5 ms·

If you were able to get drugs from a pharmacy or dispensary or a regulated service, there would't (hopefully) be a black market to supply the drugs which create

If you were able to get drugs from a pharmacy or dispensary or a regulated service, there would't (hopefully) be a black market to supply the drugs which creates untold violence. I have a completely untested theory that the number of deaths would be less with a well regulated legalization of drugs than with an unregulated black market where gangs and organized crime supply the demand for illicit substances.

bluedino 9y ago
>> If you were able to get drugs from a pharmacy or dispensary or a regulated service, there would't (hopefully) be a black market Medical marijuana is legal where I live, you can buy it at a regulated service, however there are plenty of people who still buy it on the street or produce more than they are legally able to and sell the excess.
- toolz 9y ago
  Yeah, then the black market goes from some cartel pipeline to someone in your neighborhood. There's a huge difference in regards to funding violence.
  - nannal 9y ago
    Except Joe who grows weed in his cupboard isn't really capable of producing heroin let alone the extraordinarily dangerous opium derivatives that pharmaceutical are pushing on doctors.
    - nyolfen 9y ago
      welcome to our grim cyberpunk (near-)future: https://www.wired.com/2015/08/dont-try-home-scientists-brew-opiates-yeast/ https://www.wired.com/2015/08/dont-try-home-scientists-brew-...
    - nnfy 9y ago
      If Joe can grow weed in his cupboard, he absolutely can grow poppies and produce opium. The process is not complex.
      - narrowrail 9y ago
        The required acreage to yield opium in significant quantities is way beyond a closet (or even a basement). Not to mention that heroin is ~1% of total opium weight.
        nnfy 9y ago
        If we're talking about Joe's personal use, a single poppy plant produces multiple doses, according to this[1] reference and some anecdotal drug forum dose suggestions, on the order of tens of mg. 1.https://erowid.org/archive/rhodium/chemistry/opium.html https://erowid.org/archive/rhodium/chemistry/opium.html
        narrowrail 9y ago
        >produces multiple doses Could you tell me what number "multiple" is and what a "dose" looks like? Are we talking about raw plant material that is opium, or refined heroin/morphine/codeine? The conflation of the word drugs and plant material seems like the most absurd gorilla in the room. Off to do some coffee...
arprocter 9y ago
Portugal decriminalized in 2001 and guess what happened[0] [0]https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/06/05/why-hardly-anyone-dies-from-a-drug-overdose-in-portugal/?utm_term=.a2a535945f50 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/06/05/why-h...
qbrass 9y ago
There's already a black market for prescription drugs. Because there's still a barrier to access, providing a way around it still provides profit.
- NotSammyHagar 9y ago
  There's a black market because most people can't just get a prescription from a doctor, they have to lie or get someone else's drugs, there isn't enough legal availability to rule it out.

bluedino 9y ago

>> If you were able to get drugs from a pharmacy or dispensary or a regulated service, there would't (hopefully) be a black market Medical marijuana is legal where I live, you can buy it at a regulated service, however there are plenty of people who still buy it on the street or produce more than they are legally able to and sell the excess.

toolz 9y ago
Yeah, then the black market goes from some cartel pipeline to someone in your neighborhood. There's a huge difference in regards to funding violence.
- nannal 9y ago
  Except Joe who grows weed in his cupboard isn't really capable of producing heroin let alone the extraordinarily dangerous opium derivatives that pharmaceutical are pushing on doctors.
  - nyolfen 9y ago
    welcome to our grim cyberpunk (near-)future: https://www.wired.com/2015/08/dont-try-home-scientists-brew-opiates-yeast/ https://www.wired.com/2015/08/dont-try-home-scientists-brew-...
  - nnfy 9y ago
    If Joe can grow weed in his cupboard, he absolutely can grow poppies and produce opium. The process is not complex.
    - narrowrail 9y ago
      The required acreage to yield opium in significant quantities is way beyond a closet (or even a basement). Not to mention that heroin is ~1% of total opium weight.
      - nnfy 9y ago
        If we're talking about Joe's personal use, a single poppy plant produces multiple doses, according to this[1] reference and some anecdotal drug forum dose suggestions, on the order of tens of mg. 1.https://erowid.org/archive/rhodium/chemistry/opium.html https://erowid.org/archive/rhodium/chemistry/opium.html
        narrowrail 9y ago
        >produces multiple doses Could you tell me what number "multiple" is and what a "dose" looks like? Are we talking about raw plant material that is opium, or refined heroin/morphine/codeine? The conflation of the word drugs and plant material seems like the most absurd gorilla in the room. Off to do some coffee...

arprocter 9y ago

Portugal decriminalized in 2001 and guess what happened[0] [0]https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/06/05/why-hardly-anyone-dies-from-a-drug-overdose-in-portugal/?utm_term=.a2a535945f50 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/06/05/why-h...

qbrass 9y ago

There's already a black market for prescription drugs. Because there's still a barrier to access, providing a way around it still provides profit.

NotSammyHagar 9y ago
There's a black market because most people can't just get a prescription from a doctor, they have to lie or get someone else's drugs, there isn't enough legal availability to rule it out.