http://hayleycrim2027.blogspot.com/2011/05/planking-offence.html
'Planking' has drawn much attention over the past week, mainly due to social media sites. The behaviour consists of photographing oneself in a position that resembles a plank of wood - stiff, flat and faced down - in bizarre and funny places and then posting them on facebook. Seems pretty harmless? The news have been all over a man fell to his death off an apartment balcony after pulling a planking stunt. Since then the news have been focusing on the harmful consequences of planking. A few days ago the news reported a woman who sustained head injuries from falling off a 2m wall giving a planking demonstration to her friends. Planking has been widely condemned by authorities, though the act is not illegal. However, a man from Gladstone was found planking on a cop car and was charged with being found on police establishment without lawful excuse. Similarly, I was watching the evening news the other night and there was mention of this substance called Kronic. It's not actually an illicit drug and it's sold over the counter at adult shops, tabacconists and herbal shops. However, it mimics the effects of cannabis and can be up to 100 times as strong (key words being: 'can be up to'). Also, 'health experts fear users of the drug...face the same adverse effects of cannabis including heart palpitations, severe hallucinations, delusions and psychosis' (Noone 2011). The substance has been on the market for around four years, but only recently has it been brought into the spotlight because it has been discovered that its use is widespread throughout the mining industry, with several using while on the job.
The whole thing has reminded me of what we've been discussing in class about moral panics and 'law and order politics'. After the recent attention that's been brought to the substance, apparently, the Intergovernmental Committee on Drugs (IGCD) are now pushing to have the ingredients in Kronic listed as poisons. Moreover, politicians are now looking to ban the substance or regulate its use. The Australian Sex Party's president, Fiona Pattern, has spoken out and believes that these reactions are based on hearsay and without any proof of harmful effects of the substance. Some, people like to smoke the smushy stuff on the inside of banana skins for a mild high, dubbed 'mellow yellow', is our government going to try to ban bananas as well? Which leads to the question: if Kronic is banned then where will it end?
Noone, R 2011, 'Call for kronic smokers to be sacked', The Daily Telegraph, 20 May, accessed 28 May, <http://www.news.com.au/national/fake-pot-known-as-kronic-is-a-very-chronic-concern/story-e6frfkvr-1226059326932>
