New York Times – Opinion May 2023
Marijuana legalization as we’ve done it so far has been a policy failure, a potential social disaster, a clear and evident mistake.
Of all the ways to win a culture war, the smoothest is to just make the other side seem hopelessly uncool. So it’s been with the march of
marijuana legalization: There have been moral arguments about the excesses of the drug war and medical arguments about the potential
benefits of pot, but the vibe of the whole debate has pitted the chill against the uptight, the cool against the square, the relaxed future
against the Principal Skinners of the past.
As support for legalization has climbed, commanding a two-thirds majority in recent polling, any contrary argument has come to feel a bit
futile, and even modest cavils are couched in an apologetic and defensive style. Of course I don’t question the right to get high, but perhaps
the pervasive smell of weed in our cities is a bit unfortunate …? I’m not a narc or anything, but maybe New York City doesn’t need quite so
many unlicensed pot dealers …?
All of this means that it will take a long time for conventional wisdom to acknowledge the truth that seems readily apparent to squares like
me:
Marijuana legalization as we’ve done it so far has been a policy failure, a potential social disaster, a clear and evident mistake...
For complete article Opinion | Legalizing Marijuana Is a Big Mistake – The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Also see
“Legalize Weed & Release Cornucopia”, and the litany of other broken promises.