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Question for those of you living in a country where marijuana is legal. What are the positive sides, what are the negatives?
If you could go back in time, would you vote for legalising again? Does it affect the country's illegal drug business , more/less?
There are no negatives.
It's been legal in Canada since 2015ish. Haven't noticed a difference, but now I can get better regulated gummies which is nice for my asthma.
There are some minor downsides, you can't walk 5 minutes in downtown Toronto without smelling weed. I can tolerate it just fine, but some people hate it. Otherwise it has been great.
As an ex addict to (too many) substances (not marijuana) I can easily see a few cons regarding drug usage but the real pro, if I had to pick one, would be to remove all that money from drug dealers.
There are very few cons, all the negative effects of cannabis can be better handled when it’s legal.
Legalize all drugs. Drug addiction is a health issue, not a legal one.
I don't partake, but it's been legal in my area for a couple years now and I haven't seen any negative effects on society. More gaudy smoke shops is about it. They remind me of the payday loan places. I'm sure some people have a dependency on it, it can form a habit like anything else.
Here in the Netherlands we have the "Gedoogbeleid", which translates to Tolerance policy. It's somewhere in between Decriminalized and legal. U are allowed to purchase and have up to 5 grams with you. And using it is okay in your own home and in places that don't disturb the public. But it's still partly illegal, as in no indoor growing and carrying more than 5g... It's a weird setup.
It's also a weird construction because technically the coffeeshops themselves are not allowed to buy the bulk amounts of weed to sell in their shops. So everything has to come in sneakily through the backdoor....
Lately legalization has been getting a good push, and now shops are buying their flowers from legit, government approved "Wiet boeren" weed farmers.
True Legalization Pros:
Cons:
As for how it affects the overall drug trade. Our number 1 export in the Netherlands is XTC. But that's a whole different beast. As for weed drug trade, it does decrease it. In smaller townds without shops u will always have you local dealers. But weed really isn't drug to be afraid of as in violence and crime surrounding it.
Weed is very habbit forming. Addiction might be too strong a word for weed. But oh boy is it habbit forming. Ppl who deny this, are in denial.
They're also in denial about it making you dumber if you smoke frequently. When I still smoked, it became obvious to me that my thoughts were slower and I'd have trouble finding the right words when I started smoking nearly every night. Took a T break and cut back to weekends only and the problem went away.
Took a T break and cut back to weekends only and the problem went away.
So it didn't make you dumber. You just didn't understand that the effects of frequent weed usage takes longer to wear off than alcohol.
Is this still a discussion on 2025? I always thought this was a no brainer, just blocked by demonization and the lack of examples of places that legalized and nothing bad happened. We should be discussing how to deal with other drugs. Marijuana is pretty much solved
The widespread legalization, overwhelmingly positive reception, and complete lack of any of the dangerous consequences we were warned about makes you wonder what else "They" were wrong about.
Pros:
Cons:
Legalize it
Pro:
Con:
Agree with the pros, not really with the cons to the extreme that you describe.
The important factor isn't whether someone can be addicted (otherwise you're banning nearly everything), it's the harm that addiction causes. As a general rule of thumb physical dependencies like alcohol are more harmful than habitual addictions, but that obviously isn't the whole story.
Caffeine addiction is the same category as alcohol and tobacco but causes so little harm that I don't think anyone is seriously opposed it. On the other end of that scale is something like meth or other hard drugs, generally understood as destructive and has few serious supporters encouraging use. Breaking these addictions is almost always hard and physically taxing, in some cases can even be lethal.
Marijuana addiction is in the same category as most things that make you feel good or form habits so it's harder to nail down a proper scale, but the lower end is probably something like video games; a debilitating addiction is possible but uncommon and most people would oppose a blanket ban on the basis of "can be addictive". Gambling is on the other end can definitely ruin lives. I'd say that's a little worse than coffee. Breaking these addictions is more like breaking a bad habit, it can feel hard for the addict but generally isn't going to kill them.
I have a hard time imagining making an argument where alcohol and cigarettes are legal and weed is not. In terms of harm it does to people acutely and over time. I understand the position of "nothing like that should be legal" and "everything should be legal" even though I disagree. But I think if you choose one, weed might be the least problematic?
No, it's not easy to test for driving. But alcohol is and TONS of drunk driving incidents happen still. I think that's more a function of not having non-driving options to socialize over alcohol.
I don't know much about the effects of legalization on society as a whole, but I personally feel I have benefitted from weed being legal. I find weed to be useful in helping me sleep and manage stress. That said, people should also be educated about the potential dangers of weed. Using it too often can lead to neglecting one's responsibilities, and people underestimate the danger of driving while stoned. I also find, since I've gotten proper therapy, I don't need weed as much as I used to.
On principle, I think drugs should not be treated as a criminal issue. At most, drug addicts should be made to get treatment. Governments should focus on education and treatment instead of harsh punishment. People who are on drugs should feel safe admitting to what drugs they're on in the event of an emergency.
I voted to legalize it because it's stupid to arrest people for it. That said, I hate the constant smell in public, and people seem to get addicted to it quite easily. It's a pox on society, imo. At the end of the day, we have much larger problems on our hands.
Legalize all drugs to defund the cartels.
Have proper regulations in place to actually prevent minors from accessing them and guarantee there are no harmful additives. Make rehab free so that people don’t get stuck in there.
If morphine was legally obtainable, no one would be using fentanyl. Stop the arms race now.
Pro: way more variety of edibles I can't make myself (like fruit gummies), and I know the strength before I consume.
Not really a con, but a letdown: legal retailers can't really compete with drug dealers prices, so it didn't hurt the illegal drug industry or generate as much taxes as hoped.
I don't agree with recreational marijuana use. I've had it personally affect my life negatively and wouldn't advise people to smoke it.
If it's medically needed and a doctor approves, sure but smoking it everywhere just because you can and because it looks cool is not the move.
I also don't think people should get thrown in jail for it, maybe rehabbed but not thrown in jail for it.
I don't like marijuana at all for myself (tried it twice with different methods of delivery) and found it to be extremely unpleasant.
I don't see why that should affect other people's ability to choose for themselves to enjoy it or not though. Why should they go through rehab just for enjoying something that's not negatively affecting them?
If I've had pineapples personally negatively impact my life, should I get to say you can't have any?
