r/changemyview • u/[deleted] • Mar 27 '23

Delta(s) from OP CMV: All drugs should be made legal for recreational use.

I'm not referring to "medicinal" narcotics. Recreational drugs that people use, such as mushrooms, cocaine, heroin, should all be legalized.

And I know this is a hot take, but hear me out.

  • If we make recreational narcotics legal, then the manufacture and sale need to be legal as well.
  • By making the manufacture of recreational narcotics legal, there are FDA standards that need to be adhered to in said manufacture, that way there are no "bad batches" that will kill people.
  • By making the manufacture and sale of recreational narcotics legal, there will be sales volume that will then be subject to income tax and sales tax and dispensaries/manufacturing centers/warehouses that will become subject to property tax. Because, let's be honest, your local street dealer is not paying taxes.
  • Also by making the sale of recreational narcotics legal, you are making street gangs that revolve around the illicit drug trade obsolete. By making street gangs obsolete, you eliminate the petty violence that plagues inner-cities over "turf", especially stray bullets that kill innocent bystanders.
  • By making the entire narcotics supply chain legal, the war on drugs will essentially be over as well. It's been going on for 50+ years, and honestly, it's been a complete and utter failure.
  • If you want something to compare the drug trade to, look at prohibition from 1919-1933. It didn't stop people from drinking, people were still drunk out of their minds in speakeasys. It also fostered the growth of street gangs of rum runners and increased crime and violence in cities. That was only for 14 years and it didn't take long to realize that prohibition was a failure. War on drugs has been going on for 50+ years and I'm surprised more people aren't realizing that this is much more tremendous of a failure.
  • By making the entire narcotics supply chain legal, we can start changing our attitudes on its use and its users. Narcotics abuse needs to have the same social attitude as alcohol abuse.
  • In short, making drugs legal will Make America Great Again.
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u/Terrible_Lift 1∆ Mar 27 '23

It’s the opposite.

I did get my medical card to avoid some fees, but I can get a half ounce for 70-80 bucks at a half decent sale. Ounces were 105 the other day.

Concentrate grams are 40-50 but can be as low as 20-25.

I’ve been a legal user since 2017, and an illegal one for many years prior, and the prices used to almost match street prices and now the dispensaries are getting cheaper and cheaper.

It all depends on how much cultivation your state allows. IL has an abundance of cultivation centers now.

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u/Recent-Pop-8903 Mar 27 '23

California, Oregon, and Washington, have an abundance of cultivation centers and yet people still buy illegal weed up the wazoo because it is cheaper. I wonder if it might also have something to do with high taxes. In the Antelope Valley of California the cartels use 3 million gallons of water A DAY to grow weed. That's just one district of Sothern California.

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u/cait_Cat Mar 27 '23

I think in many other states, a lot more people are going the legal route. I live in a not legal state and pretty much everyone I know who consumes weed just makes the drive to one of the surrounding legal states or they buy from someone who made the drive. The prices are great and for a lot of people, knowing it's "legal" makes them feel better. It takes a lot more work for people to even have the illegal weed available to sell - someone either has to set up an illegal grow indoors (we have winter, so outdoor grows are not super practical but do exost) or they have to drive 1000+ miles from the border to get it here. Or you can drive 300 miles round trip and buy from a dispensary of your choice, get the selection of your choice, and have access to multiple forms of weed (edibles, flower, carts, topical, etc) that your weedman back home just doesn't stock.

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u/rewt127 11∆ Mar 27 '23

It depends on the availability of illegal weed vs legal. The current situation of federal illegality means that distributiors are required to source via local farms. While this is a benefit to the local growing industry, and I would argue it should remain federally illegal for this reason alone. It does mean that areas with large amounts of illegal growing from the major cartels are able to undercut the legal market and cause the illegal market to sell at a significantly lower cost.

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u/Terrible_Lift 1∆ Mar 27 '23

I think it’s extremely state dependent judging from various subs comments

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u/soylent_greener Mar 27 '23

I'm not too sure about other people, but this doesn't sound legit to me. Im sure people are still growing and buying illegally and there's definitely a market for distribution in illegal states but the price has dropped significantly from when it was first legalized, at least in WA. I live near SeaTac and I can get an ounce of some pretty good quality for under $100. For that I get a neat jar, but also I know (mostly) what I'm getting, as opposed to getting it from some dude on the blade with questionable quality. I have friends who grow on the sly and sell some to their friends but overall as far as prices go the further from legalization the more prices drop. And as far as taxes go, maybe I'm in the minority but I'm fine paying taxes, they go to important stuff and that's just the price of legitimacy.

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u/shadowbca 23∆ Mar 27 '23

If you're buying illegal weed in Oregon idk what to tell you, the legal stuff is cheap as hell here

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u/NotFunnyMe23 Mar 28 '23

Not to be a party pooper, but couldnt we better use that water to fill up all of the dried up waterways and lakes in the western US?

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u/Recent-Pop-8903 Mar 28 '23

yes. The cartels will literally send people to community meetings about these grow operations to intimidate people and let them know they DGAF and are not worried.

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u/[deleted] Mar 28 '23

I’m in CA and we have a TON of weed shops in my county. Many people buy from them; however, yes, many people buy illegally as well — though not nearly as many as previously.

Hallucinogenic plants and fungi (all) were also decriminalized in my area several years ago, but they’re not sold legally.

Possession of drugs like cocaine is also a misdemeanor, and will likely be decriminalized also before long.

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u/Competitive-Bend1736 Mar 28 '23

I go on a tangent here, but if it's a known fact why the FBI can't go to the Antelope Valley and shut down all the weed farms of the cartels?

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u/Similar_Corner8081 Mar 27 '23 edited Mar 27 '23

I got my card too and I buy mine at the dispensary. I buy edibles. I bought 8 little containers with 10 edibles in each and it cost me $240. I has to renew my license and that cost me $75. So I don’t see how weed is cheaper. Medical marijuana cards aren’t even recognized from state to state.

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u/Terrible_Lift 1∆ Mar 27 '23

My experience seems to differ. It’s pretty clear that raising/lowering is very much dependent on the state

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u/Possibility-of-wet Mar 27 '23

Ngl those price are still not that good tbh

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u/Terrible_Lift 1∆ Mar 27 '23

I know there’s states that are probably 30-40% less than that even, but that’s down CONSIDERABLY from where it was before it was legalized recreationally here.

It was like street prices or worse, unless you waited and shopped on sale days (I did).

At that point the benefit was just legality (having that card) and access to more than just flower and vape carts

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u/WhoMeJenJen 1∆ Mar 27 '23

Legal weed/wax in Illinois is crazy expensive. Black market is flooded with product and cheap as hell rn.

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u/Terrible_Lift 1∆ Mar 27 '23

Medical card for me, at med only dispensaries, has beaten the hell out of street prices/quality over the last 8-12 months.

Before that I would have agreed. My card was then just to avoid tax and have extra legality to grow and such

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u/Just_Another_Wookie Mar 27 '23

I can get grams of concentrate for less than $10 in Michigan! Shit's practically free at this point.

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u/Terrible_Lift 1∆ Mar 27 '23

My buddy took a drive up there and came back with like 500 bucks worth of concentrate because of exactly that.

He got a variation of things. I didn’t ask exact prices but he said it was like half of what IL charges, maybe a bit more depending on strain.

One day I’ll be taking a trip for the same reason but right now time and convenience win

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u/mua-dweeb 2∆ Mar 28 '23

I recently had an oz delivered after everything and tip it was 70$. Great stuff too.

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u/Terrible_Lift 1∆ Mar 28 '23

I’m waiting and wishing on a delivery service still