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Libertarians Were Wrong about Marijuana Legalization

3 points by Bostonian 5y ago

Jeff_Brown 5y ago
> Pot smoke can cause lung cancer in the same way tobacco can, and secondhand marijuana smoke may have even more carcinogens than cigarettes True but misleading, as two inhalations are enough to get most people buzzed, and half a cigarrette will get them roughly maximally stoned. Nobody but the absolutely batshit heroic smokes as much weed as the heaviest tobacco users smoke tobacco.
chiefalchemist 5y ago
I don't want to get too off topic from jump but some context might help. While black market is "drug crime" so are drugs from friends that the person in possession doesn't have a doctor's script for. And while the Libertarians and others might have been wrong, the ultimate concern was about violent crime and property theft, etc. Has crime gone up? Evidently yes. However, what of the type of crime? Finally, pot is not legal. In many states and municipalities it has been decriminalized. Weed is still a Schedule 1 drug at the Fed level. That is, it is still very illegal. If it matters, I don't smoke weed. My comments are not for it, or againt it. Again, simply context for the conversation.
maxerickson 5y ago
Agriculture in California uses billions of gallons every day, a few million gallons of diversion is the kind of thing you'd compare to personal use instead, to make it seem significant.
Jeff_Brown 5y ago
Misleading sensationalist headline. The only two crimes the article describes as having risen after marijuana legalization are (1) the crime of selling marijuana without a license, and (2) the crime of stealing water in California to grow marijuana. The author does not explain why (1) is bad. With other drugs the problem is adulteration, but that's because those drugs are typically hard to make. Marijuana is literally a weed; it's so cheap to grow, and so widely recognizable, that adding dangerous additives makes little sense. And the author does not put (2) into context. Farmers in California steal water. Some of those farmers are marijuana farmers. But more importantly, California mismanages the bejeezus out of its water by giving farmers, last I checked (admittedly more than a decade ago), a price literally one-thousandth the price city-dwellers face. This is why California grows thirsty crops like alfalfa and almonds in the desert.

3 points by Bostonian 5y ago

> Pot smoke can cause lung cancer in the same way tobacco can, and secondhand marijuana smoke may have even more carcinogens than cigarettes True but misleading, as two inhalations are enough to get most people buzzed, and half a cigarrette will get them roughly maximally stoned. Nobody but the absolutely batshit heroic smokes as much weed as the heaviest tobacco users smoke tobacco.

chiefalchemist 5y ago

I don't want to get too off topic from jump but some context might help. While black market is "drug crime" so are drugs from friends that the person in possession doesn't have a doctor's script for. And while the Libertarians and others might have been wrong, the ultimate concern was about violent crime and property theft, etc. Has crime gone up? Evidently yes. However, what of the type of crime? Finally, pot is not legal. In many states and municipalities it has been decriminalized. Weed is still a Schedule 1 drug at the Fed level. That is, it is still very illegal. If it matters, I don't smoke weed. My comments are not for it, or againt it. Again, simply context for the conversation.

maxerickson 5y ago

Agriculture in California uses billions of gallons every day, a few million gallons of diversion is the kind of thing you'd compare to personal use instead, to make it seem significant.

Jeff_Brown 5y ago

Misleading sensationalist headline. The only two crimes the article describes as having risen after marijuana legalization are (1) the crime of selling marijuana without a license, and (2) the crime of stealing water in California to grow marijuana. The author does not explain why (1) is bad. With other drugs the problem is adulteration, but that's because those drugs are typically hard to make. Marijuana is literally a weed; it's so cheap to grow, and so widely recognizable, that adding dangerous additives makes little sense. And the author does not put (2) into context. Farmers in California steal water. Some of those farmers are marijuana farmers. But more importantly, California mismanages the bejeezus out of its water by giving farmers, last I checked (admittedly more than a decade ago), a price literally one-thousandth the price city-dwellers face. This is why California grows thirsty crops like alfalfa and almonds in the desert.