...And the second article, well is that a surprise? Of course people want to steal the cannabis. It can be sold on the black market for lots of money. People try to rob from jewelry stores all the time! Fine art? HUGE target for thieves and burglaries.
Also, that first article is 5 years old... It does not surprise me that at the forefront of this initiative there were some idiots attracted like a moth to flame. Look at PS3 sales the first week, I bet you'll find more people who broke into a lot of Best Buys and other electronics stores.
I don't understand your conviction on this issue... it makes a lot of sense to legalize it and federally regulate it.
I don't have time to address everything you've brought up but first of all - that "assumption" regarding alcohol and caffeine being more likely is support by academic studies that I don't have the time to locate and share with you, but I will definitely look for them when I get back from the office.
As far as how the politicians and mafia in Holland profit from the coffee shops... I really didn't think I had to explain it but it works like this...
The guys who grow it get contracted by the mafias (with ties to politicians) to grow the cannabis. The mafias then receive the weed and pay the growers a minimal fee, but something worth their time. It would be inefficient for them to sell it themselves so they sell it to independent business who mark up the price so that they themselves get a profit. If you've ever done business before you know this is a pretty common tactic.
As far as mafias "going away," well... it would take on a different face. "Big Tobacco" companies are pretty much mafias, when you get down to the brass tacks of the matter. It's all economics... And it makes no sense to keep cannabis illegal. As far as those articles... well, having worked as a journalist for 15 years for the Chicago Tribune I know for a fact that it's very easy to create trends which may or may not actually exist to the degree which they are declared.
Decriminalization is pussyfooting around the main issue. Cannabis/hemp is a business, and if the US government were to regulate this business like it does so many other commodities it would become a safer business with a safer, FDA regulated product. Do some research about why people smoke, why people sell, and actual medical research as to the health effects and you'll find that it's not as criminal as you are making it out to be. I take it you've never smoked, huh?
Also, look at prohibition in the early parts of last century... If you make something people want illegal there will be avenues of distribution run by criminals. Make it federally regulated with state guidelines and you have a business, replacing uzis with lawyers.
"Cocaine and ecstasy relate to marijuana because the same set of people deal in them."
That's not true. That's an assumption many people make because cannabis is a schedule I substance in the US along with cocaine and ecstasy.
"No, nearby businesses are burglarized because medical marijuana attracts unsavory parts of society."
Another assumption on your part. Most people who smoke or otherwise ingest cannabis are nonviolent people. You sound like a very sheltered person who stereotypes groups of people easily.
Alcohol and even caffeine are more likely to cause someone to burglarize a home or office. The reason why you think "unsavory parts of society" deal with cannabis is because it's illegal and it's profitable. Anything that is illegal that still has profitable margins will attracts gangs and mafia. Netherlands is case and point, if they legalized cannabis then the mobs wouldn't dominate the market. Why do you think cannabis is allowed to be sold in shops but still "illegal?" Many Dutch politicians have ties with Dutch mafias, and therefore it is in the politicians and the mafias' best interest to keep cannabis "illegal" in Holland.
What it comes down to is money. Cannabis is safe, tested and proven to be safer than most if not all legal psychoactive substances. Cannabis is so highly desired that its sale brings in huge profits for the vendors and this, of course, attracts gangs and mafias because of its illegality. If cannabis was regulated similarly to tobacco, with an age requirement via proof of ID, legitimate growers would flourish and there would be no need for "drug dealers" and the violence that many people (wrongly) associate with marijuana.
I don't understand your conviction on this issue... it makes a lot of sense to legalize it and federally regulate it.
As far as how the politicians and mafia in Holland profit from the coffee shops... I really didn't think I had to explain it but it works like this...
The guys who grow it get contracted by the mafias (with ties to politicians) to grow the cannabis. The mafias then receive the weed and pay the growers a minimal fee, but something worth their time. It would be inefficient for them to sell it themselves so they sell it to independent business who mark up the price so that they themselves get a profit. If you've ever done business before you know this is a pretty common tactic.
As far as mafias "going away," well... it would take on a different face. "Big Tobacco" companies are pretty much mafias, when you get down to the brass tacks of the matter. It's all economics... And it makes no sense to keep cannabis illegal. As far as those articles... well, having worked as a journalist for 15 years for the Chicago Tribune I know for a fact that it's very easy to create trends which may or may not actually exist to the degree which they are declared.
Decriminalization is pussyfooting around the main issue. Cannabis/hemp is a business, and if the US government were to regulate this business like it does so many other commodities it would become a safer business with a safer, FDA regulated product. Do some research about why people smoke, why people sell, and actual medical research as to the health effects and you'll find that it's not as criminal as you are making it out to be. I take it you've never smoked, huh?
Also, look at prohibition in the early parts of last century... If you make something people want illegal there will be avenues of distribution run by criminals. Make it federally regulated with state guidelines and you have a business, replacing uzis with lawyers.
That's not true. That's an assumption many people make because cannabis is a schedule I substance in the US along with cocaine and ecstasy.
"No, nearby businesses are burglarized because medical marijuana attracts unsavory parts of society."
Another assumption on your part. Most people who smoke or otherwise ingest cannabis are nonviolent people. You sound like a very sheltered person who stereotypes groups of people easily.
Alcohol and even caffeine are more likely to cause someone to burglarize a home or office. The reason why you think "unsavory parts of society" deal with cannabis is because it's illegal and it's profitable. Anything that is illegal that still has profitable margins will attracts gangs and mafia. Netherlands is case and point, if they legalized cannabis then the mobs wouldn't dominate the market. Why do you think cannabis is allowed to be sold in shops but still "illegal?" Many Dutch politicians have ties with Dutch mafias, and therefore it is in the politicians and the mafias' best interest to keep cannabis "illegal" in Holland.
What it comes down to is money. Cannabis is safe, tested and proven to be safer than most if not all legal psychoactive substances. Cannabis is so highly desired that its sale brings in huge profits for the vendors and this, of course, attracts gangs and mafias because of its illegality. If cannabis was regulated similarly to tobacco, with an age requirement via proof of ID, legitimate growers would flourish and there would be no need for "drug dealers" and the violence that many people (wrongly) associate with marijuana.