As per topic.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/oklahoma-and-nebraska-sue-colorado-over-dangerous-marijuana-law-20141219
The claim the two states make, is that they have to bear the cost of law enforcement when the weed, which can be legally bought in Colorado, travels in the pockets of Nebraskan and Oklahoman tourists when they return to their home states. Not to mention, I guess the local cartels are probably hurting from a drop in sales, since surprisingly, people would rather buy safe and legal weed over some dude on the corner selling possibly unsafe and illegal weed.
So, do you think this is a legitimate concern?
If not, what do you think Nebraska's and Oklahoma's true concerns are?
Do you think the state of Colorado should be forced to make weed illegal again?
If yes or no, why or why not?
My take on this....
I think that this is not a true legitimate concern. Considering that one is only allowed to buy an ounce a day from each establishment, you would have to go to 16 different establishments to even get a pound of the weed. So, unless frat boy cartels are going up and down multiple cities in Colorado to get a few pounds a day, I don't see how this contributes a financial burden on the two neighboring states. My point is, with the limitations in place, it would take a massive effort to legally get a sizable source of weed from Colorado, just to take it back across state lines, to risk jail time to sell it illegally, not to mention the major players, the regular cartels, already have their own supply of the stuff. So there is not only competition, but the risk far out-ways the benefit, as weed in Colorado is comparable in price to the illegal stuff in the other surrounding states.
In fact, as weed becomes cheaper, it will drive the price down, thus damaging the ability of crime cartels to entice people to buy their product, so they lose their customers, or lower the prices, both of which drives their ability to function as normal down.
I think the actual concern of these states is not increased cost, but lost revenue. You see, the states make a LOT of money off the drug war, in confiscated property and assets. It is an indirect way to tax the poor, and an extra tax on anyone else who buys drugs. When convicted in a drug offense, the state takes any assets, to include retirement and disability, you might have. This is covered already under civil forfeiture laws, but it makes it easy to take one's money because any amount of cash can be used for, in the opinion of the arresting officer, to "buy drugs."
So, there is a massive financial reason to make drugs stay illegal, especially the gateway drug, weed. And the reason weed is a gateway drug is illegal producers will often splice more expensive drugs into the weed, to get a person hooked, thus buying the more expensive and more profitable drugs. This problem is eradicated with legalization. Not many people say, "I want to be a crack head!"
The fact this makes it easy to lock up many minorities, since punishment can be mitigated or expanded at the perusal of the judge sitting on the bench for drug offenses, thus ensuring many minorities never vote, is icing on the cake for these government officials, since minorities often vote liberal, and these are conservative states. So although I don't think this is a primary concern, I believe they see this as a great benefit.
So I think, no, Colorado should not be forced to make weed illegal. I say this because of the great boons to society from the legalization of weed, even though I plan to never smoke the stuff, just like I never plan to smoke cigarettes. But just because I don't plan on using it, does not mean I think no one ever should.
So, what say you?
