Poison or panacea: a decade of parliamentary discourse on cannabis regulation in Slovenia = Strup ali lek : desetletje parlamentarnih razprav o regulaciji konoplje v Sloveniji
Cannabis is the most prevalent controlled substance in Slovenia, and its legal status is fraught with controversy. In the past decade, several legislative proposals unsuccessfully attempted to transform the regulation of industrial, medical and non-medical cannabis. This article employs critical dis...
| Authors: | ; |
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| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
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2024
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| In: |
Revija za kriminalistiko in kriminologijo
Year: 2024, Volume: 75, Issue: 4, Pages: 332-348 |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Summary: | Cannabis is the most prevalent controlled substance in Slovenia, and its legal status is fraught with controversy. In the past decade, several legislative proposals unsuccessfully attempted to transform the regulation of industrial, medical and non-medical cannabis. This article employs critical discourse analysis of parliamentary discourse on the proposed changes to cannabis regulation in the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia from 2013 to 2024. It identifies the discourse participants’ main narratives and maps the social power relations involved in cannabis regulation. The proponents of less stringent regulation of cannabis initially relied on the fantastic narrative emphasising the magical properties of cannabis, but later adopted the compassionate narrative, accentuating the suffering of medical patients with difficulties in accessing cannabis. The opponents of regulatory change have adopted the public health narrative stressing the dangers of cannabis use and the virtues of cannabis prohibition. The public health narrative is occasionally displaced by the moral panic narrative asserting the threat of moral deterioration, widespread lethargy, etc., as consequences of greater cannabis availability. All discourse participants use the economic narrative, highlighting either fiscal gains or costs, while the once-leading criminality narrative is effectively absent in the parliamentary discourse on cannabis. The analysis shows that cannabis is primarily framed as a public health issue, with public health experts emerging as the dominant force in parliamentary cannabis discourse. Despite broad mobilisation to change cannabis regulation, the status quo remains undisturbed. Konoplja je najbolj razširjena prepovedana droga v Sloveniji, vprašanje njenega pravnega statusa pa sproža številne polemike. V zadnjem desetletju je bilo več neuspešnih zakonodajnih predlogov, ki so želeli poseči v ureditev konoplje za industrijsko, medicinsko in rekreativno uporabo. Članek se poslužuje kritične analize diskurzov v parlamentarnih razpravah o predlogih sprememb ureditve v Državnem zboru Republike Slovenije med letoma 2013 in 2024. V analizi so identificirani glavni narativi udeležencev teh razprav in prikazana razmerja družbene moči na področju regulacije konoplje. Sprva so zagovorniki ohlapnejše regulacije izpostavljali čudežne lastnosti konoplje, kasneje pa so prešli na sočuten narativ, ki poudarja stisko bolnikov zaradi oteženega dostopa do konoplje. Nasprotniki sprememb se poslužujejo narativa javnega zdravja, ki opozarja na nevarnosti uporabe konoplje in poudarja koristnost prepovedi. Narativ javnega zdravja občasno izpodrine narativ moralne panike, ki izpostavlja grožnje vsesplošnega moralnega propada, letargije ipd. ki bi jih povzročila večja dostopnost konoplje. Vsi udeleženci diskurza uporabljajo ekonomski narativ, ki izpostavlja bodisi finančne koristi bodisi stroške predlaganih zakonodajnih sprememb, medtem ko je nekoč prevladujoči narativ o kriminaliteti praktično izginil iz parlamentarnih razprav. Analiza pokaže, da je konoplja obravnavana predvsem kot javnozdravstveno vprašanje, strokovnjaki s tega področja pa imajo v parlamentarnih razpravah največji vpliv. Kljub obširnim prizadevanjem za spremembo pravnega statusa konoplje ostaja status quo nedotaknjen. |
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| Item Description: | Literaturverzeichnis: Seite 345-348 |
| ISSN: | 0034-690X |
