Marijuana: Facts, Myths, and plain old Stupidity.
- Thread starter TroutBum
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PearlWatson
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You really think pot is more available to teenagers than alcohol, and that suddenly with legalization people will respect the regulations on it where they didn't before? That's rather romantic.
As available or more. Pot is ridiculously easy to score.
That's not really what I said. For the most part, the regulations now are; YOU CAN'T HAVE IT. If it's legal, and you can use it w/o fear of being incarcerated for it, why not respect the regulations? The folks in Amsterdam don't seem to have a problem with it.
PearlWatson
Well-Known Member
Okay, so why would the regulations on age limit( like those imposed on alcohol) suddenly make it more difficult for minors to get if the dealers and teenagers are already willing to break the the laws against its use?
Because the regulations would be age limit, and who could grow and sell it. Why would teenagers suddenly decide to obey the laws restricting their use of it based on their age, and why would dealers suddenly respect the laws restricting who can sell it and to whom?
Selling to kids would still be legal and there wouldn't be much profit margin for the dealers to risk selling it to children. Selling to kids isn't really profitable in the first place. When I was in school the dealers we went to were other kids, and they didn't profit much more than getting their pot for free. The people who sold to them (and to adults and tons of others) are the one's who really profited. Now if pot were legal, the total illicit market would be either to undercut the legal price or to sell to children. As long as the legal price is a lot cheaper there is no incentive to undercut it (this is why you don't see people with moonshining operations in their basement). And high school kids are a pretty small part of the overall market, and if you price your stuff too long they will just wait for an older brother or someone else to get it to them near the legal price. When I was also in school, we (and I mostly mean my friends since I didn't really drink at all then and like now) paid some loser $5-10 extra for booze to get it for us, which he pretty much spent on booze as well. The reason the pot was easier to get was I knew 5 or so people who dealt it, and just one guy willing to buy it from the liquor store.
In short, dealers for children would pretty much dry up since the risk for profiting $5-10 a purchase wouldn't really be worth the 3 or whatever years in prison selling it would be worth. Teenagers wouldn't respect the law, but my guess is most people would for the small lure of cash it takes, though I would also bet finding an older brother or whatever to purchase would be relatively easy as it is for booze now.
GVC
Well-Known Member
Because who the "dealers" are would change dramatically with legalization. Instead of marginalized people selling on the street, you'd get everyday squares at 7/11 selling weed at lower prices and margins. Do you really think that person is as likely to break the law, especially since he/she isn't going to make any extra money doing so, than current drug dealers/organized criminals? Legalizing cannabis would significantly reduce the supply of cannabis available to minors. At least, that's the argument.
Exactly what GVC said. The distribution channels change completely with legalization. That's the most important factor in legalization's impact on marijuana related crime and underage use. Those dealers that kids can go to now aren't going to be there when the product can be had legally. You may say to yourself, "Well, the kids will still want it, so there will still be a market." And you'd be right. But the product will be more expensive and harder to get.
GVC
Well-Known Member
I'm not sure I follow. Cannabis is not terribly expensive to cultivate. With legalization, the price of cannabis is almost certain to fall (for fairly obvious reasons...). If the price were to rise due to exorbitant taxes on the product, the incentive to produce and sell it illegally would still be present, and it would be just as hard to keep cannabis out of the hands of minors. With the fall in price, however, there'd be far less incentive to produce illegally on a small scale basis, and except for some hobby growers (as in the case with alcohol in the United States), most people will obtain their cannabis from legal, regulated establishments (like a liquor store). Kids would require a consenting adult to help them acquire cannabis, as they do with alcohol, at that point. That's what makes sense to me, anyway.
I'm curious what the average price of cannabis is at medical marijuana dispensaries in Colorado and California. Nate?
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LogGrad98
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Most kids I knew/know got their alcohol from their parent's liquor cabinet or refrigerator. Alcohol is ridiculously easy for kids to get. I saw far far more kids with beer in a thermos than with marijuana when I was in high school. If marijuana were legal and more parents (or uncles, cousins, friends' parents, etc.) used it then it would be far more accessible for kids than it is now when they have to find someone to buy it from. Almost every kid I knew who drank or smoked in high school got the cigs or booze from mom and dad (or uncle, et al.). Almost none of them had to find someone to help them buy it, they just took it.
GVC
Well-Known Member
Yes, and? If their parents have weed, they can no doubt take that too. And if legalization doesn't lead to an increase in number of users (like in Portugal, for example), there wouldn't be an increase in teen-accessible marijuana in households (presumably). What you would see, however, is a reduction in black market dealers, which would cut off a second source of marijuana for teens.