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Pot was almost legal in Netherlands since 70s, yet very few countries followed suit. What makes California so special that it will make the end of cannabis proh

by borism 16y ago

Pot was almost legal in Netherlands since 70s, yet very few countries followed suit. What makes California so special that it will make the end of cannabis prohibition viral? I'm highly skeptical.

kristofferR 16y ago
The feeling about pot has changed a lot in the last 15 years, not just in the US ( http://www.gallup.com/poll/144086/New-High-Americans-Support-Legalizing-Marijuana.aspx http://www.gallup.com/poll/144086/New-High-Americans-Support... ), but in the rest of the world well. A ton of countries have decriminalized marijuana and other drugs, people are realizing that marijuana isn't the drug of hell it was pitched as and that the war against it has failed. I think it has a lot to do with the internet/information age. Just a couple of years ago the governments could say whatever they wanted and very few people would question their "facts". Now everybody with access to the internet can research the issue themselves.
anateus 16y ago
California is the 6th largest economy in the world, borders with Mexico, and is a pretty large consumer of Marijuana, perhaps one of the world's largest but I have no data on the latter. California legalizing Marijuana for private consumption would deal a strong blow to the cartels. If over several years no ill effects seem to result ("seem" is important, unfortunately) other states, such as Massachusetts, may follow suit. The semi-legalization in the Netherlands and the full legalization in Portugal set good examples, but few places in the world are as prominent as California.
Steve0 16y ago
They de-criminalized it, The Netherlands never 'really' legalized production. The only legal pot growing is done for medicinal cannabis, which is a very marginal market compared to the coffeeshops. The reason was amongst others, that The Netherlands were bound by international treaties to fully legalize and tax it. Prop 19, legalizes the entire supply-chain, which makes it possible to build a legal business on weed. The difference is, that the 'captains of industry' will become part of the establishment, in a while traditional businessmen might even take over. It could be that if California goes well, the same players who were in, let's say, cigarette-companies will step up. They have been thinking about this. Philip morris pantented the brand 'Marley' in France: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/the-law-is-a-dope-if-they-legalise-marijuana-when-they-legalise-marijuana-who-would-sell-what-to-whom-jerome-burne-cases-the-joint-1405970.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/the-law-is-a-dope-if...
- electromagnetic 16y ago
  Tobacco sales would go through the roof over night if it started shipping with MJ in it. I've never been able to get a good high off of a bong or pipe, but mix it with tobacco and I'm set. The interesting thing is that tobacco has no effect on me at all, I've smoked cigarettes and nothing, I often smoke a cigarillo when I'm social drinking with friends who do smoke but my body doesn't seem to get a response. My parents both never smoked, my paternal grand parents didn't smoke (AFAIK) and my maternal grandfather liked the occasional pipe (literally occasional, I never even knew as a child). As far as investigation has gone in my family, no one smokes. Aunts, uncles, cousins, no one. However virtually everyone in my wife's family smokes, my wife doesn't, but if she does have a social smoke I know she struggles with not continuing. The few members of her family who don't smoke have quit. The bizarreness here is that my wife's family tried strongly to stop their children smoking, but my parents didn't try at all. They found out I'd bought a pack of cigarettes one time, but I didn't get them taken off me, I didn't get a lecture, I got nothing. They simply assumed they weren't for me, and they genuinely weren't, my friend asked me to pick them up for when we went out drinking.

by borism 16y ago

Pot was almost legal in Netherlands since 70s, yet very few countries followed suit. What makes California so special that it will make the end of cannabis prohibition viral? I'm highly skeptical.

kristofferR 16y ago

The feeling about pot has changed a lot in the last 15 years, not just in the US ( http://www.gallup.com/poll/144086/New-High-Americans-Support-Legalizing-Marijuana.aspx http://www.gallup.com/poll/144086/New-High-Americans-Support... ), but in the rest of the world well. A ton of countries have decriminalized marijuana and other drugs, people are realizing that marijuana isn't the drug of hell it was pitched as and that the war against it has failed. I think it has a lot to do with the internet/information age. Just a couple of years ago the governments could say whatever they wanted and very few people would question their "facts". Now everybody with access to the internet can research the issue themselves.

anateus 16y ago

California is the 6th largest economy in the world, borders with Mexico, and is a pretty large consumer of Marijuana, perhaps one of the world's largest but I have no data on the latter. California legalizing Marijuana for private consumption would deal a strong blow to the cartels. If over several years no ill effects seem to result ("seem" is important, unfortunately) other states, such as Massachusetts, may follow suit. The semi-legalization in the Netherlands and the full legalization in Portugal set good examples, but few places in the world are as prominent as California.

Steve0 16y ago

They de-criminalized it, The Netherlands never 'really' legalized production. The only legal pot growing is done for medicinal cannabis, which is a very marginal market compared to the coffeeshops. The reason was amongst others, that The Netherlands were bound by international treaties to fully legalize and tax it. Prop 19, legalizes the entire supply-chain, which makes it possible to build a legal business on weed. The difference is, that the 'captains of industry' will become part of the establishment, in a while traditional businessmen might even take over. It could be that if California goes well, the same players who were in, let's say, cigarette-companies will step up. They have been thinking about this. Philip morris pantented the brand 'Marley' in France: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/the-law-is-a-dope-if-they-legalise-marijuana-when-they-legalise-marijuana-who-would-sell-what-to-whom-jerome-burne-cases-the-joint-1405970.html http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/the-law-is-a-dope-if...

electromagnetic 16y ago
Tobacco sales would go through the roof over night if it started shipping with MJ in it. I've never been able to get a good high off of a bong or pipe, but mix it with tobacco and I'm set. The interesting thing is that tobacco has no effect on me at all, I've smoked cigarettes and nothing, I often smoke a cigarillo when I'm social drinking with friends who do smoke but my body doesn't seem to get a response. My parents both never smoked, my paternal grand parents didn't smoke (AFAIK) and my maternal grandfather liked the occasional pipe (literally occasional, I never even knew as a child). As far as investigation has gone in my family, no one smokes. Aunts, uncles, cousins, no one. However virtually everyone in my wife's family smokes, my wife doesn't, but if she does have a social smoke I know she struggles with not continuing. The few members of her family who don't smoke have quit. The bizarreness here is that my wife's family tried strongly to stop their children smoking, but my parents didn't try at all. They found out I'd bought a pack of cigarettes one time, but I didn't get them taken off me, I didn't get a lecture, I got nothing. They simply assumed they weren't for me, and they genuinely weren't, my friend asked me to pick them up for when we went out drinking.