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Marijuana was legalized in my state. I've never touched it myself but I was actually in favor of this and voted for it because I believed (and still do) that th
by bityard 4y ago
Marijuana was legalized in my state. I've never touched it myself but I was actually in favor of this and voted for it because I believed (and still do) that the war on drugs was a giant fleecing of the American people. Since then, what has happened here is that we basically got the worst parts of everything.
1. Since "hey, it's legal now," lots of people take that to mean they can smoke it wherever and whenever they want. While driving, in parks, near schools, immediately before class, and so on. Along with legalization, there should have been laws enacted, communicated, and enforced which would encourage people to get stoned at home in their own time instead of out in public where they are a danger or at least nuisance to everyone.
2. A good majority of the billboards in my state, in cities and along highways, are now for MJ retailers. I'm worried about the impact this persistent advertising has on normalizing the casual use of psychoactive substances for children who see these ads constantly in their day-to-day lives.
3. The retailers are regulated and taxed, but their prices are quite outside the range of those on a lower to lower-middle class income. As a result, there is still a lot of gray-market dealing going on to provide lower prices for those that accept the risk/inconvenience. And therefore with it, some amount of crime. So legalizing MJ did _not_ suddenly make everything above-board and peachy overnight like all of the legalization supporters had claimed it would.
I don't know that I have a solution for any of this. I only hope that right now we are just seeing some kind of peak the way cigarettes were positively mainstream in the 70's and then gradually faded over the new few decades as society realized what they were doing to us and our children over the long term.
- lotsofpulp 4y ago>As a result, there is still a lot of gray-market dealing going on to provide lower prices for those that accept the risk/inconvenience. And therefore with it, some amount of crime. So legalizing MJ did _not_ suddenly make everything above-board and peachy overnight like all of the legalization supporters had claimed it would. Consequences of excessive taxes are not consequences of legalization. The primary benefit of legalization is to reduce abuse by police and the judicial system. It is clearly just a tool for authorities to be able to hide behind plausible deniability if and when they want to exercise their power over others.
- polishdude20 4y agoAre alcoholic drinks companies allowed to advertise on billboards as well?
- dole 4y agoIn the United States, yes. Tobacco products, however, have been banned on billboards since 1998 in 46 of 50 states. https://truthinitiative.org/who-we-are/our-history/master-settlement-agreement https://truthinitiative.org/who-we-are/our-history/master-se...
- polishdude20 4y agoIn that case, cannabis should be treated the same.
- notch898a 4y agoI could make the argument treating them the same means legalizing tobacco advertisement. Of course the risk profile of marijuana is arguable closer or more favorable than that of alcohol, so tossing it into the alcohol advertising bin or better makes more sense.
- yucky 4y agoDoes the entire neighborhood smell like alcohol when people use it?
- kevviiinn 4y agoNo and that doesn't happen with cannabis or tobacco either. That's an extreme exaggeration and people shouldn't be thrown in jail because someone doesn't like the smell of something, that's completely insane
- yucky 4y agoI agree that people shouldn't be thrown in jail for weed, but fining seems appropriate for a public nuisance. Not sure how you measure it, but we do it for noise as well. This may surprise weed smokers, but non-smokers don't want to breathe that shit in and the smell goes everywhere. Maybe smokers are oblivious to it, but the stench is more far reaching than tobacco for sure.