Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
You don't know what kinds of activism I do in my day to day life, and it is absolutely ridiculous to say that I have to prove that I do activism to talk about how legalization affects drug cartels.
I didn't say you had to prove anything. I'm simply arguing that some would like more concrete solutions.
No it isn't. Not everyone who smokes gets medical MJ. Also, Mexican weed sucks anyway, the good stuff is grown indoors. Who buys the Mexican crap anymore? I'll tell you, the people in the ghetto's.
Mexico has good weed its just that states like Texas keeps it and passes the garbage to other states.
I never asked you to stop. Just don't discount the concerns of others.
There seems to be 2 possible concerns brought up by another person.
1. If legalized, the cops will focus on other crimes and I might get targeted.
2. If legalized, the state might try and get more money from taxpayers.
I would reply:
1. Of course, the goal is to redirect the tax money towards more productive efforts. If you are stealing cars then the cops should focus on you instead of a pothead. In my state/city, legalization wouldn't change how cops do business. They have enough homicide, rape, and theft to keep them busy.
2. The state is already getting money from you. Unless you live in a state that has decriminalized marijuana you are paying to house potheads and the average cost to house an inmate is $40K. Some states do let you take probation, but some don't and if you don't have the money for probation or an attorney that point is moot anyway.
Take AZ for example, possession is a felony and subject to incarceration for 4-24 months.
There seems to be 2 possible concerns brought up by another person.
1. If legalized, the cops will focus on other crimes and I might get targeted.
2. If legalized, the state might try and get more money from taxpayers.
I would reply:
1. Of course, the goal is to redirect the tax money towards more productive efforts. If you are stealing cars then the cops should focus on you instead of a pothead. In my state/city, legalization wouldn't change how cops do business. They have enough homicide, rape, and theft to keep them busy.
2. The state is already getting money from you. Unless you live in a state that has decriminalized marijuana you are paying to house potheads and the average cost to house an inmate is $40K. Some states do let you take probation, but some don't and if you don't have the money for probation or an attorney that point is moot anyway.
Take AZ for example, possession is a felony and subject to incarceration for 4-24 months.
If one added up the costs of criminalization and subtracted what criminalization brings in I believe the numbers would be a gain for the state and would be a good reply to those with concerns.
Is Washington the state that has the state owned liquor stores?
In either case, why would we expect the government not to go after black market dealers? They can make their job easier by letting the suppliers and customers produce, buy, and sell as much as they want and setting a tax rate that is lower than the black market price would be. It's counterproductive to legalize marijuana, but then set the legal price higher than the black market price.
Substitute mafia for drug cartel and I agree, but that's always been the case. The government is represented by the voters and while the WA government may be allowed to control the supply, distribution, and price, the WA voters can vote to change that practice.
The state-owned liquor stores were done away with a couple of years ago. The tax rates on MJ were set by the ballot measure, which were ridiculously high (pun intended) in order to mollify public sector unions, in particular police unions. It is not "counterproductive to legalize marijuana, but then set the legal price higher than the black market price" from their perspective. They rake in all that tax revenue, yet still retain their bureaucratic empire devoted to going after black market dealers. It is a win-win for them.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I didn't. I addressed the concern, and linked to further discussion.
