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> I don't think you appreciate the damage those drugs cause. We do. We've banned crack and meth and yet there are still problems. The relevant question is wh

by anamax 14y ago

> I don't think you appreciate the damage those drugs cause. We do. We've banned crack and meth and yet there are still problems. The relevant question is whether the "profit" of banning, the benefits - the costs under banning, are higher than the "profit" of legalization, again the costs - benefits under legalization. I agree that both numbers are negative, the question is which one is closer to 0. Meth and cocaine are pretty much universally available even though they're banned. So, how much more use (and cost) do you expect if they're legalized? That's the extra cost of legalization. In return, we lose the significant costs associated with banning, such as no-knock searches that kill the wrong people, not to mention the war on privacy. (No, you don't get to ignore that.)

rprasad 14y ago
Meth is relatively easy and inexpensive to make. Crrently the primary difficulty is acquiring sufficient quantities of the OTC ingredients (i.e., cough suppressant) used to make the drug. Banning meth is paramount to combatting meth use. Meth is already a pervasive problem in rural areas now, despite its illegality. If meth use is legalized, the meth problem in this country will explode (pun intended).
- anamax 14y ago
  > Meth is relatively easy and inexpensive to make. Which implies that we can't do anything about its availability. Actual experience seems to agree with that theory. > Banning meth is paramount to combatting meth use. Huh? Even if banning meth is the most effective way to combat meth use, that doesn't imply that it has any effect on meth use. As you argued above, banning meth has had no effect on its availability. > If meth use is legalized, the meth problem in this country will explode (pun intended). Why? Legalizing meth can't make it more available, so how will legalizing meth increase its use?

by anamax 14y ago

rprasad 14y ago

Meth is relatively easy and inexpensive to make. Crrently the primary difficulty is acquiring sufficient quantities of the OTC ingredients (i.e., cough suppressant) used to make the drug. Banning meth is paramount to combatting meth use. Meth is already a pervasive problem in rural areas now, despite its illegality. If meth use is legalized, the meth problem in this country will explode (pun intended).

anamax 14y ago
> Meth is relatively easy and inexpensive to make. Which implies that we can't do anything about its availability. Actual experience seems to agree with that theory. > Banning meth is paramount to combatting meth use. Huh? Even if banning meth is the most effective way to combat meth use, that doesn't imply that it has any effect on meth use. As you argued above, banning meth has had no effect on its availability. > If meth use is legalized, the meth problem in this country will explode (pun intended). Why? Legalizing meth can't make it more available, so how will legalizing meth increase its use?