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| Britain |
| Crime gangs 'exploit change in cannabis law' |
| 2008-02-04 |
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| Posted by:lotp |
| #1 Once again, it's the government's fault. They cannot "half-legalize" something with a market value. If they wanted to wipe out the black market, the wiser way would be use the market itself to eliminate them. In this case, license a cannabis cigarette manufacturer or two, and arrange for them to get high quality product. Then flood the market with poor quality "crap" weed, that may look like the good stuff, but is both extra harsh and with a low THC content. Smoking the commercial marijuana will be so much better that it will be the preferred product, and the black market will shrivel up. But therein lies the secret. They then put the marijuana under tobacco and alcohol rules. No smoking in public places, restaurants, bars, etc. They also create a regime for employers to test for marijuana intoxication for many jobs. Ironically, in the absence of alcohol, it has been noted that marijuana users are reasonably good drivers. So an education program to the effect of "If you drink, don't drive, or smoke marijuana", would also be in order. And once the black market is dead, then start to slowly increase the taxes on legal marijuana cigarettes, and strictly prohibit the sale to minors, like tobacco. Techniques like these do reduce consumption, yet do not maintain a black market. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2008-02-04 08:58 |