The Wall

[CoccoBill]

There would be more meth heads because something previously illegal became legal. Are you suggesting that illegality plays absolutely NO role in deterring behavior? Thats a pretty hard position to maintain.

No I'm not suggesting that at all, pretty much every policy change has some kind of impact and consequences, often unforeseen. What I do think is that the usage increasing effect of legalization is probably exaggerated, with Portugal and Holland being good evidence for that. In Portugal after legalization all drug use is down several percentage points, drug related crime and deaths are down, rate of HIV infections is down etc.

I am absolutely against kids "experimenting" with heroin, meth, or any other highly addictive, and dangerous drug. Addictive and dangerous is not rhetoric.

I agree completely, drugs can absolutely be addictive and are undeniably dangerous. The causes and mechanisms of addiction however, might be very different to what we're used to believing, as discussed in the Ted talk I linked.

But this isnt the whole truth. Hanging my hat on just meth for a moment, the crimes are not always monetary based. In fact, due to the damage meth does to the brain, many of the crimes are done because the guy just cant function anymore.

For sure, there are substances that can cause serious permanent damage. Then again, alcohol can do that, and there are numerous illegal drugs that are objectively less dangerous and harmful than alcohol. It goes without saying that if alcohol was introduced now, it'd be considered a hard drug. If they were legalized, there would be incentive to develop less harmful alternatives.

Idk if legal status has anything to do with getting a job though. Certainly prior convictions effect that, but being a junkie alone is enough to make a business owner pick someone else.

I would think junkies and in general drug users with clearly visible signs of continuous or problem use are a minority. You might be surprised for example about opioid use prevalence among medical doctors. Many jobs also have mandatory drug testing, where any kind of use, even a one-time experiment, can completely and permanently block employment. Of course this in some cases warranted, but I would personally no more want my airline pilot to be drunk than stoned or on acid.

I just see very limited downsides and quite a few upsides with legalizing everything. All or most criminal activities related to drug trafficking gone, probably a decrease in all drug related crime, income from taxation, drug related problems more in the open and easier to deal with, easier control and monitoring related to their sales and product safety, no massive prison populations to maintain and rejected from society etc. etc. I'm a believer.