i would’ve put this in GQ, but i know there are probably alot of differing opinions on this. i’m writing a term paper on the legalization of marijuana and have a couple of ideas and opinions of my own but no sources to support or refute them. here are some of my ideas/questions:
if it was legalized, how heavily would it be taxed? would it be cheaper or more expensive than it is now?
what would be the age restrictions? 21 like alcohol?
would the government solely produce it and restrict privately grown plants?
if minors could no longer get it as easily due to age restrictions, what would the next big drug among youth be? cocaine?
how many people does marijuana kill per year in the US?
how many people does alcohol kill/yr in the US?
how many people use alcohol in the US now?
how many in the US use weed now?
would dealers stop dealing weed and deal harder drugs instead?
Immediate collapse of Western Civilization. Dogs and cats, living together, etc. Government imposed rationing during Peanut Butter Crisis. Microsoft purchased by Ben and Jerry’s in totally non-hostile takeover. Tom DeLay’s (R, Undead) head explodes on floor of House, scattering skull bones, hair and fecal matter over wide area. E. pores over every news outlet, refusing to believe common sense has broken out, then calmly resumes life-long glaucoma prevention program. First class-action lawsuit for “harshing a buzz”. Phrase “Drug store” takes on whole new meaning.
E. “I’d like a packet of Maui Wowee, please”
Clerk: “Of course, sir. That’ll be $4.95. With tax, comes to $112.54.” E.: “Gargh! I’ll have a pack of Camels instead.”
Clerk: “You’re under arrest.”
Hmm, I’d never thought about 4… but here are the ones I can answer (99% opinion, but I’ll see if I can back them up). Note that I can’t see this happening anytime soon, but it’s a good topic to debate none the less
Probably comparable to cigarettes. It seems likely that it’d be at a national level, though, rather than state. However, I believe the cost would go down considerably, whatever the tax–it’d be pointless to make them legal but more expensive than what the dealers sell them for (because then the dealers could still sell them).
I assume 21. Note that I think people would still smoke below 21, just as people drink below 21, but I think the legal age would be 21.
I can’t imagine the government would grow it at all. I think the tobacco companies would. There are rumors that Marlboro Blacks are all ready to go as soon as it’s legal, but I don’t know if there’s any evidence to back that up.
I think the next big drug among youth would still be marijuana. Just because there are age restrictions doesn’t mean they couldn’t get it. It’d still be illegal for them to have it (as it is now), but they’d also still get it. Why move up the ladder to cocaine?
I’ve heard 0, but I doubt that. I’m guessing it’s comparable to unfiltered cigarettes, since it still involves breathing in smoke filled with carcinogens and tar.
I dunno, lots. This is a GQ question, I’ll let you find this number.
See 6.
See 6.
I think most pot dealers would have to look for a different line of work. Dealing pot would be about as successful as dealing cigarettes. Yes, dealers would still sell cocaine, heroine, etc… but I don’t think they’d be any more successful at it than they are now.
You bounced around the “gateway drug” debate, but never directly asked about it. I’m going to answer anyway.
I fully believe that pot is only a “gateway drug” because it’s illegal. It’s easy for people to make the logical leap that if this ONE illegal drug isn’t all that bad, all these others must not be, either. I personally am not a fan of the leaf, but I don’t think it’s anywhere near the same thing as cocaine or heroine, and shouldn’t be treated the same in the law.
IMO, I have no evidence to back this up, but I still think dealers would be in business. Marijuana would be so heavily taxed by the government that people could easily buy it from dealers/grow it themselves. The government couldn’t regulate it like they can alcohol and even cigarettes. That’s one of the reasons that I don’t believe it will be legalized anytime soon.
[ol]
[li]Cheaper than now. It’s the largest cash crop in the US. Increased and open usage + open competition would mean mch lower prices. A “sin tax” even double of cigarettes would still keep it much cheaper.[/li][li]It should be 18. It might be 21.[/li][li]Govt. via FDA will regulate manufacturing and quality. Producers will be private.[/li][li]Hardly any effect. Just like how underages can get cigs today.[/li][li]By direct toxicity? None. By behavioural toxicity? I don’t know, but not zero.[/li][li]450,000 a year. Google it up.[/li][li]I would assume at a minimum at least thrice as many people as regular weed users. About 100 million minimum. [/li][li]I remember reading a figure of about 32 million regular users.[/li][li]Yes to first part. Re: second part, depends on who the dealer is. If it’s a college student or someone who just raises some extra money on the side, probably not. If it is someone part of a gang dealing in other things as well, probably.[/li][/ol]
If it were taxed at doubble the rate of tobacco it would still be way cheaper than black market prices today.
21 seems right, but maybe 18 like tobacco. Why not 19 or 20?
I don’t see why it would be distributed any different than booze or tobacco.
Kids have allways been able to get their hands on any intoxicant they want, if they have the cash. I believe the gateway effect would be reduced by making pot legal.
It must be a pretty low number or we would hear of at least a few more than we do.
A lot.
A lot.
A lot.
Most dealers would need to go find a real job as the reduced gateway effect would lower the demand for hard drugs.
I would never hold a steady job again. gypsymoth3, did you know we have 200,000 threads and a “search” button?
D’ya know that you can Google for pretty much all human knowledge?
…After five years, the FDA will determine the Marijuana smoking is twice as carcinogenic as Tobacco. Then we’ll have to ban it all over again, for health reasons. :smack:
well, living in a trailer park, it’s always been easier my fellow minors to get weed than it is to get alcohol. a dealer is already breaking the law; so he’s not quite as apalled at the thought of breaking it again whereas just some average law-abiding person over 21 might not be as willing to contribute to minors.
It’s been nearly twenty years since I last researched this, so I may not have the latest, but do you have in mind any particular scientific studies that are not flawed that would suggest this? Type in “Heath/Tulane” “brain damage” +monkeys on a google search and you should find over 100 cites which will explain what really happened about the brain damage in research monkeys smoking marijuana. Many a politician including Reagan helped spread the mass hysteria to the national press about the brain damage that resulted from marijuana smoke. Those monkeys were suffocated with carbon monoxide poisoning after the equivalent of being forced to smoke 63 marijuana cigarettes through a gas mask and no smoke could escape. It took some six years of Playboy and NORML of suing the federal government to finally let researches in and it didn’t take a genius to know they had one screwed up testing protocol. Studies that get funded from government sometimes find researchers that will give them the results that the current administration would like to hear.
To the OP, to answer one of your questions, according to the government agencies, the Bureau of Mortality Statistics and the National Institute Marijuana deaths are zero. And according to UCLA, Harvard, Temple, and others, pot toxicity does not exist.
If it were legalized I don’t think much would change. It would still be the employer’s prerogative to test for it, and to take me as an example, if I failed a drug test the Air Force would show me the door. Since a drug test would be unable to distinguish whether I were high at that moment or last week when I was on leave, I know the Air Force would maintain a ban on it and I think it would still be banned outright with most employers. I’m sure insurance rates would skyrocket for business owners (and maybe auto insurance as well), so that would dictate workplace acceptance.
So what would be the benefit of legalization? A lot fewer criminals in jails, cheap and easily obtainable weed, an increased drug trade in the illegal and more difficult to obtain narcotics, and not much else. The minimum wage crowd would throw more of their money away on weed and the professional set would value their jobs too much to risk losing them, legal drug or not.
