Quote:
Originally Posted by DonInDenver
Not trying to pick a fight at all, just trying to state that as with any substance, legal or not, there are repercussions.
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Yep. And even as a proponent of legalization, I worry a little about what legalization will look like. There are a ton of possible side effects that we'll just have to see about.
- Does legalization result in an influx in people moving to Colorado? And are those people good or bad for the economy?
- Does legal cannabis cause any changes in use of other drugs? If people use marijuana INSTEAD of alcohol or "hard" drugs, it's a HUGE win for the country and you can bet nationwide legalization won't be far behind. If legal week results in an INCREASE in any of the other drugs, we're in trouble.
- Will legalization change the market prices of weed? The tax estimates are great for now, but they assume that the prices stay the same. The book I linked to above suggests that 100% legal weed would cost about the same as tobacco, but people use FAR less of it. If it only cost someone $0.25 for an entire evening's worth of intoxication, would use skyrocket?
Those are just a handful of questions in my mind. But it's 100% clear at this point that cannabis is by far the least harmful of the major drugs that are prevalent in this country (including alcohol and tobacco), so it logically doesn't make sense for it to be illegal while people are out there killing themselves and others while drunk.