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The Cost of Legalizing Marijuana
El Cerrito Police Chief Scott Kirkland talks about the true cost of legalizing marijuana in California. Sure, the state will get extra tax money and Frito Lay stocks will rise, but can emergency rooms deal with the burnout fallout?
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The Cost of Legalizing Marijuana
El Cerrito Police Chief Scott Kirkland talks about the true cost of legalizing marijuana in California. Sure, the state will get extra tax money and Frito Lay stocks will r...
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swilli01
Where does this guy live?
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cenerentolo
another reactionary.
when i was on the debate team and had a big argument that i wanted to prove, i would look for words written down that could be used as evidence. one of the things i developed in my character as a result of that tendency toward fallacy and sophistic thinking was the need to be aware of both sides of an argument, aping thomas aquinas.
without that discipline you become inductive, you argue straw men and red-herrings. sometimes you even lie.
in countries with more evolved ideas about drug policies in effect, their drug treatment needs have declined.
further, the treatment for alcohol and tobacco make up the vast lion's share of costs and deaths.....
more grass problems in the EMERGENCY room??? PUHLEASE
i would need a qualification, as we know, the police are allowed to lie.
this whole thing is like a bastardized "gateway" argument, at best.
finally, even if the facts and figures werent bunk that an audience of children could see through if they wished, with more people in our jails than in russia at the height of stalin, there might be costs that he failed to mention..
darladoon
all of the available empirical data on the legalization of marijuana (portugal, holland, even canada) completely rejects all of the counter-arguments this guy is making.
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keemia
One of the counter-arguments the two guys failed to make is that the California system is stretched to the seams from the cost of capturing, prosecuting, and jailing small-time dope sellers. The "3 strikes" law is keeping hordes of people behind bars for selling very small amounts of marijuana. Add to that commercialization of the Calif jails "to save money", and you have a completely broken system. And who pays for that? Any wonder why the state is going bankrupt?
deegeezee
yes, but the Tax Argument hold absolutely no water.
1) if legalized, people will simply grow their own.
2) drug dealers are notorious for a lot of things... paying taxes isn't one of them.
and keemia, if the 3 strikes law is the problem, then *that's* what you change.
Dimlah
Flawed argument is flawed.
Basic economic theory suggests that the most effective production method is large scale. Were Marijuana to be legalized, the vast majority of the herb on the street would come from giant, multi-acre plantations farmed by agri-businesses. Alcohol is heavily taxed but the moonshine industry isn't exactly booming. This is because a giant factory that pays taxes will always be more cost efficient than a small bathtub that doesn't.
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