geographically) closest neighbour is Indonesia: Indonesia is not so much a Muslim country (although it is the most populous one in the world) as it is an Asian country, and Asian countries hate drugs. Stupid, but that's how it is. They don't even drink much alcohol (so hey, at least they're consistent in they're vilification of drugs, unlike Western countries).

 

I just thought that it was worth pointing out that Indonesia's drug laws come more from that influence, although this century it is true that fundamentalist Islamic culture (mostly funded by extremists in Saudi Arabia) has tried to exert more sway in Indonesia on things like alcohol and porn. There's a big liberal pushback against that sort of restrictive socially conservative ****, too, though. And the people pushing back are Muslims themselves (hard not to be in a 90% Muslim country). It's the same story as in Turkey. Liberal Muslims vs extremist Muslims. It's the same story in the United States, too. Liberal Christians (Democrats) vs extremist Christians (Republicans).

 

The world moves forward. One day we will be rid of the current batch of bat**** social conservatives (even in Asia and the Mid East) as the younger generations replace them. I know that at least in Australia, conservatives my age are pretty okay with gay marriage and they want to solve and prevent global warming. They're also pretty lax about religion (at least by US standards - I still consider them pretty non-secular and extreme).

 

You have raised some good points about the Philippines and where there conservative values come from. There is a huge difference between liberal and conservative Muslim countries so I understand what you are saying.

"Abashed the devil stood and felt how awful goodness is and saw Virtue in her shape how lovely: and pined his loss”

John Milton 

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” -  George Bernard Shaw

"What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead" - Nelson Mandela

 

 

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Saying Asian countries hate drugs is hyperbole. Japan, for example, loves them some booze. The native alcohol, Sake, is a wine made from rice. Beer is immensely popular there as well. You can almost certainly find Japanese beers (big brands like Asahi or Kirin,) in more upscale grocery stores. And notice that the culprit was a Japanese teen in possession of marijuana.

Edited by AGX-17
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Saying Asian countries hate drugs is hyperbole. Japan, for example, loves them some booze. The native alcohol, Sake, is a wine made from rice. Beer is immensely popular there as well. You can almost certainly find Japanese beers (big brands like Asahi or Kirin,) in more upscale grocery stores. And notice that the culprit was a Japanese teen in possession of marijuana.

 

As Tigranes pointed out, 'alcohol' is not synonymous with 'drugs'. Alcohol is but ONE hard drug. And it is a hard drug which, for whatever stupid reason, most of the world's societies have decided to treat differently to the others (for the record I am pro the legalisation and regulation of drugs, especially soft drugs).

 

And yet, even with alcohol you should still note the huge per capita consumption rate gap for alcohol between Western and Asian countries (which, IMHO, is a good thing for Asia from a health perspective).

 

It doesn't matter that a Japanese teen was the one arrested with possession of marijuana. Marijuana is still illegal in Japan, and the penalties for possession even in Japan are much more harsh than those of Western countries.

 

Japan

 

Penalties for possession or use of marijuana in Japan are severe' date=' and convicted offenders can expect long jail sentences and fines.[52'] Possession of any amount, as little as 0.1 g, is punishable by jail sentence for up to 5 years and/or a fine of up to 30,000,000 yen (USD 344 790).[53] Moreover, the defendant has to stay in police custody for at least a few weeks until a court decision is made.

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I wonder what Indonesian courts have to say about cats eating catnip, or monkeys and elephants eating fermented fruits. Drugs are not legal or illegal based on objective criteria. It's tradition, historical accident.

Nothing accidental about it.

Religious and cultural bans on alcohol/drugs were often of vital importance and would sometimes decide which side of muslim/christian divide you'd join.

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