Grassroots revolution: the road to legal cannabis

"Grassroots" ... "trailblazing" ... funny, guys.

Seriously, "trailblazing" is typically used to describe something good.

But this isn't good. Creating a pot-addled society isn't good at all.

Everyone should do some honest, objective research into what's going on in places like Colorado after they legalized pot.

After doing so, one cannot come to any other objective conclusion than that legalizing marijuana is a horrible idea.

It's called "weed" for a reason.

In gardening and agriculture, weeds are not what you want. They interfere with normal plant growth and food production. They compete with other plants for sunlight, water, nutrients, and space for growth.

"Weed" (marijuana) wreaks similar damage on people -- on their bodies, their minds, and even their souls.

Again, it's called "weed" for a reason. You shouldn't want it in your body -- or in your loved ones' bodies -- any more than you should want weeds in your garden or farm fields.

It's been legal in California for years now. Those who partake can buy it safely and legally. The state, county and city all get their tax cut. Those who don't indulge can just chill.

It's called "weed" for a reason.

No need to throw the baby out with the bathwater. It's also called "herb". Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances.

its funny that people are still referring to cannabis as being harmful. I have never heard of anyone overdosing or dying from cannabis. While we have a suspected 5 dead because of a supplement easily obtainable in Japan.

Keep up the propaganda, Japan Tobacco loves that, and don’t forget about Big-Pharma.

Neither of them want anything to do with competition….and both of those are quite addictive.

Isn’t is cute how they made you think this was FINALLY going to happen in Japan?

Be mindful of the persistent "skunk smell" as you walk down the street or subway in America where weed is legalize. In addition, before the migrant crisis, there was a homeless crisis where all the drug users moved to places like California, Colorado, and Washington State and started setting up tents on sidewalks.

The people advocating legalizing weed in Japan are ignoring the results in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle, where these cities have illicit tent cities and broken down RVs littering the roads.

In theory, there is no "legal weed" - what actually happens is an illegal weed, laced with dangerous drugs, proliferates under the guise of a legal dispensary where the street drug dealers set up shop and lure customers away from the storefronts with a quicker sale on the streets.

Again, people here advocating weed as legal are not talking about the details of the actual outcome.

Tokyo-gaijinToday  05:30 pm JST

its funny that people are still referring to cannabis as being harmful. I have never heard of anyone overdosing or dying from cannabis

That’s a nice conclusion, it’s good because people don’t die directly after consuming it?

Look at the mess in the US, how can anyony say legalizing was a good thing? Anyone who can still think clearly.

Quo PrimumToday  04:07 pm JST

It's called "weed" for a reason.

In gardening and agriculture, weeds are not what you want. They interfere with normal plant growth and food production. They compete with other plants for sunlight, water, nutrients, and space for growth.

"Weed" (marijuana) wreaks similar damage on people -- on their bodies, their minds, and even their souls.

Again, it's called "weed" for a reason. You shouldn't want it in your body -- or in your loved ones' bodies -- any more than you should want weeds in your garden or farm fields.

Weed is just a slang term for marijuana. The definition of weed is simply an unwanted plant because they grow quickly, interfere with the growing of cultivated plants, or cosmetic reasons for lawns. There is nothing inherently unhealthy or dangerous about weeds. Hundreds of weeds are edible and healthy for you. They're just plants and many are vegetables.

travelbangaijinToday  06:21 pm JST

In theory, there is no "legal weed" - what actually happens is an illegal weed, laced with dangerous drugs, proliferates under the guise of a legal dispensary where the street drug dealers set up shop and lure customers away from the storefronts with a quicker sale on the streets.

Again, people here advocating weed as legal are not talking about the details of the actual outcome.

Legal marijuana sales are heavily regulated. If they're laced with dangerous dugs or substances, people can get sick or die so people and ultimately the authorities will find about them and shut them down, What kind of 'illegal weed' is sold at a shop or dispensary? LOL! Making marijuana legal and regulated means that street dealers who would sometimes cut or lace street pot can't operate anymore and less people get sick or die from marijuana use.

Oh for God's sake, it's my body so I get to decide what I put into it. I heard that a million times from vaccination resisters. I have never harmed even an insect after smoking. I have always been a productive member of this utterly rapacious and destructive system. So, where is the argument to ban a rather nice, relaxing alternative to the miserable grindstone. Sure, I don't get my identity from ostentatious consumption, as many have been trained to do and as is "good for the economy", and that is because the best things in life consist of things like watching a stunning orange sunrise over a turquoise sea with a gentle breeze over my skin. A small toke or two even enhances that incredible beauty to the point you can cry with joy. Yeah, crazy, isn't it? Maybe more people should feel that and then the world would not be so screwed up.

In states like Colorado, tax revenue from recreational pot and pot based products, now far exceeds alcohol and tobacco combined. Colorado far better than most US states in areas like crime, education, health, income, etc.

Few rich cities giving homeless $free ride with handouts, hardly relevant to the issue of legalized marijuana.

MoonrakerToday  06:47 pm JST

Oh for God's sake, it's my body so I get to decide what I put into it. I heard that a million times from vaccination resisters. I have never harmed even an insect after smoking. 

Probably because you forgot to harm it. Or spaced out watching it move. LOL

In Thailand they have noticed that too many people are bending the rules in cannabis use, and sales also recently the crime rate has gone up which the police are not happy with, they are seriously thinking about revoking or tightening up on the regulations

@MilesTeg

Legal marijuana sales are heavily regulated.

Illicit street drug dealers set up in areas where marijuana is legalized and compete with storefronts - so illegal weed proliferates, not replaced. Some are selling idealism while the reality of rising crime, rising homelessness, and increasing addiction to harder drugs has already been established in areas that have legalized weed.

Or spaced out watching it move.

Can't deny there is something fascinating about watching ants. But my point is that if I am doing no harm to anyone then nobody should care. But, of course, there is harm to profits because I don't conform to the prevailing exhortations to find happiness in mindless consumption. And that is likely the main reason pleasure or meaning should not be found anywhere else.

HopeSpringsEternalToday 07:00 pm JST

In states like Colorado, tax revenue from recreational pot and pot based products, now far exceeds alcohol and tobacco combined. Colorado far better than most US states in areas like crime, education, health, income, etc.

At what price? Do kids have to walk past homeless encampments to get a better education? The lower crime is the result of heavy-handed police funded by the revenue from cannibas?

Half-stories are being told here, but I'm confident the Japanese are aware of the British Opioid history against Asians to know better to sign on to this.

MoonrakerToday  07:39 pm JST

Or spaced out watching it move.

Can't deny there is something fascinating about watching ants. But my point is that if I am doing no harm to anyone then nobody should care.

OK, you're not harming anyone. But how would you feel about the pilot of the plane you're on, or driver of your bus or train being stoned while working?

travelbangaijinToday  07:44 pm JST

HopeSpringsEternalToday 07:00 pm JST

In states like Colorado, tax revenue from recreational pot and pot based products, now far exceeds alcohol and tobacco combined. Colorado far better than most US states in areas like crime, education, health, income, etc.

At what price? Do kids have to walk past homeless encampments to get a better education? The lower crime is the result of heavy-handed police funded by the revenue from cannibas?

Half-stories are being told here, but I'm confident the Japanese are aware of the British Opioid history against Asians to know better to sign on to this.

Colorado a great test case, really depends upon effective Govt. regulations and enforcement to keep it safe and free of the criminal element.

Forget to mention, states also saving tons of $dough due to decriminalization, no more prison time, court costs etc., rather more tax revenues and less crime!

OK, you're not harming anyone. But how would you feel about the pilot of the plane you're on, or driver of your bus or train being stoned while working?

That's a hyperbole. The same would apply to alcohol. It is illegal to drive or pilot a plane while under the influence of alcohol and drugs. it also applies to certain medical drugs that affect performance.

 I have never heard of anyone overdosing or dying from cannabis

There is a career waiting for you, sir, in the US Food and Drug Administration.

“Doesn’t kill you? Must be safe!”

wallaceToday  08:23 pm JST

OK, you're not harming anyone. But how would you feel about the pilot of the plane you're on, or driver of your bus or train being stoned while working?

That's a hyperbole. The same would apply to alcohol.

I knew someone would say exactly that, No, you can often tell if a person is inebriated. Enough that sobriety tests are not even mandatory for pilots. But not so with pot. Unless one was smoking 10 minutes beforehand. So no, it's not the same as alchohol.

Well , no problems right?

But then next Will be decriminalization of hard drugs following the increase in overdoses and demands for narcan kits in every place including children's school bags, then demands for "safe drug supplies" from the government all because of the increase in overdoses and deaths.

Now this progression above isn't speculation, it is exactly what is already happening in places like Canada etc...

So, let's try hiding fact by by burying them in the information.

Here is how you do it:

Stats Canada will post that drug overdose deaths in Canada " between" January 2016 and September 2023 is 42,492 and increasing.

What they don't point out is that in 2023 alone it was over 7,000 as of December 2023.

And increase again from the past year, and it also doesn't point out is the number of deaths started going up proportionally with the increase in cannabis users after 2018!

So basically pot was legal, more used pot, pot wasn't doing it anymore so they moved on to more powerful drugs!

Now they want those legal and government supplied.

Along with the drug use and promotion of other minority lifestyles, Canada has brought back a fast increase in syphilis, gonorrhea and HIV all increasing rapidly due to two factors, one being IV drug use. And you probably guessed the solution: free needles. ( I could also go into the increase in thefts crimes assaults related to drugs)

Now in contrast we have Japan: illegal drug overdoses per year are around 700 on a bad year.

Let me remind people.

Canada population: 39 million with 7,000 drug death and legal pot and lacks drug laws.

Japan: population 126 million, 700 drug deaths and hard on all illegal drugs.

And anyone living here in Japan can also point to far lower crime rates.

Moonraker has seen and felt the awe revealed with a little help from his friend. Opening the doors of perception is obviously not for everyone, but I wish the Japanese would lighten up and allow aficionados of voyaging into the realm of the psyche to light up without fear of severe social sanctions and to enjoy the same rights taken for granted by devotees of mind-dulling alcohol.

wallace

Today 08:23 pm JST

OK, you're not harming anyone. But how would you feel about the pilot of the plane you're on, or driver of your bus or train being stoned while working?

> That's a hyperbole

Actually it isn't!

Canada made pot legal in 2018.

It is now starting to see the results, increase in car accidents involving pot as well as other problems!

The warning was at the start, with anti pot groups pointing out there is no test like blood alcohol/breathalyzer for pot!

Trudeau said technology will figure it out, because he is a art/acting teacher uneducated in science!

Well it wasn't and isn't that simple.

So blood tests, right?

Nope because THC unlike alcohol remains in the system for days after use and there are no known levels of imperedness for THC.

So all those caught or involved in accidents or other incidents had to be released!

AKA DUI with pot is near impossible to prosecute even in the event of an accident.

Do Pilots Get Drug Tested?

https://www.thrustflight.com/do-pilots-get-drug-tested/

Across Canada, police have been trained to detect if a driver is under the influence of a drug. The new Cannabis Act allows police to use approved drug screening devices to detect the recent presence of several drugs, including THC, cocaine, and methamphetamine. Cannabis laws, including possession, buying and selling, and producing cannabis are complex and constantly changing.

https://www.legalline.ca/legal-answers/how-is-impairment-due-to-cannabis-tested-by-the-police/

https://www.thrustflight.com/do-pilots-get-drug-tested/

"Most commercial pilots must renew their first or second-class medical certificate every year or two. But here’s a fact that might surprise you: while the standard medical exam requires a urine test, it does not screen for drugs. Instead, it is tested for kidney disease and diabetes. "

As is the case in many other countries, opioids are responsible for most drug-related deaths in Canada.

Number of opioid overdose deaths in Canada in 2022, by province

https://www.statista.com/statistics/812260/number-of-deaths-from-opioid-overdose-canada-province/

If the government's intention is as mentioned in the news "... had also hoped to cash in on cannabis", then where is the thinking of the goodwill of the government for people of the country?

wallace

Today 09:01 pm JST

I didn't say there weren't laws!

I pointed out convicting someone is extremely difficult despite the laws.

But let's see: now cannabis is accounting for half the DUI arrests in Canada but a fraction of convictions because the complexity of proving the levels based on blood tests.

The new Cannabis Act allows police to use approved drug screening devices to detect the recent presence of several drugs, including THC, cocaine, and methamphetamine.

No! Only one test and that is blood test in hospital and like alcohol it is often delayed until hours after the initial arrest, putting the results in doubt.

This has been a well established tactic by those stopped for drinking and driving in Canada!

Refuse the breathalyzer by the time a blood test is done the alcohol levels will have dropped possibly below legal legal limit then the chances of fighting the charges in court increase significantly!

The same is happening with cannabis but on a much larger scale.

You want to see what it is like living in a country with drugs?

Go visit Toronto or worse Vancouver.

You cannot drink a beer in public on the streets or smoke a cigarette, but by all means shoot up with a needle because the police cannot do anything under the BC laws preventing them from doing so!

The number of Canadian car accidents since 2018 has decreased.

https://tc.canada.ca/en/road-transportation/statistics-data/canadian-motor-vehicle-traffic-collision-statistics-2021

There are no connections between cannabis use and the more serious drugs.

wallace

Today 09:13 pm JST

As is the case in many other countries, opioids are responsible for most drug-related deaths in Canada.

> Number of opioid overdose deaths in Canada in 2022, by province

> https://www.statista.com/statistics/812260/number-of-deaths-from-opioid-overdose-canada-province/

And?

Did you not read what I wrote correctly?

I didn't say pot was killing people!

I pointed out the increase in other drugs like opioids increased right after pot became Legal.

This isn't even disputed in Canada by the pro pot people, they admit the correlation between pot use and eventual opioid use!

But but dismiss this as a "minimal" factor!

wallace

Today 09:31 pm JST

There are no connections between cannabis use and the more serious drugs.

A false idea spread by pro pot !

NHS, CDC, NIH, etc...

All point out the opposite!

Pot users are at a higher risk of serious drug use.

The false information is that most studies say pot doesn't lead to more drug use but it does lead to more serious types of drug addiction.

There is a strong connection between cannabis use and hard drugs via the drug dealer pushing for stronger addiction and lacing with fentanyl. The drug dealer has a motive to graduate a weed smoker to a hard user.

People in this comment section are pushing a dangerous narrative of the "harmless" use of drugs while pretending what is happening on the open streets in Vancouver and Seattle is not the result.

This isn't even disputed in Canada by the pro pot people, they admit the correlation between pot use and eventual opioid use!

There is no evidence connecting cannabis use which has been used for thousands of years.

Cannabis is not a gateway drug.

In the modern era, drugs have been consumed since the 1950s. There is nothing new about hard drugs like heroin. Fentanyl cut into hard drugs is killing more people.

Holland has been free with cannabis use for decades and it didn't destroy society.

Opioid- and Stimulant-related Harms in Canada

https://health-infobase.canada.ca/substance-related-harms/opioids-stimulants/

Why does B.C. have an opioid crisis?

At the centre of the current epidemic is the replacement of diverted pharmaceutical pills and imported heroin with extremely potent synthetic opioids, primarily in the forms of fentanyl and carfentanil.

http://www.bccdc.ca/PublishingImages/opioid-overdose-emergency-snapshot.pdf

travelbangaijin

There is a strong connection between cannabis use and hard drugs via the drug dealer pushing for stronger addiction and lacing with fentanyl. The drug dealer has a motive to graduate a weed smoker to a hard user.

Many people who sell cannabis do not sell hard drugs.

The false information is that most studies say pot doesn't lead to more drug use but it does lead to more serious types of drug addiction.

I have owned hundreds of people who used cannabis without taking any hard drugs. You cannot be addicted to cannabis.

I have known hundreds of people who used cannabis without taking any hard drugs. You cannot be addicted to cannabis.

travelbangaijinToday  07:38 pm JST

@MilesTeg

Legal marijuana sales are heavily regulated.

Illicit street drug dealers set up in areas where marijuana is legalized and compete with storefronts - so illegal weed proliferates, not replaced. Some are selling idealism while the reality of rising crime, rising homelessness, and increasing addiction to harder drugs has already been established in areas that have legalized weed.

Really? Where is this happening? In your mind?

This article about Canada says differently: https://mjbizdaily.com/canadas-legal-cannabis-market-winning-over-illicit-consumers-survey-suggests/

More Canadians than ever are purchasing cannabis primarily from regulated suppliers instead of illicit ones, according to the Canadian government’s annual Cannabis Survey. The survey also found that 67% of those who consumed cannabis in the past year “never” obtained their products from illegal sources.

Medical research compelling on health safety of cannabis vs. alcohol or tobacco, as cannabis after all is prescribed for medicinal use. Ditto crime, as alcohol contributes to far more crime and accidents.

So, opposition to cannabis not based on scientific or sociology findings, but rather pure business corruption.

Pot users are at a higher risk of serious drug use.

That's no better than saying beer drinkers will end up on 150% proof rum.

We see the use of anecdotes and closed-box scenarios used to justify legalization.

A quick lookup would find police busting "illegal dispensaries" in places where weed is legalized, debunking one poster myth. The second poster keeps saying scientific data while ignoring the supply chain - there is no money in weed; the money is in hard drugs, and the street dealers are out there lacing weed with highly addictive substances.

All one has to do is look at cities like Seattle, Denver, San Francisco and even Japan Town in Los Angeles has been overrun to know the outcome of weed legalization

Meanwhile in Japan, we can only dream of common sense. Until then, the Yakuza and other crooks will be the dispensers of a product that should be sold like alcohol. Legal and controlled with excise duty going to the state.

But this isn't good. Creating a pot-addled society isn't good at all.

Much better than a nanny state that imprisons people for cannabis. Or even punishes them. Treating adults like children is not a sign of a healthy society.

factcheckerToday  10:33 pm JST

Meanwhile in Japan, we can only dream of common sense. Until then, the Yakuza and other crooks will be the dispensers of a product that should be sold like alcohol. Legal and controlled with excise duty going to the state.

Bingo, would we rather put the criminals out of business, increase safety and taxes and close jails or the opposite?

All one has to do is look at cities like Seattle, Denver, San Francisco and even Japan Town in Los Angeles has been overrun to know the outcome of weed legalization

All one has to do is look at Canada to see how ridiculous this rhetoric is.

Canada legalized weed. The consequence: Lots of tax dollars. And the kids stopped smoking it because it's no longer 'risque'.

Many people who sell cannabis do not sell hard drugs.

When I was in my early 20s, and did smoke, you had to buy it from dealers. I never met a pot dealer who sold hard drugs. Never once.

Go visit Toronto or worse Vancouver. You cannot drink a beer in public on the streets or smoke a cigarette, but by all means shoot up with a needle because the police cannot do anything under the BC laws preventing them from doing so!

Sure, but if you stay away from the DES in Vancouver, you won't see it. The DES is a tragedy of humanity, but it's also very contained. You don't see anyone doing hard drugs on the streets in the rest of the city, or the country for that matter.

I pointed out the increase in other drugs like opioids increased right after pot became Legal.

But did it actually have anything to do with legalization of pot? I think you made a spurious correlation.

There is a strong connection between cannabis use and hard drugs via the drug dealer pushing for stronger addiction and lacing with fentanyl. The drug dealer has a motive to graduate a weed smoker to a hard user.

That's why legalized cannabis, sold in a store, organic and free of any hard drugs, is the only way to go. Protect the people from any nefarious drug dealers.

I know that my father is only smoking organic cannabis, because he gets it from the government store, where it's regulated.

You cannot be addicted to cannabis.

Not addiction like with hard drugs. There can still be minor cannabis addictions, more mental than physical though. There is little to no physical withdrawal from stopping cannabis.

This entire sting is totally laughable and of course quite predictable.

Round and round

It is now starting to see the results, increase in car accidents involving pot as well

Any numbers to support this?

Strangerland

Today 10:46 pm JST

Pot users are at a higher risk of serious drug use.

What are you like 100? No one intelligent has been saying that for decades.

Really?

https://www.cdc.gov/marijuana/health-effects/risk-of-other-drugs.html#:~:text=People%20who%20use%20marijuana%20and,age%20and%20use%20it%20frequently.

People who use marijuana and do go on to use other drugs (including alcohol and tobacco) may have a higher risk of dependence or addiction to those drugs, especially if they started using marijuana at an early age and use it frequently

https://nida.nih.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/marijuana-gateway-drug

Read the Above.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0376871601001302

Conclusions

There is a strong relationship between the level of cannabis involvement, and both other substance use and other substance use disorders in the general Australian population. These associations were not accounted for by demographic factors or neuroticism. Notably, those with problematic cannabis use were also most likely to have problematic use of other substances, particularly sedatives, stimulants or opiates. From the present data, it is not possible to identify the nature of the relationship

The problem with the myth that pot doesn't lead or contribute to harder dug use was all starred and based on several extremely flawed "research".

These so-called researches were done by having people "volunteer" to answer questionnaires during a time when drug use was illegal!

So basically people would have to admit they did or were doing drugs.

This would be like asking people if they abused animals then later asked them if they abused people and expecting them to answer honestly!

Remember " cannabis isn't as dangerous as tobacco" well now that people are using it more and it is legal to do research on it, we are finding out it is as bad a d may be worse!

https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Health/smoking-marijuana-harmful-lungs-smoking-cigarettes-study-finds/story?id=93283206

https://www.health.com/marijuana-smoke-versus-cigarette-smoke-7692695

If anyone is 100 it is those not keeping up with the lastest research and as pot use becomes more and common, this is where the real information will start to show.

As both the above articles point out, restrictions on research by government on the use and effects of marijuana meant depending on the information given or volunteer by the public and not on actual medical and scientific ways!

Strangerland

Today 10:43 pm JST

Go visit Toronto or worse Vancouver. You cannot drink a beer in public on the streets or smoke a cigarette, but by all means shoot up with a needle because the police cannot do anything under the BC laws preventing them from doing so!

> Sure, but if you stay away from the DES in Vancouver, you won't see it. The DES is a tragedy of humanity, but it's also very contained. You don't see anyone doing hard drugs on the streets in the rest of the city, or the country for that matter.

Then you had also stay away from every Time Horton's in Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, etc...because you will be confronted by often very agressive drug addicts asking (demanding) money from you!

It is no longer just limited to a single area anymore!

Strangerland

Today 10:38 pm JST

All one has to do is look at cities like Seattle, Denver, San Francisco and even Japan Town in Los Angeles has been overrun to know the outcome of weed legalization

> All one has to do is look at Canada to see how ridiculous this rhetoric is.

> Canada legalized weed. The consequence: Lots of tax dollars. And the kids stopped smoking it because it's no longer 'risque'.

Really?

Drug use and overdoses are at epidemic levels in Canada.

Crime is up to the point that people are afraid to take the Toronto public transit (ridership down by nearly 50%) even the police chief said he wouldn't let his daughter take it!

Police in Toronto and Vancouver are now suggesting people leave their car key "near the entrance" so when car thieves break in to steal the key and the car, there is less chance of violent confrontation!

Syphilis, gonorrhea, and HIV are rising fast in Canada and one major contributor is the use of IV drug use.

Not sure what Canada you live in but this is the reality today not Trudeau's fantasy world!

Record drug deaths, highest murder rates since 2007, highest rates of HIV etc...

But let's take anoth puff and it all goes away, right?

Strangerland

Today 10:40 pm JST

Many people who sell cannabis do not sell hard drugs.

> When I was in my early 20s, and did smoke, you had to buy it from dealers. I never met a pot dealer who sold hard drugs. Never once

Your friend selling a few joints doesn't count!

Back in the 80s in Toronto and Montreal every pot dealer not only had coke (I am not talking about the drink) but was also using it.

Amazing we must have grown up it two different Canadas.

Strangerland

Mar. 30 11:44 pm JST

It is now starting to see the results, increase in car accidents involving pot as well

> Any numbers to support this?

Yes!

https://globalnews.ca/news/9941455/cannabis-related-traffic-injuries-canada/amp/

https://www.uottawa.ca/about-us/media/news-all/commercialization-cannabis-linked-increased-traffic-injuries#:~:text=Annual%20rates%20of%20emergency%20department,and%20the%20University%20of%20Ottawa.

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/09/06/health/marijuana-traffic-accidents-wellness/index.html

And plenty more if you look and don't ignore what you don't like to see!

PEI being small with a small population is able to put out results faster and in 2023 over half the DUI were for cannabis use!

But I guess it is all fake, right?

It all boils down to this:

There is some harm to society in having cannabis legal, but more harm to society in having it illegal. As can be seen in Japan, people will intoxicate themselves with cannabis regardless of it's legal status. Penalizing people for smoking a mostly harmless plant, brings society down, and treats adults like children, and actually causes more harm to society through distrust of government that would punish people for doing something mostly harmless, while allowing them to do a hard drug like alcohol and making money off it.

On top of this, by forcing it to be illegal, people who will smoke it regardless of legality are forced into a black market that provides a financial motivation for organized crime, with zero requirements to ensure a safe, quality supply. The result is cannabis grown with insane chemicals to keep away pests and force volume, sold to the public untested. Government run cannabis stores in comparison ensure a safe, organic supply, and bring in tax revenue that can be applied to research and policing to prevent intoxicated driving, as well as education about the real risks of smoking rather than right-wing extremist hysteria based on extremist studies with little actual connection to how the real world works.

Canada proves my points above case in point. There is literally zero movement to make cannabis illegal here again. People look at how to make the system better, but it is basically agreed across the board by Canadians, of all political affiliations, that legalization is better than illegalization.

It all boils down to this:

> There is some harm to society in having cannabis legal, but more harm to society in having it illegal. As can be seen in Japan, people will intoxicate themselves with cannabis regardless of it's legal status.

Fewer than 2% of the Japanese population has ever even tried illegal drugs!

But go ahead think what you want but crime in Japan is far lower!

I don't recall Tokyo police saying "level my car fab near the entrance to avoid being attacked in my home for it" like they are saying in Toronto!

And honestly I have never seen used syringes anywhere in Japan like I recently saw in multiple places on the streets on Montreal during my recent visit to see family!

I have never had to detour the long way out of any metro station in Tokyo or anywhere else in Japan like we had to do in Toronto and Montreal because the closets exit are closed due to drug addicts and other blocking the exit accosting people so the police have to shut it down!

But I guess this legalisation and decriminalization must work, right? Along with the USA guns make you safer!

Funny zero tolerance for drugs and guns in Japan and wow what do we have?

Clean, safe, low crime, low violence, low murder, etc... rates!

Now I wonder which place gas the right idea?

Strangerland

Today 12:26 am JST

And plenty more if you look and don't ignore what you don't like to see!

> The government says traffic accidents are down:

Did you actually read the link you posted?

The year 2021 saw a small increase in the number of fatalities, serious injuries, and in the number of total injuries

In 2021, the number of motor vehicle fatalities was 1,768; up 1.3% from 2020 (1,746).

The number of serious injuries increased to 8,185 in 2021; up 4% from 2020 (7,868).

The number of total injuries increased to 108,018 in 2021; up 3.6% from 2020 (104,286).

The number of fatalities per 100,000 population increased to 4.7 in 2021 (from 4.6 in 2020), and is the second lowest on record.

The number of fatalities per billion vehicle kilometres travelled increased to 4.8 in 2021 (from 4.7 in 2020).

Not sure you read the same article you posted!

Strange, I finally find someone I constantly disagree with on here, agreeing with :)

How refreshing

If it helps anyone to confirm or deny their conspiracy theories, I reflexively downding AS when I have to scroll past their long winded posts.