Quote:
Originally Posted by tore
SATCHMO, the growers who come to your doorstep would also still most likely be criminals because they would be part of a black market. The thread is about the possibility of taxation and as such, in such a "legalized society" the war on drugs would simply shift and become a war on homegrowers.
Perhaps less interesting for you guys, there's also the problem of wether or not America should support foreign drug industries. Many of these deal in other shady businesses and are troublesome for many countries. Opening up a market to them is going to support those businesses. If America closes the market to them, they're still gonna be present on the black market.
edit :
I've already replied to this  I had two points. The first is so what about alcohol and tobacco? If we have some harmful things in society, does that by default mean we have to allow more? Secondly, alcohol and tobacco are easily taxed something marijuana is not and so the government makes a lot of money from them. |
The question really is, do you want more harmful things in society, more ways for the youth of our world (if not children) to be exposed to further substances that will take over their lives. Younger people arn't as educated on the effects of drugs, it can really effect their learning and concentration at school. I realise that it would be an 18+ only drug if it were legalised but like alcohol, older brothers and sisters/bad parents can supply it to them easily this way.
And so what's next? Will we want to legalise E or cocaine next because it's a popular drug? There's a possibility that marijuana could become a gateway drug to other drugs with far more damaging effects.
Picture this as the new peer pressure scenerio, a group of school kids are smoking marijuana on a lunch break, and one of them pulls out some cocaine. He/she encourages the rest of the group to try some and because they're wanting to fit in and already high on grass decide to go for it. Bam. A downward spiral.
I know this is not the only angle on this arguement, but if the western world cannot control the youth of today from binge drinking and smoking ciggarettes, then how will they stop them from becoming a majority of pot-smokers? I think we need to focus on the real issues at hand before we get carried away with making other harmful substances legal and available.
If you want to smoke it, fine, it's not that hard to get a hold of. Wouldn't you rather it be cheap and avaible without huge tax's like there are on alcohol and ciggarettes? That's if governments could even tax it in the first place.