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NY Comptroller: Legalise marijuana, tax it and end wrongheaded war on pot

theguardian.com

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Re: NY Comptroller: Legalise marijuana, tax it and end wrongheaded war on pot

#51

Post by angersock »

threeseed wrote: post #39
Zigurd wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a whole industry of Drug War sponsored quack science that is no more legit than tobacco company sponsored "science."

There is plenty of objective, non-sponsored research that shows marijuana to have at least in some cases a negative effect. But nice work blanketing all of the research you disagree with as illegitimate.

Then link it.

EDIT: From last time we talked about this, some Google Scholar links--

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0890856709....

http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/180/3/216.short

http://www.bmj.com/content/325/7374/1195.1.short

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022395607....

Note, though, that these are pretty inconclusive as far as causality goes.

Re: NY Comptroller: Legalise marijuana, tax it and end wrongheaded war on pot

#52

Post by alan_cx »

What I want to know is why governments support all illegal drug dealing, and dont get a cut of the action themselves. The illegality is pretty much what makes it profitable. All the "war" on drugs does is keep the prices up. Mean while the government just pours our tax money down the drain, get zero in return.

Legalize it and the government can tax it. Dealers get wiped out, and with them, a lot of the violence. The tax money raised can pay for a lot of rehab, and the police can concentrate on actual crime with the saved resources.

I could go on...

Re: NY Comptroller: Legalise marijuana, tax it and end wrongheaded war on pot

#53

Post by cransa »

alan_cx wrote: post #52

What I want to know is why governments support all illegal drug dealing, and dont get a cut of the action themselves. The illegality is pretty much what makes it profitable. All the "war" on drugs does is keep the prices up. Mean while the government just pours our tax money down the drain, get zero in return. Legalize it and the government can tax it. Dealers get wiped out, and with them, a lot of the violence. The…

Because they're already making a lot of money from weed and other drugs being illegal. It's the prison industrial complex, man. The government isn't interested in stopping violence. If so, we'd have much saner drug laws. Drug busts are easy and when you do them the DEA and federal government give you money to buy shiny toys like tanks and new body armor.

Re: NY Comptroller: Legalise marijuana, tax it and end wrongheaded war on pot

#54

Post by Daniel_Newby »

I support more strict laws against marijuana.

Why? To give the IQ ≤ 100 voters something scary but harmless to criminalize. We know what happens when you criminalize pot, and it ain't that bad.

Create a punishment vacuum and they will cook up some mad new criminalization scheme, as surely as the dog returns to its vomit. The FSM only knows what insanity they will foist on us. Maybe they'll recriminalize condoms, it got so many votes last time. Inflation busting is always popular too, nearly made FDR president for life.

Re: NY Comptroller: Legalise marijuana, tax it and end wrongheaded war on pot

#55

Post by alan_cx »

threeseed wrote: post #36
e40 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps that's because technical people tend to look at facts when they analyze a situation?

Give us all a break. 'Technical people' are just as (if not more likely) to be biased than ordinary people. Marijuana is safer than cigarettes and alcohol but it is hardly harmless and we definitely don't know enough about its effect on the brain especially amongst younger users. But of course you will often see such concerns dismissed.

Actually, I think there is something about the cold logical mind that deals with logical computers that is more likely to come down on the legalization side.

If we say that legalization is rational and its irrational emotional concerns that keep it illegal, it would make some sense, right?

See, when I talk face to face to people who are against it, they usually accept all the logic to legalize it, then say something like, "well, yes, but I just don't like the idea". They then shut down.

So, I do think there is something in it. Not universally, but I reckon there is a correlation.

Re: NY Comptroller: Legalise marijuana, tax it and end wrongheaded war on pot

#56

Post by cransa »

threeseed wrote: post #36
e40 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps that's because technical people tend to look at facts when they analyze a situation?

Give us all a break. 'Technical people' are just as (if not more likely) to be biased than ordinary people. Marijuana is safer than cigarettes and alcohol but it is hardly harmless and we definitely don't know enough about its effect on the brain especially amongst younger users. But of course you will often see such concerns dismissed.

Weed is hard to study because it's a schedule 1 drug. Change that and you will have a massive surge in the amount of studies done on it. It's safer than alcohol, we know that much. Not that it should matter. I'm an adult and should be able to put whatever I want in my body.

Re: NY Comptroller: Legalise marijuana, tax it and end wrongheaded war on pot

#57

Post by alan_cx »

cransa wrote: post #53
alan_cx wrote: post #52

What I want to know is why governments support all illegal drug dealing, and dont get a cut of the action themselves. The illegality is pretty much what makes it profitable. All the "war" on drugs does is keep the prices up. Mean while the government just pours our tax money down the drain, get zero in return. Legalize it and the government can tax it. Dealers get wiped out, and with them, a lot of the violence. The…

Because they're already making a lot of money from weed and other drugs being illegal. It's the prison industrial complex, man. The government isn't interested in stopping violence. If so, we'd have much saner drug laws. Drug busts are easy and when you do them the DEA and federal government give you money to buy shiny toys like tanks and new body armor.

Yeah, I suppose you do have a point there...

Nasty way to run things, no?

Re: NY Comptroller: Legalise marijuana, tax it and end wrongheaded war on pot

#58

Post by mistercow »

threeseed wrote: post #36
e40 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps that's because technical people tend to look at facts when they analyze a situation?

Give us all a break. 'Technical people' are just as (if not more likely) to be biased than ordinary people. Marijuana is safer than cigarettes and alcohol but it is hardly harmless and we definitely don't know enough about its effect on the brain especially amongst younger users. But of course you will often see such concerns dismissed.

>'Technical people' are just as (if not more likely) to be biased than ordinary people.

[citation needed]

Re: NY Comptroller: Legalise marijuana, tax it and end wrongheaded war on pot

#60

Post by mistercow »

jchrisa wrote: post #9
pravda wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ummm...also because they like to get toasted. I think this plan is discriminatory. "under my proposal, only adults age 21 and over would be allowed to possess up to one ounce of marijuana" Why shouldn't 18-20 year olds have the right to blaze up? Those are the prime toking years.

These are the years it's most likely to tip certain folks over the precipice into mental illness. A tiny minority are at risk, but those are the years.

There isn't actually good evidence to distinguish the flow of causation with cannabis and schizophrenia. In a significant plurality of cases, schizophrenia manifests in the 15-21 age range, regardless of cannabis use.
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