Dependa where you live, It's expensive for novices who are looking for convenience. I get mine straight from a grower, $500 1/4lb. The only drawback is the variety, but it's gotten better the last few years.
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Legal marijuana is finally doing what the drug war couldnt
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Dependa where you live, It's expensive for novices who are looking for convenience. I get mine straight from a grower, $500 1/4lb. The only drawback is the variety, but it's gotten better the last few years.
They will just shift to other, more violent crimes in order to keep their profits high. Kidnappings and extortion are going to increase in numbers. Do you really think those guys will go "legal"? They are human waste, they will try to keep their empires strong.
When I was in Seattle recently, it was, like, maddeningly simple. You literally just walk in, show your ID to the security guy hanging out at the door, then browse the various buds, waxes, edibles, accessories that they've got. Multiple employees are there to help you make the right purchase, and then you're on your way after a swipe of a card/some cash. The store I was at even provided a shuttle service for the elderly.
Once you experience that, it just makes you frustrated with how stupid the whole prohibition situation is.
living in WA its weird to imagine going back to a no-weed state now.
Dusk Soldier
Member
Capitalism at work.
Palette Swap
Member
Damn, I wish Europe would get its shit together and every country legalized it, less crime, more jobs, more taxes, less funds for organized and, to an extent, terrorism.
I don't even do weed, mind you.
- by that rationale, you'd never crack down on criminal businesses, in case it would upset them.
- there's a wealth of examples of companies that have tried pivoting out of a dying market into a new one, and have utterly failed. That they're violent assholes doesn't guarantee success.
I don't even do weed, mind you.
This assumes that they would automatically be able to relocate successfully from one market to another. Two things on this defeatist view :
- by that rationale, you'd never crack down on criminal businesses, in case it would upset them.
- there's a wealth of examples of companies that have tried pivoting out of a dying market into a new one, and have utterly failed. That they're violent assholes doesn't guarantee success.
They have where it's legal.
FriedConsole
Banned
This should have been the lead reason for legalizing marijuana instead overstating the medical effects but the people who have been buying marijuana for years don't want to admit for years they have been funding corruption and violence in Mexico for decades. They want to believe they got their stuff from their "friends uncle's farm in California".
We'll just have to wait and see, I guess. But I don't think you really know what kind of human scum those people are.
Barajas_201
Member
eddie4
Genuinely Generous
No you just show your state ID and then you buy what you want/need.In Oregon , they limit how much you can buy per day.
Of course not. But what do you suggest? Tell me something, do you seriously believe those guy will go legal? That they will somehow stop?
Unless I see a dramatic decrease in the grip of the drug lords over politicians, and the violence here in México, my stance won't change. As someone who is very close to people who has been extorted and kidnapped by those fucking bastards, I know well how they operate.
EDIT: And don't get me wrong. I'm not against legalization. I'm only saying this will change nothing regarding the violence, cartel wars and politics corruption. At least not here in México.
XGRaViSmOrSX
Member
Hoping MA legalizes on the coming vote. Close enough to move and wait for NY to get their head out of their asses.
The Albatross
Member
Massachusetts is generally more progressive on marijuana than most states, though behind the token few of Oregon, Colorado, Washington, etc. The state has already approved 20 marijuana dispensary licenses... although incidentally, about half of them lost their licenses after having ties to really crooked businessmen or organized crime.
GameAddict411
Member
This is not shocking at all. If it's legal to buy, why would someone want to buy illegal weed? If it's legal to buy and grow nationwide, no one would be smuggling weed.
BlueTsunami
there is joy in sucking dick
It's scary to think about how much mj will be taxed in Mass though. Them convenience fees.
adamsappel
Member
I'm surprised no east coast state has legalized. Marijuana vacations are a thing, now. In most states it's already the biggest cash crop, you'd just be getting money from it instead of spending on law enforcement and incarceration.
They have gone down in legalized states, I guess. I'm willing to trade cost for convenience, selection and quality anyway.
The Mexican growers are getting 1/2-2/3 of the previous payments from the cartels now.
There are specific dispensaries set up and it's pretty much like buying alcohol (need some kind of ID showing you're 21 or over). The only difference is in Oregon you can only buy a certain amount per day and they only accept cash. The cash thing was as of four or five months ago though, so that may have changed. Here's an example of a store in my area that people really like:
http://www.pharmtotableor.com/
Towns have their own specific ordinances as well with regard to growing it yourself. Mine recently approved some guidelines for people who want to grow it outdoors.
Endorphineforeverybody
Member
The story of this war is unbelievable. I think everybody should Read drugs by Johann Hari!!.
You can get super dank for like $10-15/g or ~$175-200/oz here in WA, in the stores.
...or if you have a MMJ card, you can buy a clone for about $12 and harvest 4oz+ from it
We're not saying that they'll just go legitimate. People are saying that without a major cash cow in illicit drugs, they'll be weakened. Kidnapping and extortion is harder than you think in a non-failed state and leads to a lot of overexposure and risk. Selling drugs is relatively child's play by comparison and brings in MUCH more money. So less cash for them means less cash to recruit. Less cash to buy weapons. And less cash to corrupt officials. This makes them easier targets for the police and military to encircle and crush. Violence WILL decrease if society were to take away drugs as an easy cash method for the cartels.
Also relevant is the makeup of a lot of these cartels and gangs in general. They prey on the disadvantaged.
Wired: How Mexicos Drug Cartels Recruit Child Soldiers as Young as 11
This is also why the Drug War in the US and the Prison Industrial Complex has been such a fucking wreck and has actually increased gang violence and urban decay. Instead of empowering and helping the disadvantaged, we ignore them or cast them under heel. This makes them easy targets for recruitment into gangs and cartels which just fuels the cycle of destruction and poverty.
XGRaViSmOrSX
Member
I'd rather pay a percentage to help build roads and schools for consistent high end buds instead of it going to my dealer so he can take vacations and run out of certain flavors.
Gordon Shumway
Banned
Now if they'd just legalize the shit everywhere, all y'all pot smokers could stop funding terrorism!
That's all cool wishful thinking and all, but the problem is that they will not be weakened. They will just focus/shift their business to other illegal areas, like kidnapping and extorting. "We are getting less and less profit from MJ dealing? Ok, just increase the civilian and business extortions."
As I said, I will be happy to eat crow if violence and political corruption decreases in México thanks to legalization. But that won't happen. That's not how those guys operate.
After legalization becomes truly widespread I'll see the results. If it truly happens that drug lord related violence is GREATLY diminished, then I'll eat some delicious crow. But reality isn't so sugar and rainbows.
The other big benefit to legalization for the consumer, outside of just availability, is that you introduce the concept of service to the industry. For example, here in the state of Illinois (where medical has recently become legal, though for a stupidly narrow set of conditions), the store prices are actually the same, and sometimes more, than the street prices. This is largely because the ridiculously strict guidelines has created too-small of a possible consumer base to give dispensaries the amount of business they'd need to set lower prices, but I still think it's a net gain because:
1. Convenience. No phone calls/weird meet-ups/etc. You can just make a stop on your way home from work and that's that.
2. More targeted purchases. With a medical/retail-level of quality, you can start purchasing to get specific experiences, rather than trusting your dealer, or simply rolling the dice.
3. Again, actual customer service. You're getting friendly, helpful experts to assist you in having a good time. And even if you're not? You can decide to become a patron elsewhere and just pull up the next closest store on Yelp.
4. Quality. This is by far the biggest advantage. You're just getting better stuff through legal channels, no doubt about it.
Like I said before, once you experience things this way, it really hammers home how simple this decision should be.
1. Convenience. No phone calls/weird meet-ups/etc. You can just make a stop on your way home from work and that's that.
2. More targeted purchases. With a medical/retail-level of quality, you can start purchasing to get specific experiences, rather than trusting your dealer, or simply rolling the dice.
3. Again, actual customer service. You're getting friendly, helpful experts to assist you in having a good time. And even if you're not? You can decide to become a patron elsewhere and just pull up the next closest store on Yelp.
4. Quality. This is by far the biggest advantage. You're just getting better stuff through legal channels, no doubt about it.
Like I said before, once you experience things this way, it really hammers home how simple this decision should be.
I hate to sound selfish, but these laws were enacted for the benefit of individual states who voted for them, not for the benefit of Mexico. If the cartels aren't damaged at all after their MJ business is killed off, then you guys clearly have much bigger problems to contend it. We're doing our part by trying to eliminate demand for one of the cartel's products. There's not a whole lot we can do until there's a legitimate effort in Mexico to fight corruption and keep politicians out of the cartel's pocket.
Yep. That's exactly my point.
Youre in EU, you should have good access to seeds.
You could grow 1 or 2 plants and they would last you a year. You can pick your genetics, even grow organically if you want so you know exactly what you're consuming.
I know it's not for everyone but growing your own can be fun and rewarding, just like home-brewing beer or something.
Noisy Ninj4
Member
Realm vindicates what a lot of people have said about this. Berkley breathed had a great strip decades ago on this particular topic.
http://www.gocomics.com/bloomcounty/2014/03/27
http://www.gocomics.com/bloomcounty/2014/03/27
John Rabbit
Banned
they're criminal organizations, not marijuana growers/distributors. they won't hesitate to find other avenues.
I really don't know what else to say. Yes, they will try extortion and other means but that doesn't bring in the easy cash like drugs does. It's also a thousand times riskier to achieve. Overextending your capabilities and reach leads to destruction. They will lose power, capital, and men without drugs and thus the pivot to other ventures is not an easy thing to achieve or, more importantly, maintain.
Not when they shift their focus to extortion and kidnapping instead.
Me neither. So as I said we'll just have to wait and see. Not keeping my hopes up.
That can't be as sustainable of a long-term business model for them, it's more of an act of desperation.
Being able to turn-around tons of an easy to grow crop is much easier work than kidnapping and extorting people. Plus the money from cannabis allowed them to do stuff like that. It's taking away one of their many weapons.
Of course it won't completely destroy them, but it hurts them.
andthebeatgoeson
Junior Member
You think drug use will go down after legalization? Weed and alcohol would have been enough for me, if I did it.
If it went down it would have a lot more to do with people not needing to see a dealer with access to a variety of "options", than anything else. Its all about social circles and if your social circle doesn't have a couple of dealers it's kinda of difficult to get into the "harder" stuff.
YourMaster
Member
You can only hope that it's more difficult to recruit new people into an 'extortion and kidnapping' organization than it is into a drug gang, so that over time as the current cartel members die off/retire the cartels slowly shrink. And hopefully some corrupt politicians have more difficulty accepting their new lines of business as well.
Alcibiades
Member
The kidnapping, human smuggling, and extortion business is peanuts compared to tens of billions from exporting drugs.
The kidnapping and extortion success can in fact be attributed to cartels having easy cash from the drug market. Drug money is propping up all their other illicit profits. Yes there will still be crime but it will be harder to maintain massive cartel operations without the drug money.
The kidnapping and extortion success can in fact be attributed to cartels having easy cash from the drug market. Drug money is propping up all their other illicit profits. Yes there will still be crime but it will be harder to maintain massive cartel operations without the drug money.
Crimson_Fate
Member
I'd wait another 10-20 years before I celebrate.
After getting young people to drop Tobacco we now have states pushing and regulating marijuana to fill their empty vaults. Breathing smoke of any kind is not a good thing.
I bet we see a spike in lung cancer in the future. Only this time the government isn't going to be able to sue a "Tobacco Company" since the state government is the one promoting it . I foresee a lot of lawsuits and and bankrupt city governments in the future.
After getting young people to drop Tobacco we now have states pushing and regulating marijuana to fill their empty vaults. Breathing smoke of any kind is not a good thing.
I bet we see a spike in lung cancer in the future. Only this time the government isn't going to be able to sue a "Tobacco Company" since the state government is the one promoting it . I foresee a lot of lawsuits and and bankrupt city governments in the future.
Studies show that use goes up slightly then back to normal.
Point being that people, all kinds of people, are going to use recreational drugs and they're going to use whether it's legal or not. Drugs aren't difficult to find anywhere, despite our "drug war", not in the poorest places and not in the richest.
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