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> One criticism from concerned parents or conservative politicians was that increased legalization would lead to increased teenage consumption of cannabis....It
by beepbooptheory 4y ago
> One criticism from concerned parents or conservative politicians was that increased legalization would lead to increased teenage consumption of cannabis....It’s a criticism that exemplifies the theory of the author Jonathan Haidt, who showed in his classic volume The Righteous Mind that most people form their opnions by making an emotional conclusion—teenage consumption of cannabis is bad—and then using ad-hoc rationalization backwards to find whatever intuitive reasoning is needed to justify their gut instinct.
I don't understand how this exemplifies this. Isn't the worry just much simpler: legalization creates in general more accessible weed, and so more teens could get it?
Not to comment on the fact that this was retrospectively a misguided concern. Just don't understand Haidt's relevance here.
(Not to mention its a little weird to feel the need to credit him with this idea, isn't just kind of a truism?)
- edgyquant 4y agoHow is the concern misguided? I’ve heard people say use is down since legalization but I’ve never seen them provide data and that isn’t the case in Washington state. It’s trending up across all age groups. https://doh.wa.gov/data-statistical-reports/washington-tracking-network-wtn/marijuana-and-tobacco/dashboard https://doh.wa.gov/data-statistical-reports/washington-track...
- beepbooptheory 4y agoI don't know, but like that's not the point of my comment!
- edgyquant 4y agoMaybe not but > the fact that this was retrospectively a misguided concern You claimed it was a “fact” and it’s not. It’s misinformation that should be pushed back against.
- p0pcult 4y ago>legalization creates in general more accessible weed, and so more teens could get it? When I was an NYC middle school teacher, one of my students offered to get me all of the weed I wanted, if I could get him some beer for his party. The illegal, unregulated weed was obviously far more available to him than the legal, regulated alchohol. That argument doesn't hold.
- minkzilla 4y agoWell I what you've said may be true, a single anecdote does not prove his argument wrong.
- kingkawn 4y agoSingle anecdote actually worth much more than an abstract argument
- beepbooptheory 4y agoIts not "my" argument, I'm simply pointing out that I found it strange to pull out Haidt to explain the concern, when we could understand it far more simply. To add to your anecdata: yes it was much easier for me to get weed as a teen than alcohol. In that I think the concern itself is misguided even without retrospection. But this is all orthogonal to my comment.
- p0pcult 4y agoYep, youre right. I've edited my post to reflect that. Apologies.
- slfnflctd 4y agoI had the same experience in the US Midwest. Weed was far easier to obtain than alcohol, in part because the underground black market has always involved teenagers, and in part because adults able to buy/sell alcohol could get into big trouble supplying it to minors. I'm sure there are adults willing to illegally provide cannabis to kids, just as there have always been some willing to do so with booze. However, the legal market obliterates much of the underground black market (which is part of the point), so I would expect supplies to be much more limited than in a prohibition environment where the incentive to break the law is already greater for all potential consumers. In my experience, most adults who can get what they want without breaking the law would far rather do that than take risks they don't have to. Why would I open the door to being thrown in jail to help some children get high? Not to mention all the possible secondary consequences.
- giantg2 4y ago"I don't understand how this exemplifies this. Isn't the worry just much simpler: legalization creates in general more accessible weed, and so more teens could get it?" Be cause the author is doing the very thing they quoted about - they formed an opinion and worked backward to it. Regardless of the good or bad debate, it's generally accepted that access goes up as things are less restricted. That doesn't just apply to pot, but all sorts of other stuff.