Posted on 04/17/2023 10:44:50 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Decriminalizing marijuana, we’ve been told to the point of stupor for years, would simply be a matter of recognizing the way society has changed and coming to a mature accommodation of a widespread current practice. It would free up valuable police resources to deal with actual crimes and real criminals, and end a longstanding injustice in which — you guessed it! — people of color were, we were told, disproportionately targeted for arrest and prosecution. So the state of New York has legalized marijuana, and how’s it going? Doritos and Patchouli oil sales through the roof? Maybe. But there have been a lot of unexpected downsides.
The New York Post reported last Monday that “the Sunday night murder inside a Harlem ‘smoke shop’ near the corner of 125th Street and Malcolm X Boulevard — the second shooting in the neighborhood in the last year — is a savage reminder of the state’s stupendously disastrous legalization of marijuana.” It seems that the state went about the legalization by “virtually eliminating the entire criminal code pertaining to marijuana overnight.” Making matters even worse, “progressive state lawmakers, besotted by a woke vision of the pursuit of equity, decided to reserve the first retail licenses for felons and other ‘justice-involved’ individuals.” They wanted to make legalized marijuana “a vehicle for reparations.” Great idea!
The state has been slow to grant licenses to legal marijuana shops, however, so illegal ones have proliferated, and cops can do little or nothing to stop them, “because having weed on open display isn’t against the law — the cops have to be present to witness a sale in order to issue a violation.” But these places also often sell other illegal drugs and quickly become centers for other crimes as well.
(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has declared: “This cannabis stuff is a real problem!” He has, however, done nothing about it and insisted that it’s the state’s problem. Yet the city has plenty of problems of its own that arise from the legalization, and they aren’t all related to crime. Another unexpected byproduct of the proliferation of grass inside Gotham has been that the City That Never Sleeps has become the City That Always Sleeps. The Post’s Steve Cuozzo observed Sunday that all too many city stores are staffed by stoners who can barely understand, much less fulfill, customer orders.
But we’re collecting TAXES on it.
“They’re just going to buy it somewhere else.” The same rationale they use in Texas in dry counties.
my daughter moved to Denver 7 years ago before it was legalized. city appeared to be clean and safe. every year I visit the deterioration is noticeable. it gets worse every year. in 5 years it will be an unlivable $hithole.
The problem seems to be that they aren’t. Weed is being stolen. Big surprise.
“Malcolm X Blvd”
And you thought MLK Blvd was bad.
There is one big diff: the ganja today is waaaay more potent than at Woodstock.
Here's the REAL problem alleged "conservatives" must face on federal drug laws. It took a Constitutional Amendment to ban booze. What ridiculous torture of the Constitution is required to ban pot?
Btw if you say the Commerce Clause, you're a philosophical cousin of gun grabbers, comrade.
Most of the anecdotal stories are about food and service workers. How about people who drive or operate machinery or fill your prescriptions or...
Marijuana isn’t legal where I live, but lately I can smell it all over the place, even at the grocery store. I never see anyone lighting up so maybe it’s being vaped?
RE: “Malcolm X Blvd”
Yep, that’s a long stretch in NYC spanning the Bronx to Manhattan ( it used to be called Lenox Avenue ). It is the primary north–south route through Harlem in the upper portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan.
RE: Marijuana isn’t legal where I live
Heck it wasn’t allowed in any university when I was in college. But a lot of people I know ( especially frat boys ) smoke it.
If people turn a blind eye and wink at its use, it might as well be legal IN EFFECT.
I said that a very long time ago. Legalizing it wouldn't lower crime, because people would still rob to get what they don't want to have to pay for. Marijuana is not a "victimless crime." It never was.
Thanks for posting this, on the heels of my post of a New Yorker article yesterday on the social deterioration in this city due to weed.
So the problem is weed smokers and sellers are no longer criminals. It has nothing to do with the fact that gov gave a few felons a monopoly on selling it legally or the fact that there is a gov encouraged crime wave occurring.
Every State has a different scheme of legalization. Some are worse than others. NY would benefit from shooting a number of thieves.
I rather tire of people blaming things like guns, drugs, and what not for bad human behaviour.
People are the problem.
deal with them.
That’s what I’m saying, that in effect, it’s legal now. I guess they say it’s been “decriminalized”. Semantics.
Yeah, and the New York State Legislature is controlled by Democrats by a 2-1 ratio in both Houses, so everything that comes out of it sucks.
So you are also against legalizing automobiles - because people would still steal cars they don't want to have to pay for? I guess that the same would also apply to cigars, espresso, or Tic-Tacs.
That's your logic.
Marijuana [Cultivation?! Possession?! Consumption?! Please be specific!] is not a "victimless crime."
That bold assertion came out of nowhere - i.e., it is a non sequitur (= "logical fallacy").
Regards,
Hey...I’m in Oregon. Honestly, the legislature used to have enough sense to leave some things alone. Many States, Oregon included, get legalization via the initiative petition process. Direct democracy.
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