It was hard not to mention the many blog posts about planking. I share the sentiments of many doing this assignment that the idea of planking is pretty stupid. Good luck to whoever wants to do it. I personally lie down for about 8 hours while I sleep so I feel confident that I can find better things to do whilst I’m awake. BUT. And there is a massive ‘but’ surrounding these activities. To outlaw the practice and make it illegal? What a ridiculous idea. How about criminalising laughing or making it illegal to meet up with your mates at the pub: oh hang on, the bikie laws came close to doing that last one. The government has done well to outlaw fun in this state. It’s hard enough to park your car in a spot that won’t incur a fine. You can’t smoke at the beach anymore. You have to drink beer out of plastic because a few idiots think it’s fun to stab each other in the face after a couple of sherbets. Anyways, my point is that the governing authorities appear all to eager to criminalise an act once the media get their hands on a topic that people want to read about. I don’t like dickheads who talk about themselves and how good they are really loudly on the phone. Should that be made a criminal act? I’ll leave that in your hands.
Going on a tangent, I want to bring up the topic of criminalisation and de-criminalisation. In particular, the decriminalisation of drug possession in Portugal. You may wonder how I got from planking to drug crime, but I think a few lines about planking is more than enough. In 2001 the Portuguese Government decided to decriminalise any acts previously seen as criminal relating to personal possession of drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. The results of this policy implementation are impressive. A report commissioned by the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in April 2009, found that in the five years after personal possession was decriminalized, illegal drug use among teens in Portugal declined and rates of new HIV infections caused by sharing of dirty needles dropped, while the number of people seeking treatment for drug addiction more than doubled (CATO,April, 2009). The numbers speak for themselves, and I have included a link for any interested in further results of the study.
This approach was seen as radical at the time- it still is – but those responsible for being bold enough to tackle a severe problem with an approach that was instantly going to draw mass criticism ought to be commended for actually trying to solve the problem; not just to be seen to be doing the right thing.
The Macquarie Dictionary defines a ‘crime’ as “an act committed or an omission of duty, injurious to the public welfare, for which punishment is prescribed by law, imposed in a judicial proceeding usually brought in the name of the state”. (in Goldsmith et. al, 2006). In my opinion, all laws need to be reviewed regularly and amended appropriately in order to reflect the wants and needs of contemporary society. I don’t for a second suggest that all laws are too strict and everything needs to be decriminalized. I just feel that certain laws, although necessary to maintain public safety, need to be reviewed and updated to achieve real results, such as those seen by the radical policy changes implemented to drug users in Portugal.
Interesting post Brenton. I wonder whether the community were completely supportive of the law changes in Portugal. I think we would have a tough time here implementing something similar, just because it would be hard to convince the public (well, the most vocal ones anyway!).
ReplyDeleteAlyce