Posted on 07/28/2018 10:14:10 AM PDT by Mariner
We’re seeing an experiment in action. Over the past few years, more and more countries and states have been legalizing marijuana, and we’re finally getting to see what effect it really has.
There have been all kinds of predictions. The naysayers have been sure that legalizing pot will all but bring the world to its doom, with drug abuse and crime running rampant. And on the other side, pot advocates have all but suggested that it’ll usher in a new era of peace and prosperity, where mankind finally settles its differences over a toke.
Enough time has passed now, though, that we can pretty definitively say what really happened—and it’s not all what you might expect.
10 Car Crashes Go Up, But Fatalities Go Down
When you legalize weed, it seems, you replace a lot of your drunk drivers with high drivers. And that has some interesting side effects.
First off, legalizing marijuana definitely leads to more people smoking marijuana. In Colorado, adult marijuana use has gone up by 29 percent since it was legalized. But a lot of those people picking up joints are putting down beer bottles, especially before driving.
Drunk driving, in Washington state, has gone down nearly 33 percent since 2007. High driving has gone up about 50 percent—but its hard to get much meaning out of that, because marijuana stays in the bloodstream for weeks after the effects wear off.
(Excerpt) Read more at listverse.com ...
Good and bad.
Accidents up, fatalities down.
Kids WILL eat parents edibles. (Child abuse)
Homeless people MIGRATE to states where legal.
Pot tourists have no control.
Etc.
For your interest.
“10 Car Crashes Go Up, But Fatalities Go Down”
Fake news!
After years of decreasing fatalities, up every year since legalization while nationwide still decreasing .
More money does NOT result in better schools.
Cops will focus their efforts toward other crimes.
Cartels are diminished.
Reference?
CO and WA have different data.
“More money does NOT result in better schools. “
Amen.
I don’t support marijuana, but at the very least the DEA needs to put it on the backburner. We have meth and opiates eating away at the country, who cares about kids smoking weed? The opiate and meth crisis is destroying the rust belt in particular.
I heard a theory—Legalize all drugs, but build more prisons.
“When you legalize weed...you replace a lot of your drunk drivers with high drivers. And that has some interesting side effects.”
A drunk driver will blow past a stop sign. A high driver will wait for it to turn green.
;^)
For those who have ever partaken none of this should be all that surprising, particularly the increase in car crashes but decrease in related fatalities. Stoners driving are paranoid and with good reason so they’re extra cautious to the point of sitting at green lights and driving very slowly. But, the music, the conversation, the cell phone ringing, they get utterly absorbed into that so “distracted driving” times ten, bam. But they were crawling along. Homeless increase, well, it attracts dysfunctional substance abusers from other states, yes, but the nature of the drug itself is such that some lose all motivation and end up living on the streets, and don’t care so long as they’re high.
Is this good? No, I don’t think so. But I support a given state’s right to make such determinations. There are far worse intoxicants, and marijuana has no more negative societal impact than alcohol, perhaps it even has less.
Nothing in this article surprises me. Many folks cannot handle more freedom responsibly.
Irresponsible people learn lessons the hard way a good bit of the time, IMO.
Stupid people as well.
Same trend for both.
Down down down till legalization then
Up up up up
Jobs...and more jobs.
If we legalize drugs we won’t be filling the prisons we have.
Unless we start putting illegal aliens in them.
Sure, everyone needs a job... :(
Bummer Thread....Dude.
I heard a presentation recently that made the point that when opioid pills are no longer available, the "patient" seeks them on the illegal market; and, then learns that heroin is approx half the cost per fix.
IIRC, legal marijuana causes the illegal dealers to undersell the licensed sellers; and, the dealers also sell, um, other goods.
And, only slightly changing topics, what about such things as long term health impacts ( bronchogenic carcinoma and emphysema) and short term effects (laziness, stupidity, forgetfulness)?
If I have a say in my state, I will keep marijuana illegal for at least 15 years so that we can perform scientifically designed studies on the long term effects.
And, if rif-raf tend to stay in other states that have legal marijuana? That's a good thing.
Could I see your link?
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