Legalize it?

[Human]

Don't look at it from the buyer point of view - look at it from the grower/dealer point of view. While some people would eschew street marijuana in favor of the regulated stuff, not everyone would, and this is where the grower stands to make profit - precisely because his product is not regulated. He would be able to say anything about the quality, and since there are no regulations, no one would be any the wiser. .

But people WILL be able to tell.
Lets see, option 1: legal, quality controlled marijuana at a fraction of illegal pot, or option2. unregulated higher priced pot.
Some morons would pick option2, but most will pick option 1 if just for the price.

This thread has taken a different turn. For marijuana, it has not been established that it is more dangerous than tobacco. This alone should be sufficient for making it legal.


For more addictive substances like cocaine/meth, anyone know what would the effects be of legalisation? Would consumption go up?

[denton]

For more addictive substances like cocaine/meth, anyone know what would the effects be of legalisation? Would consumption go up?

Hard to tell. I'd say: Initially yes, but over time and with proper education and treatment options, it wouldn't be worse than it is today.

As far as I know, Portugal changed its laws a couple of years ago and decriminalized the possession of small amounts of drugs. The effect was pretty much that drug use among teenagers dropped, there were fewer HIV infections and more people sought therapy (as there was less fear).

I just found an article on that actually.. http://www.time.com/time/health/article ... 46,00.html The study was conducted by a liberal think tank, though, so it _might_ be somewhat biased. Although it does make sense to me.

Of course the decriminalization of possession of small amounts is different from a complete legalization..