Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Legal marijuana is taking a bite out of drug cartels' profits

washingtonpost.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

131–140 of 238 posts

Re: Legal marijuana is taking a bite out of drug cartels' profits

#131

Post by eru »

conceit wrote: post #97
seizethecheese wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you. I hardly ever see comments about the benefits of legalization to casual weed smokers. Maybe we haven't shed the stigma yet, but this isn't just bad for drug lords and for-profit prisons, this is good for millions of consumers!

The biggest commercial operations are run by passionless businesses. The hydro homegrow on the other hand hardly qualifies as casual.

Who care whether your weed is grown with passion? seizethecheese and gregpilling care about the quality of the product.

Re: Legal marijuana is taking a bite out of drug cartels' profits

#132

Post by eru »

sanderjd wrote: post #89
oxide wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

only problem is that drug tests don't prove current intoxication unless it's specifically designed to do so. the drug tests you are referring to, pre-employment and workers comp drug tests, are urinalysis. you'd know this already if you weren't naive

I've made the argument with lots of strongly pro-legalization folks that they should be investing in efforts to develop a reliable test for current intoxication. A lot of the strongest (in my view) anti-legalization arguments stem from the current difficulty to detect things like driving and coming to work under the influence.

A simple computer-game like thing (think, a tetris-lookalike) might work.

Problem is: a lot of sober people would fail this test. Of course, you could argue that grandma really shouldn't be driving any more if her reaction times are so bad. Or the sleep-deprived father of three. And you'd be absolutely right and justified.

Such a result would be political suicide, though.

Re: Legal marijuana is taking a bite out of drug cartels' profits

#133

Post by chrishynes »

jacobolus wrote: post #110
wildmusings wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and distributors/manufacturers/registered owners were held liable for damages in the case of improper use, and with potential for their ownership/distribution license to be revoked, guns would become a lot safer. My understanding is that this is just an attempt by gun-control activists to effectively ban gun sales to consumers. How can the gun manufacturer be responsible for how the gun is used? Their job is to mak…

If a manufacturer or distributor sells a bunch of guns off-the-books to a criminal gang, and one of those is then used in a murder, the distributor should be liable in some way. If there were a proper gun registry and if improper gun use resulted in liability for the last documented owner, it would be much more difficult for criminals to hide the guns’ ownership / distribution history, because distributors and owners…

A manufacturer or distributor selling guns "off the books" is already highly illegal. Anyone doing that will incur a fat stack of felonies.

Are you unaware of that? Or proposing that we make it even more illegal?

Re: Legal marijuana is taking a bite out of drug cartels' profits

#134

Post by eru »

eli wrote: post #99
random_upvoter wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interestingly, in Colorado it's legal for a company to fire an employee who has (legally) smoked marijuana. So even with legalization drug tests may remain a thing.

Keep in mind that the default is that anyone can be fired for any reason. A company is free to fire an employee who has legally smoked cigarettes too (if they wish).

I thought you could fire in America for `no reason', but not for `any reason'. Ie you can't fire people for being white or female?

Re: Legal marijuana is taking a bite out of drug cartels' profits

#135

Post by 15155 »

x0x0 wrote: post #66
pcmaffey wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. And it's always humorous (sad) when people use ideological reasoning to defend their right to x (e.g. guns). But then are blind to how it applies to y (e.g drugs).

You can't grow a gun in a pot in your kitchen window.

I can grow one on the mill in my garage.

Re: Legal marijuana is taking a bite out of drug cartels' profits

#136

Post by eru »

andrewstuart wrote: post #73
pcl wrote: post #5

The cartels, of course, are adapting to the new reality. Seizure data appears to indicate that with marijuana profits tumbling, they're switching over to heroin and meth. This is a really interesting development. There's always been this "gateway drug" argument around pot: once people start with marijuana, they'll move onto the harder stuff. I can imagine that there might be a correlation, but I expect that the causa…

My theory is that if you can't get a cheap, legal high then you are more susceptible to trying something else.

Could you think of a way to test this?

(I imagine one can probably find lots of `natural experiments'. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_experiment)

Re: Legal marijuana is taking a bite out of drug cartels' profits

#137

Post by eru »

lisivka wrote: post #81
Mz wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's always been this "gateway drug" argument around pot I have studied ...bunches of stuff. And I believe a huge factor is the fact that marijuana is illegal , so you cross an important legal threshold when you try it and that can become a slippery slope. I think details like that probably matter more than the substance per se. Addiction is hard to solve in part due to shame and all kinds of social reinforcement.…

Crossing streets on red light is illegal too. Enjoy it.

Only in some countries.

Re: Legal marijuana is taking a bite out of drug cartels' profits

#138

Post by chrishynes »

tamana wrote: post #119
wildmusings wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's how I look at it: it's a trade-off like any other. There are people with unsustainable work practices in every job. It could be long hours, little sleep, performance enhancing drugs, etc. If it makes them deliver better work, they'll get rewarded for it in their career, but they're most certainly suffering consequences elsewhere. Family strain, health problems, emotional drain, loneliness. The temptation is st…

Because rational people know that people aren't always rational. Are you also opposed to those medians and guardrails on highways that impinge on your freedom to drive off the road when you so choose?

It's not quite so cut and dried, though. As safety measures are introduced, people tend to increase risky behavior which ends up mitigating the new safety measures.

For example, since you bring up roads -- narrower lanes make safer drivers: http://www.planetizen.com/node/80229/another-study-shows-nar...

Re: Legal marijuana is taking a bite out of drug cartels' profits

#139

Post by girvo »

malka wrote: post #77
speeder wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've heard that Heroin was invented in first place to be a "phasing out" drug of sorts, to fix Morphine addiction...

It was. Then suboxone, methadone, etc. I can't wait to see the latest fad.

Suboxone helped me kick a 6 year heroin addiction. For an actual addict, there is effectively no high from it (aside from the relief of getting rid of withdrawal symptoms, which is very different from an actual high). So, you can dismiss it as much as you like, but it (coupled with excellent support from the government-run clinic) saved my life.

Re: Legal marijuana is taking a bite out of drug cartels' profits

#140

Post by facetube »

School-Cotton wrote: post #83
gregpilling wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking of the US Border, it is way more porous than many people think. Here is a photo of the 2 strands of barbed wire that make up the border fence near Locheil Arizona. If you ride your dirt bike along the border there (I did), then you will find a few dirt roads that cross the border that look heavily used. I spent 8 hours down there and was not approached by any Border Patrol (Saw some from 100 feet away, but n…

I think most people (at least from the Southwest) know about this; otherwise Donald Trump's desire to "build a wall" would be incoherent.

Donald Trump's desire to "build a wall" is incoherent.
Post reply on HN