Posted on 01/09/2019 10:03:03 AM PST by Kaslin
Ten states and Washington, D.C., have now legalized adult use of marijuana.
Supporters of America's long war on drugs said legalization would create disaster. Has it? No.
Colorado and Washington offer the longest points of comparison because weed has been legal in those states now for five years.
More people in Colorado tried marijuana after legalization, but that's not a surprise.
Colorado's crime rate did rise a bit. But many things influence crime rates. Washington state's violent crime rate rose a little but slightly less than the national average.
In California, people I interviewed said legalization made the streets safer. "It's cleaned up the corner," said one woman. Marijuana stores "have a lot of security (and) pay attention to who's on the sidewalk."
Sounds good to me.
But drug warriors are not convinced. Paul Chabot, a former anti-drug policy advisor for Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, tells me that legalization has been a disaster.
"Colorado youth have an 85 percent higher marijuana use rate than the rest of the country," he says in my new video on marijuana legalization.
But he is wrong. Federal and state surveys and the New England Journal of Medicine report that teen marijuana use dropped a little in Colorado. Maybe there's something about legal businesses, with the dreary name "dispensaries," that makes weed less sexy to kids.
But there is bad news: The driving death rate increased in Colorado and Washington after legalization. But the data isn't clear -- driving deaths are up even more in some neighboring states like Idaho, where weed is still banned.
Chabot says, "Pot driving fatalities in Colorado are up 151 percent!"
That's true, but that statistic is misleading because traces of marijuana stay in a person's system for a long time. Some of those people may have used marijuana weeks before.
A more stringent measure that may indicate whether someone was actually high at the time of an accident suggests an increase of 84 percent.
That's terrible, but the numbers of accidents are so small -- 35 in all of Colorado in 2017, up from 19 in 2014 -- it's hard to draw conclusions. That deserves more study.
If anti-drug warriors like Chabot want to look seriously at the statistics, they should also include the harm done by drug prohibition itself.
It's nearly impossible to overdose on pot. But banning marijuana drives sales into the black market, where criminals do the selling. And criminals are more likely to settle their disagreements with guns.
They don't perform the reliable quality controls that legal drug sellers must do to please their customers.
On the black market, customers take their chances. Then, when things go wrong, anti-drug voices cry out: "See? Drug markets are inherently unsafe!"
Banning drugs doesn't stop teens or adults from using them. Anyone who wants the stuff knows how to get it. One survey found that teens said it's easier to buy weed than alcohol. Alcohol is rarely sold in schools, but banning marijuana creates fat profits that inspire dealers to recruit students to sell to their peers.
Then there are the billions of dollars spent by law enforcement -- $900 per second. (That's just the federal cost. Total spending is much higher.) And the million people arrested yearly for drug violations.
I suggest to Chabot that drug prohibition has worked out as badly as alcohol prohibition did nearly 100 years ago.
"Just because something doesn't work doesn't mean that we end it," he replies. "Doesn't mean we quit."
I say failure sometimes does mean you should quit, because you're doing more harm than good.
"No, because then we give up, and that's not American," Chabot says.
Well, today, two-thirds of Americans say marijuana should be legal. One state at a time, with New York and New Jersey about to join the list, Americans are giving up on marijuana prohibition.
Good. Adults should have the right to make their own decisions about what to put in their own bodies.
For traffic, there’s no breathalyzer for that in use, yet, as far as I know. During a car stop in your state, do they have anything with them or on record to show that their consumption or possession is legal? Do medicinal users have anything on record or with them?
Marijuana destroys lives. The democrats want it as it makes people stupid so they vote for democrats.
BINGO!
You said the magic word.
No duck, however, and no $100.00 bill.
Sorry about that!
I don’t get it how anyone can smoke that stinking weed.
Bullshite!
I was completely unemployable due to mental illness for close to 20 years. Was prescribed medicines that did not help for long, it at all.
In Jan 2015 I weighed 289. I was on multiple meds & my psychiatrist was telling me I needed electro-shock ‘therapy’. I was in bad shape wondering if I would live out the year. In February of that year a very dear friend suggested I give cannabis a try. Wife & I were desperate enough for me to give it a try. 4 grams of cannabis flower were used to make canna butter and with that some quarter sized oatmeal cookies were made.
Turns out cannabis treated ALL my symptoms. I began using small amounts daily. Long story short, I’ve lost 116 lbs of flab. Take no pharmaceutical meds and am currently working two jobs. All because cannabis treats my symptoms perfectly.
That is a good thing for marijuana but 99% are smoking the weed and getting their brains fried.
Do you so say?
Don’t disagree with “consistency.”
Still not seeing an answer: Should alcohol and tobacco be illegal because they're harmful to body and soul - yes or no?
Sure it's harmful - as are alcohol, tobacco, and fatty foods. What's the conservative policy conclusion?
You don’t know that cuz’ you aren’t watching 99% of what anyone does lol!
Are you high?
Here is my answer, again:
Disagree with legalizing yet another substance KNOWN to create massive social problems and lay even more massive costs on society.
It may be “consistent” to make alcohol and tobacco illegal, but that horse is long out of the barn.
KEEPING marijuana illegal is the point; you KNOW that as soon as marijuana is legalized nationally, the movement to legalize ALL the other narcotic drugs will ramp up!
LIEberals NEVER stop! They will keep on until they destroy America, and you also KNOW that is their only intention!
I’m done arguing with you - we are wasting our time and annoying the pig!
The anti-tobacco side seems to have quite a bit of momentum, and has certainly succeeded in bringing about substantial impediments to tobacco use.
And with half of Americans having used marijuana, that horse is also pretty well out of the barn.
you KNOW that as soon as marijuana is legalized nationally, the movement to legalize ALL the other narcotic drugs will ramp up!
Nonsense - other drugs are generally more dangerous, and all substantially less popular, than marijuana.
What part about “I’m done arguing with you - we are wasting our time and annoying the pig!” do you not get!
And yet here you are again.
I'm actually talking to the lurkers.
>>KEEPING marijuana illegal is the point; you KNOW that as soon as marijuana is legalized nationally, the movement to legalize ALL the other narcotic drugs will ramp up!<<
_____
So you would trash the 10th Amendment so you can have fedgov keep mj illegal? President Trump disagrees with you. He supports medical mj and letting the states decide their mj policies. Here is Trump speaking faborably toward leaving legalization to the states =>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M53XLBd54Y
Just high on life. Don’t need anything else :)
This is a battle between good and evil!
I’m on the side of good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M53XLBd54Y
This is a battle between good and evil!
I’m on the side of good.
You seem to be implying that President Trump is on the side of evil.
There’s no filter on a pipe or a cigar either!
Correct. And they too cause cancers of the lip, mouth and lungs. The cancer rate for those is lower because there aren’t as many people using tobacco those ways, than people who smoke cigarettes.
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