5 ms·

You seem oblivious to the fact that alcohol being available just about everywhere, unlike cannabis, is highly correlated to the amount of harm being done.

Silfen 11y ago
I don't know where you're from, but cannabis is certainly very available in many parts of the U.S. And much easier for minors to obtain in areas where it's illegal!
- FatalBaboon 11y ago
  I'm from France, and it is widely available as well, however it is nowhere near as available as alcohol. I mean I am hardly ever further than a couple minutes away from a place where I can buy alcohol. As for minors, I'd argue the problem lies more in the late access to alcohol in the US. Then as of the effects of cannabis itself, it increases reaction time. So you could definitely pull the brakes one second too late in front of that kid and his balloon. But yeah, it might not make you as prone to think killing 3 people is an acceptable activity.
glibgil 11y ago
You calling OP oblivious is the basest ignorance. They seem pretty well informed, perhaps more informed by reality than anyone else could possibly be. You make the mistake of not accepting that OP has never had to respond to a medical pr safety emergency because of cannabis. You see, somewhere, there many people with lots and lots of cannabis available to them, just like alcohol is available to everyone else. OP has never had to help them. The sample size isn't just 99% percent smaller than alcohol. For OP, it is zero. It never ever happens with the current availability to all or the very high availability to a few. It stands to reason then that it is much safer than alcohol at any level of availability. It is, after all, a very different drug than alcohol
danans 11y ago
But is the harm really correlated with alcohol being widely available? It seems like there are several confounding factors, including: - Excessive consumption (which most people who consume alcohol don't do). - Excessive consumption + driving - Mental Illness It's unclear to me that alcohol prohibition would dramatically reduce harm, when issues like mental health problems and building safer transit systems aren't addressed. As it is often pointed out, prohibition seems to increase localized harm (as evidenced by the the 1920s prohibition, and the current drug war in Mexico and poor US inner cities), by driving the intoxicant trade into the criminal black market.
monkmartinez 11y ago
The city I work for is roughly 1 hour and 30 minutes from the border of Mexico. I don't have empirical data to show the availability of Cannabis here,, but I suspect its pretty easy to get if you want it. I have heard we are a major hub of Cannabis distribution to the rest of the US from my LEO friends. I say that to say this; I grew up here and it was significantly easier to get Cannabis (and other stuff) than it was to get alcohol as I grew up. At the time, I didn't keep up with geopolitics nor the drug trade in general. We just assumed our proximity to the border "was somehow related"... Although, this fact may have changed since then. Further, I would also suspect that if there was major harm being done as a correlation with availability, Fire Service and EMS professionals would be reading about it in our trade journals. As some have pointed out, Cannabis is widely available in Colorado, Washington, and I believe Oregon.
SturgeonsLaw 11y ago
It's the nature of the drug, not availability, that causes these problems. Caffeine is even more widely available, yet doesn't have the negative effects.

Silfen 11y ago

I don't know where you're from, but cannabis is certainly very available in many parts of the U.S. And much easier for minors to obtain in areas where it's illegal!

FatalBaboon 11y ago
I'm from France, and it is widely available as well, however it is nowhere near as available as alcohol. I mean I am hardly ever further than a couple minutes away from a place where I can buy alcohol. As for minors, I'd argue the problem lies more in the late access to alcohol in the US. Then as of the effects of cannabis itself, it increases reaction time. So you could definitely pull the brakes one second too late in front of that kid and his balloon. But yeah, it might not make you as prone to think killing 3 people is an acceptable activity.

glibgil 11y ago

You calling OP oblivious is the basest ignorance. They seem pretty well informed, perhaps more informed by reality than anyone else could possibly be. You make the mistake of not accepting that OP has never had to respond to a medical pr safety emergency because of cannabis. You see, somewhere, there many people with lots and lots of cannabis available to them, just like alcohol is available to everyone else. OP has never had to help them. The sample size isn't just 99% percent smaller than alcohol. For OP, it is zero. It never ever happens with the current availability to all or the very high availability to a few. It stands to reason then that it is much safer than alcohol at any level of availability. It is, after all, a very different drug than alcohol

danans 11y ago

But is the harm really correlated with alcohol being widely available? It seems like there are several confounding factors, including: - Excessive consumption (which most people who consume alcohol don't do). - Excessive consumption + driving - Mental Illness It's unclear to me that alcohol prohibition would dramatically reduce harm, when issues like mental health problems and building safer transit systems aren't addressed. As it is often pointed out, prohibition seems to increase localized harm (as evidenced by the the 1920s prohibition, and the current drug war in Mexico and poor US inner cities), by driving the intoxicant trade into the criminal black market.

monkmartinez 11y ago

The city I work for is roughly 1 hour and 30 minutes from the border of Mexico. I don't have empirical data to show the availability of Cannabis here,, but I suspect its pretty easy to get if you want it. I have heard we are a major hub of Cannabis distribution to the rest of the US from my LEO friends. I say that to say this; I grew up here and it was significantly easier to get Cannabis (and other stuff) than it was to get alcohol as I grew up. At the time, I didn't keep up with geopolitics nor the drug trade in general. We just assumed our proximity to the border "was somehow related"... Although, this fact may have changed since then. Further, I would also suspect that if there was major harm being done as a correlation with availability, Fire Service and EMS professionals would be reading about it in our trade journals. As some have pointed out, Cannabis is widely available in Colorado, Washington, and I believe Oregon.

SturgeonsLaw 11y ago

It's the nature of the drug, not availability, that causes these problems. Caffeine is even more widely available, yet doesn't have the negative effects.