Marijuana.com

nacrypt

What is a good argument for legalization if the ineffectiveness of prohibition and the massive popularity of marijuana and it's relative harmlessness are NOT good reasons?

 

Yana Usdi

The ineffectiveness of prohibition is a good argument, you just can't approach it only from a moral ground. The idea that millions do it doesn't impress most people, nor does arguments about rights. Don't think about what makes sense to you, think about it from the perspective of someone who doesn't know or care much about the issues. What works for me is to convince them that what we've been doing simply doesn't work and has just made things worse, it's a failed policy that we need to examine. I don't care if they agree with me on the exact fix or not, it took me a while to get used to the idea too. I just want them thinking and recognizing that what we're dong so far doesn't work. I've looked for alternatives that do, and the best I've come up so far with is what I've mentioned in the past here.

I've found that the argument has to suit the crowd to some extent, adapt and don't set yourself on one way that you've got to shove down their throats. With some the fact that death rates are up and we're following damaging policies by denying needle exchange and such like that works, or that "the land of the free" now locks them up at a rate 5 to 8 times higher than comparable nations, or that the effect is racist in spite of any assumed intent. With other crowds they respond better to the fact that we've increased spending again and again and again till we now spend more in a year or two than we used to in a decade and the problem has improved little in many ways and got worse in some in spite of it. We're just wasting money, time to look for something that works.

Don't look for the perfect argument, look for the right attitude and arm yourself with the facts to be comfortable in any argument. Adapt.

__________________
LEAP Current and former members of law enforcement who support drug regulation rather than prohibition.
Drug Policy Alliance Alternatives to Marijuana Prohibition and the Drug War