Re:Denver voters consider next frontier in decriminalizing d...
by Misdicorl on Monday May 06, 2019 @11:59AM
(#19840588)
Look, you prefaced your comment with a question that has a simple answer. You don't like that answer because it doesn't fit your premise that the law is never helpful to anyone. But it is the answer.
There is plenty of room to discuss the effectiveness/costs of making drugs illegal and how (potential) enforcement should be handled. To whit, your response is answering an entirely different question than the one you originally posed!
EDIT Response to below. I can't understand your position. How is the data we do have even remotely relevant? Its a study about enforcement and so presupposes a population that is excluded by the very question posed...
Re:Denver voters consider next frontier in decriminalizing d...
by TallGuyShort on Monday May 06, 2019 @12:11PM
(#19840733)
No I don't like your answer because you have zero data to back it up and it contradicts very closely related data that we do have.
There's also the fact that a lot of black-market stuff only ever happens because it's illegal, which is why countries that decriminalize prostitution and take a treat-instead-of-prosecute approach tend to see benefits in addition to fewer people in jail for the associated crimes. I know there are people that won't break the law, but there are also people that make beaucoup bucks breaking the law because they're good at it. Which one wins out? No idea. Not sure if there's a way to get data on that beyond the enforcement vs. addiction studies.