The Drug Czar's "blog" highlights a story about a shootout that took place at a marijuana garden in Arkansas as evidence that marijuana causes violence.
What absurdism!
Such tragic gunfights would never happen under a legal, regulated market for marijuana. When's the last time you saw beer distributors shooting each other over who gets to stock a specific store?
5 comments:
Such tragic blog posts would never happen under a legal, regulated market for marijuana. When's the last time you saw Tom Angell using an argument other than the beer-distributors-packing-heat analogy?
;-)
so wait, you're are FOR legalizing it, right? I'm confused, I thought you were trying to take the high road in just pursuing drug policy reform. I'm confused.
Anonymous:
I'm confused too. I'm not sure what you mean by "I thought you were trying to take the high road in just pursuing drug policy reform". True, SSDP currently has no official stance on the legalization (or tax & regulation) of marijuana. HOWEVER, we do expressly promote "an open, honest, and rational discussion of alternative solutions to our nation's drug problems." Tom is doing just that by pointing out the simple fact that marijuana-related violence would be all but extinguished under a regulated market. That's not taking a stance on "legalization"... that's just simply stating the obvious.
Can you help me out? What's the difference between "legalization" and "tax and regulate?" Is the difference that "tax and regulate" focus group tested better? Or are you just trying not to sound like a dirty hippie from the 70's?
Hey no problem, Anonymous. I'd love to help a brother out.
The difference between "legalization" and "tax & regulate" is that the latter term actually signifies a specific policy paradigm, while the former term is simply a loaded, ambiguous word.
"Legalization" tends to evoke images of your "dirty hippie from the 70's" selling marijuana to small children, while the police do nothing. "Taxation and regulation", on the other hand, evokes images of responsible business owners carding minors under the watchful eye of the government, while a portion of the taxed product is earmarked for drug treatment and education.
For more information on a current state-level campaign to regulate marijuana similarly to alcohol, visit: http://www.regulatemarijuana.org
Sincerely,
A short-haired college student from the 2000's
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