| As this is framed more as the results of a policy change, there are some things to consider when banning weed: - Street sales to tourists and foreigners exploded. Small-time dealers reported weekly income of 2k Euros during the prohibition. - Dutch teenagers use less weed than German, UK and Belgian teens. Legal availability seems inversely correlated with actual use. - In France there is no clear distinction between hard drugs and soft drugs. A dealer will sell you pot, but also heroin. - There are other ways to get weed, without using a weed pass. Home growers will not check the age of the person they are selling to. Smoking weed in Holland has a social stigma attached to it. It is not cool, it is for chumps. Policy changes like these may make it dangerous, hidden and cool again, actually raising our usage to the levels of neighboring countries. As to the results, I shudder and think: Imagine what Feynman would have been able to achieve, if he had no access to weed or bongos for seven months... |
An immediate family member, who happens to be a 30 year practicing behavioral therapist freely admits most science preceeding the 21st cemtury is bunk science based more on policy than science. The blank brain scans of the "habitual pot smoker" hanging on the clinic walls were the source of many amusements. The pro's I speak with all agree, addictions and self-defeating behaviors are the products of deeper problems... and, "everything in moderation". Oh, but we as a culture are taught to always blame external 'demons' we can point to to excuse our personal shortcomings without having to shoulder that whole 'personal responsibility' burden. Meh.