it is telling the author never bothers to attempt to explain *how* re-criminalization would be enforced as a practical matter.
further, this polemic contains some other major fallacies (perhaps by design).
for example: it is conventional wisdom that today's cannabis is much stronger than cannabis of yesterday. this is true -- and what was it that happened in the intervening decades? it was prohibition. it is also conventional wisdom, at least among cannabis experts, that the potency spike was a result of prohibition. thus the author's neat conclusion that prohibition equals weaker product is ill-informed speculative fiction.
further, to claim cannabis's effect on the criminal justice system begins and ends at marijuana arrests is to admit at best a superficial understanding of the criminal justice system. for starters: 1/4 of the prison population is incarcerated for parole violations. a common parole violation is a positive drug test. cannabis is the most readily detected drug. what is cannabis's effect on parole violations? this does not even appear to enter the author's thinking. what's more, he fails to consider (perhaps deliberately) marijuana criminalization as an entry into the criminal justice system. a drug arrest can lead to many downstream negative consequences, including reduced employment opportunities, which in turn can lead to (wait for it) more serious crimes.
as for the rest: I see cherry-picking studies that support his thesis and ignoring the many more that detract from it; I see hoary tropes and I see bias in search of intellectual foundation. at least he didn't trot out the gateway drug fallacy?
it is telling the author never bothers to attempt to explain *how* re-criminalization would be enforced as a practical matter.
further, this polemic contains some other major fallacies (perhaps by design).
for example: it is conventional wisdom that today's cannabis is much stronger than cannabis of yesterday. this is true -- and what was it that happened in the intervening decades? it was prohibition. it is also conventional wisdom, at least among cannabis experts, that the potency spike was a result of prohibition. thus the author's neat conclusion that prohibition equals weaker product is ill-informed speculative fiction.
further, to claim cannabis's effect on the criminal justice system begins and ends at marijuana arrests is to admit at best a superficial understanding of the criminal justice system. for starters: 1/4 of the prison population is incarcerated for parole violations. a common parole violation is a positive drug test. cannabis is the most readily detected drug. what is cannabis's effect on parole violations? this does not even appear to enter the author's thinking. what's more, he fails to consider (perhaps deliberately) marijuana criminalization as an entry into the criminal justice system. a drug arrest can lead to many downstream negative consequences, including reduced employment opportunities, which in turn can lead to (wait for it) more serious crimes.
as for the rest: I see cherry-picking studies that support his thesis and ignoring the many more that detract from it; I see hoary tropes and I see bias in search of intellectual foundation. at least he didn't trot out the gateway drug fallacy?
No one is advocating for re-criminalization. Fines and requirements to consume cannabis on private property would suffice.