7 ms·

It's a novelty right now. In Amsterdam when you go to a music festival you will not see a lot of pod heads. I was one of the few and I'm a German! Look at Por

It's a novelty right now. In Amsterdam when you go to a music festival you will not see a lot of pod heads. I was one of the few and I'm a German! Look at Portugals drug history. Legalization saved that country!

TylerE 3y ago
How do you see wether someone has eaten edibles?
- Demotooodo 3y ago
  That's not common in Amsterdam
Alupis 3y ago
> In Amsterdam when you go to a music festival you will not see a lot of pod heads I could be wrong, but I don't believe marijuana is as-legal in Amsterdam as it is in California for example. In CA, there's very few enforced restrictions of where you can get it and where you can use it. > Look at Portugals drug history. Legalization saved that country! It doesn't appear so[1]. It appears they are struggling with the same issues - dramatic rise in drug use. It's not really effective to just simply legalize all drugs. I agree with most, we shouldn't throw people in prison for drug use. No, instead we need to throw them into mandatory rehabilitation programs. The goals of a decriminalization program shouldn't be to increase average citizen's drug use. But that's what happens without some sort of rehab/treatment program. [1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/07/07/portugal-drugs-decriminalization-heroin-crack/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/07/07/portugal-dru...
- Ajay-p 3y ago
  I am not a consumer of marijuana but in my observations of habitual users is nowhere near the same as someone addicted to heroin, and the severe physical and mental impact it has on their bodies. One could say alcohol and nicotine have such harmful effects, but not as dramatic and sudden as harder narcotics.
- TylerE 3y ago
  Disagree. Much more societal harm comes from the supply side (cartels, street gangs) than users, and much of the harm for/from users goes away if prices adjust to what they actually cost to produce (a tiny fraction of street price), and if the products are lab tested for potency and purity.
  - vuln 3y ago
    > if prices adjust to what they actually cost to produce (a tiny fraction of street price) Nothing. Absolutely nothing is priced at “actual costs to produce.” Nothing. I wish it were the case though maybe one day.
    - TylerE 3y ago
      Sorry, I was imprecise in my wording... obviously there has to be profit, but not the 10,000%+ margins hard drugs "enjoy".
  - Alupis 3y ago
    This pitched scenario has played out in exactly zero markets around the world, including all of the legal-marijuana states right here in the US.
    - TylerE 3y ago
      Cartels aren't generally dealing in marijuana, it's small potatoes.
      - Alupis 3y ago
        It's not just cartels in the classical sense. In CA, it's cheaper to buy illegal marijuana than going to one of the licensed stores, for a whole variety of reasons. That "market arbitrage" opens the door for a lot of things to occur - all things proponents of legalization promised would go away.
        3y ago
- Demotooodo 3y ago
  You get it in a lot of shops without any issues. And that's the way for more than 10 years. Even as a tourist
vondur 3y ago
It looks like Portugal is having some serious issues with decriminalization. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/07/07/portugal-drugs-decriminalization-heroin-crack/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/07/07/portugal-dru...
- CorrectHorseBat 3y ago
  > After years of economic crisis, Portugal decentralized its drug oversight operation in 2012. A funding drop from 76 million euros ($82.7 million) to 16 million euros ($17.4 million) forced Portugal’s main institution to outsource work previously done by the state to nonprofit groups, including the street teams that engage with people who use drugs.
- chefandy 3y ago
  The problem here isn't with decriminalization-- it's with lack of commitment to what they originally replaced enforcement with. From that article: "Experts argue that drug policy focused on jail time is still more harmful to society than decriminalization. While the slipping results here suggest the fragility of decriminalization’s benefits, they point to how funding and encouragement into rehabilitation programs have ebbed. The number of users being funneled into drug treatment in Portugal, for instance, has sharply fallen, going from a peak of 1,150 in 2015 to 352 in 2021, the most recent year available. João Goulão — head of Portugal’s national institute on drug use and the architect of decriminalization — admitted to the local press in December that “what we have today no longer serves as an example to anyone.” Rather than fault the policy, however, he blames a lack of funding." It was working great while they were committed to funding treatment programs and pushing users towards them.
- jokowueu 3y ago
  >cuts funding >Decriminalization doesn't work ! >not shocked
  - Alupis 3y ago
    And the US is immune to such problems? This, "but we'll do it better" argument seems to fall flat universally. Everybody thinks they can do it better, but nobody actually does...

TylerE 3y ago

How do you see wether someone has eaten edibles?

Demotooodo 3y ago
That's not common in Amsterdam

Alupis 3y ago

> In Amsterdam when you go to a music festival you will not see a lot of pod heads I could be wrong, but I don't believe marijuana is as-legal in Amsterdam as it is in California for example. In CA, there's very few enforced restrictions of where you can get it and where you can use it. > Look at Portugals drug history. Legalization saved that country! It doesn't appear so[1]. It appears they are struggling with the same issues - dramatic rise in drug use. It's not really effective to just simply legalize all drugs. I agree with most, we shouldn't throw people in prison for drug use. No, instead we need to throw them into mandatory rehabilitation programs. The goals of a decriminalization program shouldn't be to increase average citizen's drug use. But that's what happens without some sort of rehab/treatment program. [1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/07/07/portugal-drugs-decriminalization-heroin-crack/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/07/07/portugal-dru...

Ajay-p 3y ago
I am not a consumer of marijuana but in my observations of habitual users is nowhere near the same as someone addicted to heroin, and the severe physical and mental impact it has on their bodies. One could say alcohol and nicotine have such harmful effects, but not as dramatic and sudden as harder narcotics.
TylerE 3y ago
Disagree. Much more societal harm comes from the supply side (cartels, street gangs) than users, and much of the harm for/from users goes away if prices adjust to what they actually cost to produce (a tiny fraction of street price), and if the products are lab tested for potency and purity.
- vuln 3y ago
  > if prices adjust to what they actually cost to produce (a tiny fraction of street price) Nothing. Absolutely nothing is priced at “actual costs to produce.” Nothing. I wish it were the case though maybe one day.
  - TylerE 3y ago
    Sorry, I was imprecise in my wording... obviously there has to be profit, but not the 10,000%+ margins hard drugs "enjoy".
- Alupis 3y ago
  This pitched scenario has played out in exactly zero markets around the world, including all of the legal-marijuana states right here in the US.
  - TylerE 3y ago
    Cartels aren't generally dealing in marijuana, it's small potatoes.
    - Alupis 3y ago
      It's not just cartels in the classical sense. In CA, it's cheaper to buy illegal marijuana than going to one of the licensed stores, for a whole variety of reasons. That "market arbitrage" opens the door for a lot of things to occur - all things proponents of legalization promised would go away.
      - 3y ago
Demotooodo 3y ago
You get it in a lot of shops without any issues. And that's the way for more than 10 years. Even as a tourist

vondur 3y ago

It looks like Portugal is having some serious issues with decriminalization. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/07/07/portugal-drugs-decriminalization-heroin-crack/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/07/07/portugal-dru...

CorrectHorseBat 3y ago
> After years of economic crisis, Portugal decentralized its drug oversight operation in 2012. A funding drop from 76 million euros ($82.7 million) to 16 million euros ($17.4 million) forced Portugal’s main institution to outsource work previously done by the state to nonprofit groups, including the street teams that engage with people who use drugs.
chefandy 3y ago
The problem here isn't with decriminalization-- it's with lack of commitment to what they originally replaced enforcement with. From that article: "Experts argue that drug policy focused on jail time is still more harmful to society than decriminalization. While the slipping results here suggest the fragility of decriminalization’s benefits, they point to how funding and encouragement into rehabilitation programs have ebbed. The number of users being funneled into drug treatment in Portugal, for instance, has sharply fallen, going from a peak of 1,150 in 2015 to 352 in 2021, the most recent year available. João Goulão — head of Portugal’s national institute on drug use and the architect of decriminalization — admitted to the local press in December that “what we have today no longer serves as an example to anyone.” Rather than fault the policy, however, he blames a lack of funding." It was working great while they were committed to funding treatment programs and pushing users towards them.
jokowueu 3y ago
>cuts funding >Decriminalization doesn't work ! >not shocked
- Alupis 3y ago
  And the US is immune to such problems? This, "but we'll do it better" argument seems to fall flat universally. Everybody thinks they can do it better, but nobody actually does...