Re:Stop Treating Marijuana Like Heroin
by nine_k on Saturday August 13, 2016 @10:53AM
(#12281711)
Alcohol's effects are similar and often worse.
Prohibition is still widely regarded as a mistake, and literally tens of millions people in the US consume small doses of alcohol without becoming adficts.
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I sometimes wonder if a measure less extreme than prohibition might've actually worked.
When it comes to weed, the Dutch approach seems to be pretty effective at allowing it's use while simultaneously keeping it from being a cultural mainstay, and I think that's a good thing.
It also seems to work with smoking. It's amazing to see how many people quit smoking as price increases and as the cultural values change. As a chain-smoker who wishes he never started, I think that's great.
In my ideal world it would be legal to drink, but it wouldn't be such an integral component of our social world. For many people, and perhaps especially those who struggle with dependence on alcohol, the relative difficulty of avoiding 'drinking culture' and the stigma attached (being boring) is a major pain in the ass.