CrashBand wrote:MusicBox wrote:It will attract a buzz at first, but as with anything new will fade as the next thing hits. Seriously, those that are already drug users will find a way to use, whether it's legal or not.
Well yes. Obviously those that are already drug users will smoke regardless....
Why would it fade? If it's legalized of course the amount of users will rise. The amount that current users smoke will likely rise too as they are not restricted anymore.
I'm not really sure hoe you could justify you statement that the amount of users will stay the same. It seems absurd. Maybe if there were stats of the amount of users in Amsterdam or something.
But do you seriously think they Amsterdam will have a similar amount of pot smokers than a place where it is illegal?
Or are they still going through the phase where it's a buzz?
If drugs were legal, I guess it wouldn't matter if the numbers did rise. The main thing I was trying to get at with my original post was the benefits of legalizing. I thought this website did a great job of providing different economic effects of making weed legal: "The illegal pot dealer that is currently making their “dirty money” under the table, and possibly living on welfare or other government aid, could possibly start a profitable business. They would already have a client base, which is a key component in a sales environment. A marijuana distributing business could be created with a small amount of capital thanks to the Internet. Marijuana could be shipped out to customers, since drug trafficking would no longer be illegal. This would create desperately needed jobs across the country. It would also help increase our Gross Domestic Product (GDP), since more goods would be created/grown and sold."
http://cwhitaker.hubpages.com/hub/The-Economic-Effects-of-Legalizing-Marijuana
Also, I like how Ron Paul put this, "A system designed to protect individual liberty will have no punishments for any group and no privileges. Today, I think inner-city folks and minorities are punished unfairly in the war on drugs. For instance, Blacks make up 14% of those who use drugs, yet 36 percent of those arrested are Blacks and it ends up that 63% of those who finally end up in prison are Blacks. This has to change. We don’t have to have more courts and more prisons. We need to repeal the whole war on drugs. It isn’t working. We have already spent over $400 billion since the early 1970s, and it is wasted money. Prohibition didn’t work. Prohibition on drugs doesn’t work. So we need to come to our senses. And, absolutely, it’s a disease. We don’t treat alcoholics like this. This is a disease, and we should orient ourselves to this. That is one way you could have equal justice under the law." This is sad but true in the United States. So clearly, drug laws need to be reformed.
http://www.ronpaulhemp.com/ron-pauls-stance-on-drugs/
