More dumb talk of legalizing pot

[This_person]

This one has a new twist.... tax it to pay for :drumroll: substance abuse programs!

Talk about creating your own market!

[Mojo]

If they sold it and put a high tax on it, it would pay for a lot of things.

[Tilted (Premo)]

Originally Posted by This_person

This one has a new twist.... tax it to pay for :drumroll: substance abuse programs!

Talk about creating your own market!

There's already a substantial market for substance abuse programs, no?

Bigger picture though - this is a battle that 'prohibition-ists' are going to lose eventually. The future belongs to the young, and they are much less inclined to restrict personal liberty (in this particular regard) than the generation that is currently steering the regulatory ship.

[Rosehaven]

Yep, it's gonna happen.
The driving force will be the tax dollars that are available. Secondarily, we'll argue about health concerns....ie. cigarettes and alcohol.

[Tilted (Premo)]

Originally Posted by This_person

Yep. So, creating a bigger market is good?

I didn't suggest that it was, I just made a point that related to your statement about 'creating (its) own market'. Further, I don't necessarily accept a premise of your question (i.e. that legalization would create a bigger market for substance abuse programs). Perhaps it would, but I'm not at all convinced.

Originally Posted by This_person

I suspect it will be legalized, and then taxed to oblivion to pay for what it costs in new crime, reduced productivity, health costs, work place and personal "accidents" (is it really an accident if it was foreseeable and preventable?), etc.

The young tend to get smarter as they get older.

What's that got to do with it? We aren't talking about the decision whether or not to use pot, but the decision whether or not to have it be illegal. Is 'tend to get smarter' code for 'tend to have their notion of what liberty means perverted'? If so, then I can't really argue with you - it is true. Many people's notion of liberty becomes more self-centric, more arbitrary, less pure, as they get older. Some people venerate liberty, per se - some people just venerate (some of) the liberties it affords.

To this notion that the legalization of pot would lead to a huge increase in its usage - I think it's a cartoon-ish notion. There are many other factors which serve to discourage its use, and some of them weigh more heavily on a lot of would be (and actual) pot users than the current state of the law (e.g. requirements of their job). Generally speaking, people aren't as concerned about the laws against pot, per se, as many would like to believe that they are.

[Baja28 (Premo)]

Originally Posted by Rosehaven

Yep, it's gonna happen.
The driving force will be the tax dollars that are available. Secondarily, we'll argue about health concerns....ie. cigarettes and alcohol.

YAY!! Then we'll have the already brain dead walking around going: Hey dude, wus up? hur hur hur....

[kwillia]

Originally Posted by Baja28

YAY!! Then we'll have the already brain dead walking around going: Hey dude, wus up? hur hur hur....

We already have that... do you have Lance on 'ignore'...

[bohman]

Originally Posted by Tilted

What's that got to do with it? We aren't talking about the decision whether or not to use pot, but the decision whether or not to have it be illegal. Is 'tend to get smarter' code for 'tend to have their notion of what liberty means perverted'? If so, then I can't really argue with you - it is true. Many people's notion of liberty becomes more self-centric, more arbitrary, less pure, as they get older. Some people venerate liberty, per se - some people just venerate (some of) the liberties it affords.

To this notion that the legalization of pot would lead to a huge increase in its usage - I think it's a cartoon-ish notion. There are many other factors which serve to discourage its use, and some of them weigh more heavily on a lot of would be (and actual) pot users than the current state of the law (e.g. requirements of their job). Generally speaking, people aren't as concerned about the laws against pot, per se, as many would like to believe that they are.

Thank you. That's one of the smarter posts that I've seen here for a long time. I hate to break the news to everyone, but most of the people who are inclined to smoke pot (or consume any other type of drug) already do so. Marijuana laws don't really have much to do with preventing drug use, they simply dictate the legal consequences of smoking (if you get caught).

[chernmax]

People manning the legalize pot complaint hotline!

[Animal]

Originally Posted by This_person

The science shows it's addictive, and really, actually is a gateway drug. For everybody? No, of course not - but statistically for more than those who do not partake.

The science? Are you talking about the same science type people that say that global warming is man-made? Study says marijuana no gateway drug | Science Blog

The 10th allows for the people, the states, to regulate a lot of things. There is no inherent right to get high - that's up to the people, the states. "Smarter" means controlling the use of substances that need control, not taking away liberties.

True, there is no inherent right unless one considers life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as a right. As to control that works really well for tobacco and alcohol, huh? They are both controlled and still many die or suffer from those that use them every day.

At issue is the cost of continued combat against a drug that doesn't need the level of effort that currently is being expended upon it. Estimates show that the national war on marijuana costs in excess of $10 billion a year to investigate, arrest, prosecute, and jail marijuana criminals. Additionally, with an estimated $131 billion annual market the loss of tax revenues is being estimated at over $31 billion a year. So right away the cost to the public to battle this evil is $41+ billion annually. That loss/cost seems to be an excessive waste to me.

Legalizing it, taxing it and devising better means to detect impairment/recent use (like saliva testing) would be more cost effective and provide a means of control that I see as being more balanced with personal liberty and public responsibility in our supposedly free nation.