Opinion of these "alternative models" for marijuana legalization

[Antonio the Sixth]

Far better than full, unfettered legalization.

I like how BRTD thinks it's a terrible thing if States don't profit off a drug.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Far better than full, unfettered legalization.

I like how BRTD thinks it's a terrible thing if States don't profit off a drug.

The huge windfall states with legal marijuana (which by the way is not "unfettered" are getting now is a bad thing? Colorado has made massive improvements to their education system for one.

I like States to generate revenue by taxing the rich, not by becoming drug dealers by proxy.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Far better than full, unfettered legalization.

I like how BRTD thinks it's a terrible thing if States don't profit off a drug.

The huge windfall states with legal marijuana (which by the way is not "unfettered" are getting now is a bad thing? Colorado has made massive improvements to their education system for one.

I like States to generate revenue by taxing the rich, not by becoming drug dealers by proxy.

So are you opposed to municipal liquor stores or alcohol taxes too?

Honestly Tony, I'll be blunt and say you don't seem to understand legal marijuana in the states that have it at all. You seem to buy into some conservative caricature that there are pot shops on every street corner and stoned people everywhere (I find it pretty amusing that INKS of all people had a more lax attitude toward marijuana.) In reality there's a VERY tightly regulated industry going on (I literally LOLed at you describing it as "unfettered") that's making states millions of dollars, making plenty of people happy, and no one's getting hurt. What's the problem?

Would you seriously vote no on the California referendum in November if you could vote?

Of course I wouldn't vote no, for f**k's sake.

Is it so hard to understand that someone might oppose the "drug war" nonsense without being thrilled by the idea of normalizing the consumption of another addictive and damaging substance (on top of cigarettes, some kinds of alcohols, and even many misused prescription drugs, which I do think are awful things too)?

[Antonio the Sixth]

I'll admit that I'm far from an expert when it comes to the medical effects of marijuana. I have seen pretty serious-looking evidence that it can cause severe damage (and, no, not from "JUST SAY NO!!!1!!1!1111"-type sources), but I don't know exactly how and in whose circumstances. I also know that it makes people less functional in daily life, and that's not a trivial issue when you have students and workers getting stoned frequently. I do think I have legitimate evidence that marijuana has an aggregate negative effect on society.

And yeah, it's not like I'm hung up on marijuana or anything. I support draconian anti-smoking laws, and frankly, if a wholesale ban on selling cigarettes was politically feasible, I'd be seriously tempted by it. Big Tobacco needs to be killed with fire.

Still, you might be right that the Colorado model might be the lesser evil at this point. My preferred solution would be to try and actually get people to stop marijuana by non-coercive means, but I realize that's basically a pipe dream. If, in the next 5 years or so, marijuana consumption hasn't increased significantly in Colorado, then I'll grant you that you were probably right. Still, I'm sure you can understand why the State actively benefiting from an activity I consider socially harmful (even if that's the least worse solution in practice) is a problem to me.

[Antonio the Sixth]

There are permanent brain damages resulting from long-term marijuana use. I have no idea what the doses involved compare to what the average user consumes, but surely the fact that even a few people have their lives seriously affected by this can give you some pause, doesn't it? Of course the same is true for binge drinking - and I definitely think the State should work to discourage that! But in this case "alcohol" is clearly far too broad a category: light beer is obviously not the same as vodka. Sure, let's also talk about how to combat irresponsible drinking, and if certain restrictions can work, then why not? (And yeah, I realize I haven't always been as careful as I should have been with alcohol... though in fairness, I get drunk pretty easily so the amounts I've drunk have never been too extravagant - and it only happens 2 or 3 times a year)

Whether Colorado-style laws actually reduce usage is something we'll only be able to see in a few years. Comparing across State while the law has barely been in effect is obviously disingenuous, as there are plenty of other factors involved. As I said, let's get back to it in 5-10 years and see what the trends look like. If consumption hasn't increased in States after legalization relatively to States that didn't legalize, then I'm willing to support the Colorado model. In this regard the fact that different States have different policies is helpful: experiments like these are the best ways to gather evidence.

Well, it's good that you got your ID checked (and 3 times seems kind of ridiculous, yeah), but is there actually any limit on how much you can buy? And I don't just mean in a single store: if you buy the maximum dose in a store and then head to a different store as soon as you've finished it, drug abuse will remain ridiculously easy.