Mexican Presidential Race 1 July 2018.

Quote: Wizard

I'm always open to seeing numbers, but how would they know usage rates before legalization? I would also not be surprised if there was/is a temporary uptick just due to it being a new thing and out-of-state people buying it. Also, if some are using in lieu of prescription drugs, or were previously suffering from pain or nausea*, which marijuana helped, then more power to them.

You will never know for sure, but we already estimate. Here is the thing, though. Don't expect the street dealers to just vanish if we legalize.

Lets use just cocaine as a case study. Most of the profit is because it is so illegal. Moving it is very difficult. Almost anyone could probably sneak a key in. But the Tony Montanas of the world need lots of keys brought in, every month. If it was legalized, the feds would tax it at a very high rate. Same as cigarettes in NYC, this will ensure people try to bring in illegal supply.

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Bottom line, I tend to think I'm a centrist about most big issues, but when it comes to marijuana I am all the way in favor of legalization.

Legalization is coming because of folks like you and those like me who are tired of the war on drugs and are tired of losing our freedoms over it all. To me the question is will the majority of the USA be willing to let the herd get thinned as the negatives hit.

Quote: AZDuffman

Don't expect the street dealers to just vanish if we legalize.

Of course not. Even in states like Washington, Nevada, and Colorado, the street dealers are undercutting the prices of the legal dispensaries, which are rather expensive. Also, I almost never make sweeping statements that some change will be all good and no bad. Just about any change in the law will have pros and cons -- it is just a matter of weighing them.

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Legalization is coming because of folks like you and those like me who are tired of the war on drugs and are tired of losing our freedoms over it all. To me the question is will the majority of the USA be willing to let the herd get thinned as the negatives hit.

Exactly! I'm willing to accept more drug addicts at the benefit of ending the war on drugs and gaining more freedom. On almost all things, I oppose the government standing in the way of two consenting adults doing business that does not directly harm anybody else.

Quote: AZDuffman

Lets use just cocaine as a case study. Most of the profit is because it is so illegal. Moving it is very difficult. Almost anyone could probably sneak a key in. But the Tony Montanas of the world need lots of keys brought in, every month. If it was legalized, the feds would tax it at a very high rate. Same as cigarettes in NYC, this will ensure people try to bring in illegal supply.

I remember George McGovern suggesting the US legalize cocaine back when he was running for POTUS. Brazil said if the US legalized coke, they would quit making their payments to the IMF. Never heard about legalizing again.

Quote: petroglyph

I remember George McGovern suggesting the US legalize cocaine back when he was running for POTUS. Brazil said if the US legalized coke, they would quit making their payments to the IMF. Never heard about legalizing again.

Interesting as I thought Brazil was a net importer and the second largest coke market?

Quote: Wizard

Exactly! I'm willing to accept more drug addicts at the benefit of ending the war on drugs and gaining more freedom. On almost all things, I oppose the government standing in the way of two consenting adults doing business that does not directly harm anybody else.

A serious question, though. Would you accept the "thinning of the herd?" I have not been to a pot dispensary, but I assume you can just walk in and shop. Lets assume it was all legalized and you could walk in and get heroin, coke, and Blue Sky Meth, all you want. This will lead to more ODs and just more deaths as lets face it, these drugs destroy a person. Would this bother you personally? How do you think the larger population would feel?

Quote: AZDuffman

Interesting as I thought Brazil was a net importer and the second largest coke market?

They may have just been a big refiner after the raw product drifted down the Amazon, or an export hub? Dunno, that would have been around 72, funny that that statistic stuck in my head .

Quote: AZDuffman

A serious question, though. Would you accept the "thinning of the herd?" I have not been to a pot dispensary, but I assume you can just walk in and shop. Lets assume it was all legalized and you could walk in and get heroin, coke, and Blue Sky Meth, all you want. This will lead to more ODs and just more deaths as lets face it, these drugs destroy a person. Would this bother you personally? How do you think the larger population would feel?

I don't want to say I favor "thinning the heard," but I do believe that government nannying should go only so far. Not that you asked, but I am fine with government money being spent on drug abuse treatment, although I know that that area of full of taxpayer and insurance abuse.

To answer your question, I tend to prefer to say that I favor decriminalizing drugs. I'm not sure exactly how I would do it, but you would not be able to buy meth at Walgreens. Well, maybe the one where Nathan works. However, police resources would not be wasted going after meth dealers as long as they were being discreet about it.

There was a whole season of The Wire, where the city of Baltimore decriminalized drugs in on a certain crime-ridden block. It was never an official thing, but the word got. I won't get into the whole thing, but having lived in Baltimore for nine years, I would have totally supported it.

Quote: Wizard

To answer your question, I tend to prefer to say that I favor decriminalizing drugs. I'm not sure exactly how I would do it, but you would not be able to buy meth at Walgreens. Well, maybe the one where Nathan works. However, police resources would not be wasted going after meth dealers as long as they were being discreet about it.

That is kind of where I am, but I don't think it stops the violence. It would mean that Walter would not have to pay the mules he was too cheap to want to pay, but Tuco would be just as violent when someone tried to move into his territory. But at least I could buy drain opener at THD again.

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There was a whole season of The Wire, where the city of Baltimore decriminalized drugs in on a certain crime-ridden block. It was never an official thing, but the word got. I won't get into the whole thing, but having lived in Baltimore for nine years, I would have totally supported it.

Which season?

Quote: AZDuffman

That is kind of where I am, but I don't think it stops the violence. It would mean that Walter would not have to pay the mules he was too cheap to want to pay, but Tuco would be just as violent when someone tried to move into his territory. But at least I could buy drain opener at THD again.

I think we're not too far apart on this issue. I will let your comment above be the last word (not counting this one).

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Which season?

That was season 3. I loved how they called that block of the city "Hamsterdam." As I recall, they never explained the origin of the term, but I interpreted it as it being a cute abuse of Amsterdam.

Quote: Wizard

That was season 3. I loved how they called that block of the city "Hamsterdam." As I recall, they never explained the origin of the term, but I interpreted it as it being a cute abuse of Amsterdam.

I will check that one out, so far Season 2 is the one I preferred and didn't watch much beyond that.