jeez and the study comes out of Texas, not some airy, fairy lefty state.
No correlation between medical marijuana legalization, crime increase: Legalization may reduce homicide, assault rates
Date:
March 26, 2014
Source:
University of Texas at Dallas
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140326182049.htm
It actually may be related to reductions in certain types of crime, said Dr. Robert Morris, associate professor of criminology and lead author of the study published in the journal PLOS ONE.
"We're cautious about saying, 'Medical marijuana laws definitely reduce homicide.' That's not what we're saying," Morris said. "The main finding is that we found no increase in crime rates resulting from medical marijuana legalization. In fact, we found some evidence of decreasing rates of some types of violent crime, namely homicide and assault."
The UT Dallas team began its work in summer 2012 after repeatedly hearing claims that medical marijuana legalization posed a danger to public health in terms of exposure to violent crime and property crime. ...
jeez and the study comes out of Texas, not some airy, fairy lefty state.
No correlation between medical marijuana legalization, crime increase: Legalization may reduce homicide, assault rates
Date:
March 26, 2014
Source:
University of Texas at Dallas
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140326182049.htm
It actually may be related to reductions in certain types of crime, said Dr. Robert Morris, associate professor of criminology and lead author of the study published in the journal PLOS ONE.
"We're cautious about saying, 'Medical marijuana laws definitely reduce homicide.' That's not what we're saying," Morris said. "The main finding is that we found no increase in crime rates resulting from medical marijuana legalization. In fact, we found some evidence of decreasing rates of some types of violent crime, namely homicide and assault."
The UT Dallas team began its work in summer 2012 after repeatedly hearing claims that medical marijuana legalization posed a danger to public health in terms of exposure to violent crime and property crime. ...
I wouldn't be surprised if it also reduces the suicide rate.
Lois
Not surprising. Just judging from my own experiences way back, neither I nor anyone I ever knew who smoked pot ever got violent or had negative tendencies while high. Sounds trite but it always mellowed us out. Alcohol OTOH tended to bring out the negative emotions, not always, but enough to make the term “angry drunk” accurate. I’ve never heard of an angry stoner.
What would happen if they assessed the effects of alcohol consumption as they are doing with marijuana to decide whether it should remain legal? We know for a fact that the use of alcohol leads to crime, including homicide, rape and all other kinds of violence. Yet no one suggests that alcohol be banned (again). Why demonize one drug that has been shown to not increase crime while keeping legal another drug that has been shown over and over to increase crime and to ruin not only the lives of the ones consuming it but also their innocent contacts?
Lois
What would happen if they assessed the effects of alcohol consumption as they are doing with marijuana to decide whether it should remain legal? We know for a fact that the use of alcohol leads to crime, including homicide, rape and all other kinds of violence. Yet no one suggests that alcohol be banned (again). Why demonize one drug that has been shown to not increase crime while keeping legal another drug that has been shown over and over to increase crime and to ruin not only the lives of the ones consuming it but also their innocent contacts?
Lois
The authorities know its impossible to successfully ban alcohol. As detrimental as it is to society while legal, it's even more detrimental while illegal.
What would happen if they assessed the effects of alcohol consumption as they are doing with marijuana to decide whether it should remain legal? We know for a fact that the use of alcohol leads to crime, including homicide, rape and all other kinds of violence. Yet no one suggests that alcohol be banned (again). Why demonize one drug that has been shown to not increase crime while keeping legal another drug that has been shown over and over to increase crime and to ruin not only the lives of the ones consuming it but also their innocent contacts?
Lois
The authorities know its impossible to successfully ban alcohol. As detrimental as it is to society while legal, it's even more detrimental while illegal.
True, that grand societal experiment has already been done.
But this suggests one of the other important reasons for legalizing marijuana: It takes the business and profits out of the hands of drug lords who have little qualms about homicide.
While we're talking about it, another important reason to legalize marijuana is that the "war on drugs" has disproportionally taken young black men out of being productive members of society. (Important, that is, if you care about justice for all.)
What would happen if they assessed the effects of alcohol consumption as they are doing with marijuana to decide whether it should remain legal? We know for a fact that the use of alcohol leads to crime, including homicide, rape and all other kinds of violence. Yet no one suggests that alcohol be banned (again). Why demonize one drug that has been shown to not increase crime while keeping legal another drug that has been shown over and over to increase crime and to ruin not only the lives of the ones consuming it but also their innocent contacts?
Lois
The authorities know its impossible to successfully ban alcohol. As detrimental as it is to society while legal, it's even more detrimental while illegal.
True, that grand societal experiment has already been done.
But this suggests one of the other important reasons for legalizing marijuana: It takes the business and profits out of the hands of drug lords who have little qualms about homicide.
While we're talking about it, another important reason to legalize marijuana is that the "war on drugs" has disproportionally taken young black men out of being productive members of society. (Important, that is, if you care about justice for all.)
The banning of marijuana results in the same conditions that the banning of alcohol did. The only difference is that alcohol was once legal and an industry had grown up around it, and when it was taken away all hell broke loose all at once. Americans learned a lesson from that experiment and they probably wouldn't ban alcohol again, but the lesson never seems to spill over to other drugs. The issues are almost exactly the same, yet too many people and the government see them as different. If marijuana became legal tomorrow, there would be little change in the number of people who are using it today. Anybody can get marijuana anywhere in the country. It's grown and available everywhere. Any high school kid can get it. So what is the value in keeping it illegal? There is no value. But there is plenty of downside to keeping it illegal. A ban leads to crime, and people being arrested, lives being ruined. There is value to society in making it legal but too many people can't see the forest for the trees. they go out and get drunk on alcohol and talk about the evils of marijuana.
Lois
A major advantage to the government with alcohol, is that it’s not that easy to produce. Fermentation is a slow process, then distillation requires equipment. This means the commercial sources are easy to document and tax.
However, anyone can grow marijuana, if not in their back yard, in a closet with gro-lites. A shift to marijuana means a major loss in taxes to the government.
While people appear less agressive with MJ than with alcohol, there is a problem that I’ve noticesd from my very few uses of it. One becomes strongly centered on oneself, and awareness of others and anything outside oneself seems to fade from one’s attention. I’d hate to be on the road while some guy is gently enjoying his high and not paying attention to anyone else or which side of the road he’s on.
Occam
A major advantage to the government with alcohol, is that it's not that easy to produce. Fermentation is a slow process, then distillation requires equipment. This means the commercial sources are easy to document and tax.
However, anyone can grow marijuana, if not in their back yard, in a closet with gro-lites. A shift to marijuana means a major loss in taxes to the government.
While people appear less agressive with MJ than with alcohol, there is a problem that I've noticesd from my very few uses of it. One becomes strongly centered on oneself, and awareness of others and anything outside oneself seems to fade from one's attention. I'd hate to be on the road while some guy is gently enjoying his high and not paying attention to anyone else or which side of the road he's on.
Occam
I doubt that, if you used mj more regularly, that you would attribute the phenomena that you experienced as a primary and usual effect. (But you are correct, of course, that no one should drive while under the influence of any mind altering drug, legal, prescription, or otherwise.) What you are, also, implying, however is that legalization of mj will lead to more traffic accidents (and fatalities?). That is a possibility. But it, also, may not be the case, at all.
To another of your points, growing decent mj is not as easy as it sounds. I imagine that it will primarily be done by professionals (who can be taxed).
A major advantage to the government with alcohol, is that it's not that easy to produce. Fermentation is a slow process, then distillation requires equipment. This means the commercial sources are easy to document and tax.
However, anyone can grow marijuana, if not in their back yard, in a closet with gro-lites. A shift to marijuana means a major loss in taxes to the government.
While people appear less agressive with MJ than with alcohol, there is a problem that I've noticesd from my very few uses of it. One becomes strongly centered on oneself, and awareness of others and anything outside oneself seems to fade from one's attention. I'd hate to be on the road while some guy is gently enjoying his high and not paying attention to anyone else or which side of the road he's on.
Occam
Is it any worse than someone who is driving drunk? Yet marijuana is banned and alcohol is not.
Lois
I’m not advocating for driving when under the influence of either alcohol or marijuana. I was just noting that the driving skill problems caused by marijuana may be different, but equivalent to those of alcohol.
Occam
It’s been a few years so I can’t find the relevant articles, don’t remember where they were from, but Portugal decimalized drugs about four years ago and had a significant drop in its violent crime rate almost immediately.
I'm not advocating for driving when under the influence of either alcohol or marijuana. I was just noting that the driving skill problems caused by marijuana may be different, but equivalent to those of alcohol.
Occam
We don't know, yet, if the effects on driving are equivalent. But from personal experience, in my younger days (which I fortunately survived without causing harm to anyone) I would say driving while drunk poses a much more severe threat than driving while stoned.
It's been a few years so I can't find the relevant articles, don't remember where they were from, but Portugal decimalized drugs about four years ago and had a significant drop in its violent crime rate almost immediately.
Portugal decriminalized all drugs in 2001. They never had the increased drug use and chaos that was predicted beforehand by opponents of drug decriminalization.
Of course, the US is a different country with different demographics and citizens who have a different life pattern. So we don't know, for sure what would happen here. But what we do know is that, even with our intense, costly, and seemingly unending "war on drugs" we have more drug users than any country in the world, along with the biggest # of prisoners per population of any country in the world.
To me, it makes overwhelming sense to legalize and tax mj, the most benign (and possibly even helpful) of street drugs. In my estimation the potential benefits far outweigh the potential risks.
It's been a few years so I can't find the relevant articles, don't remember where they were from, but Portugal decimalized drugs about four years ago and had a significant drop in its violent crime rate almost immediately.
Portugal decriminalized all drugs in 2001. They never had the increased drug use and chaos that was predicted beforehand by opponents of drug decriminalization.
Of course, the US is a different country with different demographics and citizens who have a different life pattern. So we don't know, for sure what would happen here. But what we do know is that, even with our intense, costly, and seemingly unending "war on drugs" we have more drug users than any country in the world, along with the biggest # of prisoners per population of any country in the world.
To me, it makes overwhelming sense to legalize and tax mj, the most benign (and possibly even helpful) of street drugs. In my estimation the potential benefits far outweigh the potential risks.
Anybody can get it now, so keeping it illegal doesn't lessen its use. That a government ban has any effect on drug use is a fiction. If it's legal its quality can be controlled and any contamination can be detected. And it would be cheaper because it would no longer support and be controlled by the illegal drug trade. It would still be illegal to drive under its influence, to sell it to kids or to smoke it in anyplace cigarettes can't be smoked. There could be other controls such as how much one person can have in his possession.
Lois
It's been a few years so I can't find the relevant articles, don't remember where they were from, but Portugal decimalized drugs about four years ago and had a significant drop in its violent crime rate almost immediately.
Portugal decriminalized all drugs in 2001. They never had the increased drug use and chaos that was predicted beforehand by opponents of drug decriminalization.
Of course, the US is a different country with different demographics and citizens who have a different life pattern. So we don't know, for sure what would happen here. But what we do know is that, even with our intense, costly, and seemingly unending "war on drugs" we have more drug users than any country in the world, along with the biggest # of prisoners per population of any country in the world.
To me, it makes overwhelming sense to legalize and tax mj, the most benign (and possibly even helpful) of street drugs. In my estimation the potential benefits far outweigh the potential risks.
That lesson is largely wasted on politicians and the Supreme Court, though. They apparently know nothing of cost/benefit ratios.
Lois
And how much do you think would the government save in prison costs?
The prison savings for de-criminalization of all drugs in the US would be around 10 billion plus annually according to this article.
http://consciouslifenews.com/330000-drug-offenders-prison-spends-drug-war-cost-world-hunger/
There would then be increased income from taxing and regulation. Some say this would wipe out our national debt toot sweet.