Should we decriminalize drugs and let big pharma take over production?

[2quills]

This will be the new problem for legal states in the interim.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/02/14/colorado-pot-drug-cartels/5485421/
Cartels setting up operations in this country is not a new problem, they've been here for a while. That link is using some pretty loose speculation to actually promote national legalization.
There's going to be some chaos in the initial kick off, certainly. Once the honey moon period wears off then we should start to see something that resembles actual results or not. Patience...

 

[darthtang aw]

Cartels setting up operations in this country is not a new problem, they've been here for a while. That link is using some pretty loose speculation to actually promote national legalization.
There's going to be some chaos in the initial kick off, certainly. Once the honey moon period wears off then we should start to see something that resembles actual results or not. Patience...
True, there will be hiccups, big ones...I am just not sure if the will be permanent hiccups is my concern.

 

[darthtang aw]

On a sidenote, I guarantee, even though it is legal in colorado to be weed, this will not hurt the local marijuana drug trade there. ..
Looks like I may have been right?
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/4/marijuana-black-market-still-thrives-colorado-wher/

 

[aggiealum]

Looks like I may have been right?
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/4/marijuana-black-market-still-thrives-colorado-wher/
Makes sense. If the black market dealers can undercut the legal sales, there will always be those individuals selling under the radar. I imagine they have a customer base that likes their product and the prices they sell it for. I've read these legal retailers are selling ounces at what $400? I wonder if these black market dealers are following those same prices.

 

[2quills]

Looks like I may have been right?
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/4/marijuana-black-market-still-thrives-colorado-wher/
The artical is pretty anecdotal. But yes it's going to make sense for the criminals to try and undercut the legal stuff since that's a main part of why gangs are in the business. My guess is you will see an escalation in violence between the thugs as they compete for a shrinking market. One thing that isn't going to help Colorado is that black market dealers are going to want to rush in there to produce product under the radar to sell across state lines. It's still to early for real results. Unless the other states start getting behind this than Colorado may be a battle ground for long time.

 

[aggiealum]

The artical is pretty anecdotal. But yes it's going to make sense for the criminals to try and undercut the legal stuff since that's a main part of why gangs are in the business. My guess is you will see an escalation in violence between the thugs as they compete for a shrinking market. One thing that isn't going to help Colorado is that black market dealers are going to want to rush in there to produce product under the radar to sell across state lines. It's still to early for real results. Unless the other states start getting behind this than Colorado may be a battle ground for long time.
The Ultra Conservatives in Texas like Rick Perry have stated they may be for legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes. I never thought I'd ever hear that coming out of his mouth. I don't foresee total legalization happening here for quite some time. If Texans want it, they'll just drive to Colorado to get it, or find incentive ways to have it transported down here. I remember back when you could only get Coors beer in Colorado. It wasn't distributed in Texas. College students would take turn making "beer runs", and certain major beer distributors would take "disguised" refrigerated trucks up to Colorado and bring it down by the truck loads. Unless the start putting DEA agents at every border exit out of Colorado, I don't see how you could stop it from crossing the border.

 

[2quills]

The Ultra Conservatives in Texas like Rick Perry have stated they may be for legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes. I never thought I'd ever hear that coming out of his mouth. I don't foresee total legalization happening here for quite some time. If Texans want it, they'll just drive to Colorado to get it, or find incentive ways to have it transported down here. I remember back when you could only get Coors beer in Colorado. It wasn't distributed in Texas. College students would take turn making "beer runs", and certain major beer distributors would take "disguised" refrigerated trucks up to Colorado and bring it down by the truck loads. Unless the start putting DEA agents at every border exit out of Colorado, I don't see how you could stop it from crossing the border.
Texans will find it whether they have to drive to Colorado or not. They won't have to cross lines to find the illegal stuff.
Many of those dispensaries sell that ultra high grade marijuana. $400 an ounce is actually what that stuff was selling for back in the 90's when I used to partake from time to time with my friends so it doesn't sound that unreasonable for high caliber pot. The majority of pot down here seems to be the cheap Mexican brick weed that sells for around $50-100 an ounce and tastes like dirt. So I hear.

 

[darthtang aw]

On a sidenote, I guarantee, even though it is legal in colorado to be weed, this will not hurt the local marijuana drug trade there. .
Bringing this back up. Since Colorado is now starting to see
The Ultra Conservatives in Texas like Rick Perry have stated they may be for legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes. I never thought I'd ever hear that coming out of his mouth. I don't foresee total legalization happening here for quite some time. If Texans want it, they'll just drive to Colorado to get it, or find incentive ways to have it transported down here. I remember back when you could only get Coors beer in Colorado. It wasn't distributed in Texas. College students would take turn making "beer runs", and certain major beer distributors would take "disguised" refrigerated trucks up to Colorado and bring it down by the truck loads. Unless the start putting DEA agents at every border exit out of Colorado, I don't see how you could stop it from crossing the border.
Texas politicians are different than the rest of the country. Don't you have a female democrat running for governor that wants to make conceal carry easier and relax some of the gun restrictions such as allowing open carry?

 

[2quills]

Any person running for office down here would have to be pro guns to stand a chance.