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Notes -
I replied upthread but yes, I think alcohol is worst than cannabis, all things considered.
The thing is that cannabis was already banned and that was mostly fine. Sure there were some shady drug dealers, but there wasn't massive gang violence like there was during Prohibition. And, let's not forget that Prohibition wasn't a complete failure either. It really did reduce alcohol consumption by a lot with all the attendant benefits such as lower domestic violence and higher productivity. It's just that the benefits accrued mostly to the lower classes.
So yeah, if someone invented alcohol tomorrow, it should be banned absolutely. But once Pandora's Box is open, it's hard to shut. Which is another reason we should have never legalized weed. Now that it's legal, making it illegal again will be near-to-impossible.
Going forward, I think we need to squeeze a little harder.
Option 1) Increase taxes and regulation until the profit dries up. Consumption will go down and cannabis will be treated as a rare treat instead of a daily habit. We'll know its working if some street dealers start appearing again. Tolerate this to some extent as long as there is no violence.
Option 2) State run marijuana stores. Beige buildings run by bureacrats. Open 9-5 Monday-Friday. Inconveniently located and with no advertising whatsoever. Turn the pot industry into the DMV.
More options
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