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Anecdotally, as a college student in a state where marijuana is still extremely illegal, it is comically easy to obtain it while alcohol, a legal drug, is signi

Anecdotally, as a college student in a state where marijuana is still extremely illegal, it is comically easy to obtain it while alcohol, a legal drug, is significantly more difficult to obtain (though still easy). Following this pattern, from what I've seen psychedelics are relatively simple to get (albeit harder than weed), therefore legalization might actually make them more difficult to illegally obtain because dealers will be replaced by controlled medical practices in many markets. Decriminalization will also open doors for people to study _how_ they affect the brain.

notsureaboutpg 6y ago
A lot is made about how regulation makes it easier to determine who can and cannot use substances, but not much is made about the amount of people willing to try something based on its legality or otherwise. I can guarantee you more college students under the drinking age want to try alcohol than want to try marijuana or psychedelics, and that's because the former is legal and thus a mainstay in our cultural lexicon. Alcohol ads are the most prominent in the most watched television event every year in the US (Super Bowl). Alcohol-fueled parties are seen as quintessentially college. Marijuana is gaining such a cultural status now (has been for the past 2 decades). Psychedelics will gain such a status as well, and that will lead to more people wanting to use them. Don't take this as an argument for or against legalization, but do consider why this isn't mentioned much in the discussions surrounding this topic.
ashtonkem 6y ago
Illegal drug dealers have very little incentive not to sell to underage kids, while legal ones have a license and livelihood that could be taken away. Of course legal drugs always have “cool” adults willing to be straw purchasers for underage kids. It’s complicated, and the relationship between the law and underage usage are non linear.
- rtkwe 6y ago
  It'll probably remain at least slightly easier to get drugs than alcohol even if/when both are legal to 21+ just because drugs are so much smaller and easier to deal with. A trunk full of Alcohol isn't much but a trunk of any drug is a lot.
  - sep_field 6y ago
    Alcohol is also a drug.

notsureaboutpg 6y ago

A lot is made about how regulation makes it easier to determine who can and cannot use substances, but not much is made about the amount of people willing to try something based on its legality or otherwise. I can guarantee you more college students under the drinking age want to try alcohol than want to try marijuana or psychedelics, and that's because the former is legal and thus a mainstay in our cultural lexicon. Alcohol ads are the most prominent in the most watched television event every year in the US (Super Bowl). Alcohol-fueled parties are seen as quintessentially college. Marijuana is gaining such a cultural status now (has been for the past 2 decades). Psychedelics will gain such a status as well, and that will lead to more people wanting to use them. Don't take this as an argument for or against legalization, but do consider why this isn't mentioned much in the discussions surrounding this topic.

ashtonkem 6y ago

Illegal drug dealers have very little incentive not to sell to underage kids, while legal ones have a license and livelihood that could be taken away. Of course legal drugs always have “cool” adults willing to be straw purchasers for underage kids. It’s complicated, and the relationship between the law and underage usage are non linear.

rtkwe 6y ago
It'll probably remain at least slightly easier to get drugs than alcohol even if/when both are legal to 21+ just because drugs are so much smaller and easier to deal with. A trunk full of Alcohol isn't much but a trunk of any drug is a lot.
- sep_field 6y ago
  Alcohol is also a drug.