If marijuana becomes legal across the nation, does that have the potential

[bayareamike]

61. I'm not following your logic. What does marijuana legalization have to do with

heroin legalization or coke legalization? If the discussion is about marijuana being legal, let's discuss that.

Also, you mentioned that alcohol cannot be equated with marijuana. Why not? They're both drugs that are widely consumed. Many studies show that alcohol is in fact worse than marijuana in terms of dependency and addiction.

Here's a recent article discussing just that: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-truth-about-pot


If marijuana is legalized nationally, and people can produce and purchase it legally it would undercut the cartels that import it on the black market. As it stands, marijuana is California's largest cash crop. Why not legalize, regulate, and tax it? Seems like a win win to me: marijuana becomes safer to consume (there would be standard regulations just like there are for alcohol) and the tax money can be used for worthwhile goals.

EDIT: I reread what you said. I understand that the cartels would likely turn to harder drugs like cocaine, meth, or heroin but there needs to be a market for consumption in the United States. The drug trade wouldn't exist if it weren't for the propensity of Americans to consume drugs. That's just a fact. It's at least half of the equation. Taking marijuana -- the most widely consumed (illicit) drug in the US -- off the black market would put a major dent in the drug trade. Arguing that that would result in higher usage of harder drugs, like coke or heroin, requires an assumption that Americans would choose to consume them, even in the face of legal weed.