> Marijuana legalization hasn't lead to any major problems. People don't even bother getting it on the black market anymore where it is legal. They go for what's convenient.
This is actually really not true at all, and it's important to be honest about the reality. First, in many places where weed is now legal, black markets have continued to thrive because there are high taxes on legal weed, and thus black market weed is considerably cheaper. Totally fine to argue that this is then a problem with implementation, but it is definitely not correct to say "People don't even bother getting it on the black market anymore where it is legal." - that's just wrong, and it's not hard to Google for lots of articles discussing this.
Also, while I agree with legalization, I would state that I underestimated some of the downsides. A couple years ago I was in downtown Denver, along their 16th St pedestrian mall, and it's not really a nice thing to see tons of people stoned out of their minds walking around like zombies. Also not great when you get in an Uber and your driver seems totally baked.
Can't emphasize enough that I think the alternative (throwing people in jail) is much worse. But I don't think it's honest to minimize the downsides.
Eh I don't know. I would guess in some States that implemented dumb policies it could be the case.
WA and CO are where my experience was. The product is more often than not cheaper than the black market prices were.
It was pretty common for a black market eighth to cost 40-80 dollars, and you're looking at 20-60 dollars for legal stuff now even with taxes. It's a bit more expensive in WA but I'd say comparable to black market prices.
That's not even to mention the convenience aspect. You can buy a joint that will last a moderate user all evening for like 5 dollars. No need to roll it yourself and all that.
I don't smoke (or eat or whatever), but I've been constantly told by folks in Denver how much cheaper it is to get marijuana illegally. I've been told the product is crap but much cheaper.
We should legalize marijuana (and everything else), but if the legal market is taxed so highly that it only targets wealthy users and not Joe Schmoe, then the black market remains. Most people are very price conscious.
In Michigan, black market was cheaper for a while as dispensaries seemed to focus on high-end product, but prices have significantly reduced over the last few years (I'm guessing due to larger scale of production and more sophisticated business models and logistics). An ounce can now be legally obtained for ~$100-150 and black market product is only available in jurisdictions that haven't permitted building dispensaries - and most of that is legally obtained and illegally resold rather than smuggled or illicitly grown.
I've heard but not directly experienced black market, that their primary customers are either underage users or people who want to convenience of delivery and to keep their contact information away from the watchful eye of the government, and that the people who provide the service typically buy form legal dispensaries and then upcharge dramatically to cover the hassle.
In Canada I can order weed online (gray market, online isn't "allowed"), it shows up in a a week or so. I also get an email when they have sales (30-40%).
Why would I bother doing the song and dance with a dealer, and I prefer edibles; good luck getting those with a set amount of THC.
Sorry to sound a bit harsh, but people here are a bit clueless to how price sensitive a huge number of people are.
Sure, on a software engineer salary, I think you'd be crazy too to go on the black market. But as it's not hard to find lots of stories about how the black market is thriving in areas where weed is legal. Canada in particular has been in the news lately because the black market is actually the vast majority of total sales.
This is actually really not true at all, and it's important to be honest about the reality. First, in many places where weed is now legal, black markets have continued to thrive because there are high taxes on legal weed, and thus black market weed is considerably cheaper. Totally fine to argue that this is then a problem with implementation, but it is definitely not correct to say "People don't even bother getting it on the black market anymore where it is legal." - that's just wrong, and it's not hard to Google for lots of articles discussing this.
Also, while I agree with legalization, I would state that I underestimated some of the downsides. A couple years ago I was in downtown Denver, along their 16th St pedestrian mall, and it's not really a nice thing to see tons of people stoned out of their minds walking around like zombies. Also not great when you get in an Uber and your driver seems totally baked.
Can't emphasize enough that I think the alternative (throwing people in jail) is much worse. But I don't think it's honest to minimize the downsides.
Edit: Save you a google search, https://calmatters.org/commentary/2023/06/california-illicit...