People wanted it legal for 1 reason; recreational use. It’s been posed as a number of things, one of which was the end of the black market, which like so many of the other arguments was rubbish.
Colorado’s numbers reflect the same.
It’s simple. If it’s no longer illegal to possess weed, it’s going to empower the home-grown crowd, thus demolishing the argument that weed sales will all be done through legal entities generating tax revenue. If 50% was the bar, it sure wasn’t posed that way.
This is a straw man. People wanted it legal because:
The government should have a compelling reason to make something ILLegal for adults, which they do not in this case. (Maybe people you argued with claimed that recreational use wasn’t the goal, but this is an odd claim to make given that the entire, explicit point of the ballot initiative was to legalize recreational use.)
The state could make major revenues from it, which they are.
Some regulation and revenues is better than zero regulation and revenues—better for the state, far better for consumers.
Whatever other second order effects of legalization people may have debated are… debatable. But the assertion that the main stated goal of legalization was to eliminate the black market is just not reality.
The problem with this statement is, it takes 6 months from seed to harvest for a quality harvest. That is 6 months of electricity, nutrients, plus the original start up cost of buying the lights, fans, exhaust setup, etc. Growing quality weed is not cheap
I think some people get so used to the idea that our rights work in reverse and are specifically given to us by the government that they lose sight of this point.
Good points. I’ll add that it is still illegal on a federal level. Therefore when you flash that ID and raise your hand on camera that you are buying a federally banned substance, it becomes part of a record that “may” come back to bite you. It’s still a very new industry in many of the states that are adopting it. I agree with REM 30% adoption is a boon for the State that simply was not there before. As to the negative ramifications, I don’t think we know all that yet. I will say they are not going to be completely benign.
Second order effect of DUI-weed is tough to pin down, but it’s reasonable to assume an increase in this and the related accidents/injuries/deaths with wider use and having stores to drive to/from to get it (yes, just like alcohol).
The OP point of legalizing weed’s priority as a tax revenue builder as a cover for rec use is true. Total smokescreen.
My own personal experience w DUI alcohol vs DUI weed is that I came closest to dying on the road from stoned drivers I was in a car with as opposed to if I was driving over the legal limit. Fortunately neither has happened often or been caught.
I will say that if people would switch to edibles, then beyond 2nd level effects like DUi, I could give a shit who does it(recreationally…if I have to deal with a stoned employee, I don’t want to come back to that place). Just don’t stink up where I am, inside or outside, with that shitty smell…so, basically just like asshole tobacco smokers.
Right. Just be honest. Though it is possible, even likely, that many were fooled by the talking points out of their own eagerness. We see that in all sorts of things, even Lions football.
I don’t know shit about ■■■■ when it comes to weed but one thing I’ve heard is if I ever try an edible…just wait for it to kick in. Apparently its a common mistake for people to think its not working after a while and take more, then they go on a roller coaster ride of emotions.
Yep, this is the only part that impacts me directly and I’m not going to stand for it. I won’t go full Karen on many things but if I have to sit and smell people wreaking of weed all day I’m going to lose it. It should be treated like alcohol. If you’ve been on a bender and come into somewhere wreaking of malt liquor and whisky they can ask you to leave, and they should.
Did y’all get head injuries? Did you take a time machine back to 2010?
These claims about hiding the true purpose of the bill might have made sense in the context of the debates about medical marijuana, or even in the years between that and Proposal 1. But the ballot initiative that passed in 2018 was explicitly to legalize recreational use and possession by people 21 or older. This was not a mystery, it was the plain text of the proposal, the clear statements made by everyone covering it in the run up to the election, and the explicit intent of the large majority of Michigan voters who approved it.
Did we like have a break in the time space continuum that I missed? Were you guys asleep during the 2018 election season? Seriously what the actual fuck are you talking about?
I am talking about all the bullcrap talking points over the past decade. All of the arguments with pie-in-the-sky dolts who tried to paint a utopian picture of how the distribution and sale would all be above board. It was a short-sighted falacy that has been proven as such here, in Colorado and elsewhere.
When you start reviewing the data on kids, the returns are not pretty.
The brain continues to develop until 25 years old.
It hinders healthy development.
Opposite for me. I was a passenger in a van roll over when 18. Driver was drunk, we all were.
No seats in the back and no seat belts of course.
A lot of stiches in my head. We crawled out the sun roof.
There was like 7 of us in the van.
If I listed off my top 8 worst vehicle accidents/stupid stuff that happened every single one of them happened without the use of alcohol or drugs. Either myself of the driver were completely sober every time.
