Pretty sure the money lost selling alcohol will be made up selling pot (in the long run, apparently they’ll be selling pot at cost for a while until organized crime is mostly out of the business).
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Cannabis also lowers deaths due to opioid overdoses.
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The small ruling class of the US anyway. And then there’s a vocal minority want addiction patients to die and don’t care about the collateral damage that blood-lust causes. Among older Americans who think that way it’s usually because they came up in a Nixonian/Regan era of racism cloaked in puritanism. But it isn’t a problem that will pass with those generations. A lot of younger Americans fancy themselves hard-asses because they want to cull the herd of sick people and willfully ignore the science behind addiction. America the death cult.
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My wife had a scary experience in high school where she went to the ER because she couldn’t breath after hitting a gravity bong WAY too hard. Now, it wasn’t the weed per se, she had chronically inflamed tonsils that no doctor would take out (because she was on medicaid) and most likely the cotton mouth made them block her airway.
The upshot, though, is that people in that situation, even if the weed didn’t make them go to the ER, might hesitate to seek medical emergency because they happen to be high. I know I’ve ignored cuts that probably could’ve used a professional looking at because I fell out of a tree while partaking. She also gets very paranoid on weed and had anxiety struggles anyway, so if she needed to talk to someone while high or about things that happened while high, it would nice to not have the spectre of the law hanging over that conversation.
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Maybe you look like you could use some?
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I came up through both of those bastards and was sickened by them and the transparent hate of the moral majority. I can only think there must be some inherent flaw in humanity that needs to see fellow human made to suffer. If you dare to have a different opinion than I do you should be punished seems to be the logic. We’ve got so much in this world that all of us could be comfortable. Yet some people have that feeling of inadequacy that can only be soothed by inflicting pain on others. How could a person even begin to have a reasonable conversation with someone as damaged as the occupant of power. Even that isn’t enough to bring a shred of human compassion from him. I don’t get it.
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We’re descended from pursuit predators, or, if you prefer, we are pursuit predators
And predators play with their food, a lot.
I’ve even encountered people who use drugs recreationally who express a desire to see addicts die and sometimes even want them to “fry” - this is the country that invented the electric chair after all and a lot of Americans in their 20’s and 30’s want it brought back and way more people executed. The dearth of self-awareness among these mouth-breathing jackasses is dumbfounding. It does explain how Trump’s buddy, the admitted murderer Rodrigo Duterte is so popular among young Filipinos, many of who see him as strong leader rather than what he is, a bully who uses death squads to murder the powerless.
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In the words of the Vice guide to Lisbon:
Street Dealers
Avoid the dealers who patrol the most touristy areas and anyone who hassles you. Chances are what they’re selling is some seriously stepped-on shit. Also, and I don’t think I’m being pejorative here, they’re all massive sleazy bastards who’ll rob you and scare the shit out of you if they’re given half a chance.
These may be small fry trying to have an income, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t still sleeze that needs to be swept off the street. If you’ve been to Lisbon then you know the people I’m talking about. If you haven’t been then go, get the experience, then come back and comment. It’s a great city and country, I highly recommend visiting.
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Unless things have changed, legal cannabis will be almost 2x the cost from the current illegal market. IIRC, $10/gram is the floor price, + $1/gram tax* + 13% HST (in Ontario), or C$12.43/gram.
This is almost 2x for what one pays from your local friendly supplier (more than likely a friend or close acquaintance, not a scary “drug dealer”). And more than 2x what’s available from any number of online sources, including free next-day delivery.
It’s going to be tough to convince many to go legal at 2x the price. Economics are about to bitch-slap the bureaucrats.
I suspect a delay is coming. Here in Ontario we’re supposed to have 40 retail locations** open 33 days from now. As of today, 4 locations have been announced.
* - again, IIRC, this $1/gram tax is split 50/50 between federal & provincial coffers, to a federal maximum of $100 million total from all provinces, after which the remaining goes to the provinces.
** - they made it extra challenging by giving the exclusive franchise to the LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario), of which there are plenty of locations (we know how to distribute beer/wine/spirits/etc. in Ontario 
), but then insisting the new Ontario Cannabis Stores could NOT be in the same building as alcohol is sold. Because people might be able to purchase both alcohol and cannabis in the same store.
Dirty Harry’s Guide To Portugal
So much this. And I fear it’s more than a minority if you include those that just don’t care about addicts. I have no good data on this, but I’ve been surprised by the attitude I hear from some otherwise progressive people.
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Rather than projections, maybe you should check the markets. It’s not proving out that way, but people made the same predictions elsewhere in North America, and everywhere.
Maybe you. Lets see how others make their own choices?
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I went to Lisbon a few years ago for a conference! I was amazed at all of the women hired to sweep purple flowers from trees out of the gutters to keep them from getting clogged when it rained. I could smell and feel ocean all the time. And I definitely noticed the obvious boundaries between affluent and poverty-affected neighbourhoods. Lisbon isn’t all pastries and coffee…
I’m just more about busting the suppliers of the street-level dealers. Everybody’s got someone higher up putting pressure on them to be a monster, and each level is more monstrous than the one before them.
My information was that they were going to be selling on the cheap, but I may be wrong. I certainly think the whole thing is being handled badly.
That said, black market booze is not a big thing in Ontario. Sure, it exists, but most people would rather just go to the store and buy what they want. iTunes was a huge success when it hit the scene and it was competing with peer-to-peer networks that were giving the music away for free.
I’m sure some people will just stick with their dealer. That said, I think the government is about to get a far more effective tool to deal with illegal operations as well. Fining growers for violating regulations is going to be way better at shutting them down than criminal charges were.
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Cued to relevant scene, but entire movie is worth watching…
I am grateful for the more evolved friends that I have. Perhaps the best I can do is to encourage those people that I can to care for others less fortunate. As a kid I so believed that life would improve for the world. Poor sweet delusional youth yet it would be wrong to crush them with reality. If they give up too young then they are definitely doomed.
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That’s a new one for me! Disconcerting, and curious. They captured Florida Woman perfectly. I will have to watch a bit more. Thanks!
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It isn’t tho.
Cuz there are a lot of professionals that will switch instantly because its “legal” - the ramifications for many public employees or justice system employees getting a citation for illegal is not worth the “savings” they might get.
And this is Ontario. We LOVE overpaying for shit here. Its kind of what we do and we’re oddly proud of it? (Looking at you LCBO!)
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I think the irony key is the upper case of the sarcasm key.
It’s better to laugh than cry. In a recent comment on another article someone referred to Sessions as “a drunken elf”.
