Opinions - Why decriminalization and not legalization?

[cannabis-sam]

Alot of people seem to think it's a good idea to decriminalize cannabis but not legalize and to me this just seems stupid, the worst of both worlds, you remove penalaties for possession but you still leave an unregulated black market to supply the drugs to the users. The idea just seems stupid to me. Why not fully legalize and remove the black market completely.

Is the word "legalization" too scary for people. Maybe if we called it ending prohibition people would make the link with the alcohol prohibition of the 20's and todays drug prohibition.

[Sven99]

People can get their heads around the idea of people responsibly smoking pot, and that even if its not necessarily a good idea for them to do so, its a waste of effort throwing them in jail.

What they can't their heads around is the idea of people actually making a living out of it

And so you get decriminalisation. A Curious bastard legal set up where it might as well be legal to smoke pot, but you sure as hell better not be trading in it. Presumably its supposed to miraculously appear to users.

Think of it as a stepping stone. After afew years of putting up with the idea of people being allowed to have drugs, they'll come round to the idea that its ok for them to buy them in the first place.

I think in the long term, decriminalisation misses the point. It addresses some of the human rights issues for users, but ignores the much wider problems of the drug war itself. But at least its a step in the right direction. It certainly wont make things worse.

[Nature Boy]

I agree with a lot of this. In all practicality, decriminalization is a half-assed measure. Legalization makes way more sense in terms of taxation and battling the criminal black market. I like the Netherlands' take on what they technically term as decriminalization. It's taxed, it's competitively priced and quality is ensured effectively punching a massive hole in the profits of violent gangsters. It's unfortunate that coffeeshop culture is under attack.

A lot of dealers just sell weed and don't directly harm anyone however. These people are just taking advantage of a system that doesn't work. I wouldn't blame them at all. Opportunities are opportunities as long as laws and money exist.

[aerozeppelin123]

Originally Posted by Nature Boy

I agree with a lot of this. In all practicality, decriminalization is a half-assed measure. Legalization makes way more sense in terms of taxation and battling the criminal black market. I like the Netherlands' take on what they technically term as decriminalization. It's taxed, it's competitively priced and quality is ensured effectively punching a massive hole in the profits of violent gangsters. It's unfortunate that coffeeshop culture is under attack.

A lot of dealers just sell weed and don't directly harm anyone however. These people are just taking advantage of a system that doesn't work. I wouldn't blame them at all. Opportunities are opportunities as long as laws and money exist.

That's not actually true about the Netherlands, it isn't fully legalised or taxed at all (although coffeeshops do have to pay tax I think, just not on the weed itself as far as I know). They actually have a bizarre setup where they still pursue large scale growers but tolerate low-level sales, so there is still an element of black market supply to the coffeeshops. While it's good that they're not wasting time with petty things like possession of small amounts like our fine government does, it is a strange system and they would be better off fully legalising it IMO.

[Nature Boy]

I agree with you but I never said it was fully legalized. Whether the cannabis or the premises is taxed doesn't matter. They're converting revenue that would otherwise fall into the hands of criminals. That's the most important thing. But yes, it's not the perfect system, but it's the closest to perfection in the modern world.