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> At 20-something he switched to pills, a few more years later - heroine. As someone who never used marijuana, used to be strongly against it but now think we

> At 20-something he switched to pills, a few more years later - heroine. As someone who never used marijuana, used to be strongly against it but now think we should consider legalizing it[1], isn't a major reason for this that because of laws against marijuana anyone buying it has to establish relationships with illegal drug dealers? Wouldn't this be much less of a problem if marijuana was sold over the counter in a pharmacy? PS: I had a good friend die of heroine. I too care about this stuff too even if I (now) approach it from the other side. [1]: because 1. the war against drugs has been useless 2. it even simplifies the lives of criminals

dustymcp 5y ago
Yes this is the truth its not a Gateway drug but you have to buy it where other drugs also are sold, sometimes they might not have weed and you try a pill instead. If we are going the illegal road then ciggarettes coffee and alcohol also gotta go, but come on let people have some fin ffs
- saiya-jin 5y ago
  I hate dealing with dealers but there is no other way to get weed. Shady dark corners, pushy paranoid characters, just to buy a bit of herb that grows wildly on slopes of himalaya for millenia. Once dealer tried to push cocaine to me instead of weed pretending he didn't understand, sent him away. That's the only gateway situation I can actually imagine for weed, otherwise its nonsense in same vein as alcohol is.
throwawaymedia 5y ago
> 1. the war against drugs has been useless How do you define uselessness? What's the metric? > 2. it even simplifies the lives of criminals In which sense? Weed has massive margins. Legalization means less competition, lower prices. It will simplify the process of selling, but nobody's in this "business" just for fun. They want to make money. Legalization will indeed raise the gov's budgets due to taxation. > Wouldn't this be much less of a problem if marijuana was sold over the counter in a pharmacy? No. When a substance is allowed for everyone, but someone (eg school students), then it's even a bigger problem. Marijuana usage in public US schools is a massive problem. Teens find ways to buy and sell the drug. Legal marijuana will only worsen their fragile brains. It's a cultural problem, after all.
- skinkestek 5y ago
  > How do you define uselessness? What's the metric? Despite the billions we have poured into fighting illegal drugs across all western countries they are sold nore or less openly a few hundred meters from here. > Legalization means less competition, lower prices. It will simplify the process of selling, but nobody's in this "business" just for fun. They want to make money. Exactly. Organized crime has massive overheads (bribes, protection, losses due to raids, probably more). The moment someone starts selling at pharmacies their illegal marijuana market collapses even if government adds a fair tax on it like many governments do with tobacco and ethanol. > No. When a substance is allowed for everyone, but someone (eg school students), then it's even a bigger problem. Marijuana usage in public US schools is a massive problem. Teens find ways to buy and sell the drug. All this holds true for ethanol as well and yet all western countries realized almost a century ago that the attempted cure was worse than the disease. We still deal with people abusing it to the point were it hurts their families, themselves and society but at least deaths due to methanol poisonings are down and there's one less lucrative market for criminals to tap into. I'm not saying this is easy. But after being a supporter of though-on-drugs policies for 20 years (since I was 15 and formed my first such opinions) I have changed my views. Not because I wanted more people to get stoned or because I want it myself but because I cannot see any good end in sight.

dustymcp 5y ago

Yes this is the truth its not a Gateway drug but you have to buy it where other drugs also are sold, sometimes they might not have weed and you try a pill instead. If we are going the illegal road then ciggarettes coffee and alcohol also gotta go, but come on let people have some fin ffs

saiya-jin 5y ago
I hate dealing with dealers but there is no other way to get weed. Shady dark corners, pushy paranoid characters, just to buy a bit of herb that grows wildly on slopes of himalaya for millenia. Once dealer tried to push cocaine to me instead of weed pretending he didn't understand, sent him away. That's the only gateway situation I can actually imagine for weed, otherwise its nonsense in same vein as alcohol is.

throwawaymedia 5y ago

> 1. the war against drugs has been useless How do you define uselessness? What's the metric? > 2. it even simplifies the lives of criminals In which sense? Weed has massive margins. Legalization means less competition, lower prices. It will simplify the process of selling, but nobody's in this "business" just for fun. They want to make money. Legalization will indeed raise the gov's budgets due to taxation. > Wouldn't this be much less of a problem if marijuana was sold over the counter in a pharmacy? No. When a substance is allowed for everyone, but someone (eg school students), then it's even a bigger problem. Marijuana usage in public US schools is a massive problem. Teens find ways to buy and sell the drug. Legal marijuana will only worsen their fragile brains. It's a cultural problem, after all.

skinkestek 5y ago
> How do you define uselessness? What's the metric? Despite the billions we have poured into fighting illegal drugs across all western countries they are sold nore or less openly a few hundred meters from here. > Legalization means less competition, lower prices. It will simplify the process of selling, but nobody's in this "business" just for fun. They want to make money. Exactly. Organized crime has massive overheads (bribes, protection, losses due to raids, probably more). The moment someone starts selling at pharmacies their illegal marijuana market collapses even if government adds a fair tax on it like many governments do with tobacco and ethanol. > No. When a substance is allowed for everyone, but someone (eg school students), then it's even a bigger problem. Marijuana usage in public US schools is a massive problem. Teens find ways to buy and sell the drug. All this holds true for ethanol as well and yet all western countries realized almost a century ago that the attempted cure was worse than the disease. We still deal with people abusing it to the point were it hurts their families, themselves and society but at least deaths due to methanol poisonings are down and there's one less lucrative market for criminals to tap into. I'm not saying this is easy. But after being a supporter of though-on-drugs policies for 20 years (since I was 15 and formed my first such opinions) I have changed my views. Not because I wanted more people to get stoned or because I want it myself but because I cannot see any good end in sight.