It is human nature for people to have a knee-jerk reaction to change. With a big topic like the legalization of certain drugs, people tend not to play nice.
Tell residents of a city that any drug, whether they know what it is or how harmful it is, is being legalized next year and watch them whine and moan that it’ll be damaging to society and encourages others to freely partake in a negative influence.
You could fire back with theories that the laws have a positive effect like increased tax revenue and curbing the drug trade.
People will just say it’s more trouble than it’s worth.
Individuals would also say that in lieu of decreasing crime, you have more “legal crime.”
People taking advantage of the new law to excessively use drugs in the public space of pedestrians that disagree with using only increases aggression within the public.
It is a likely problem that will happen in a society that’s not ready to accept other people’s choices.
Let’s take roll call for the hypothetical woman who yells out that we should “think of the children.”
An article in the Denver Post addresses the problems that could happen nationwide.
A school resource office in Mesa County has seen kids getting caught with as much as half an ounce of pot.
Because of the changing social norm, the preteens are assuming that legalization means marijuana is acceptable and safe to use.
In one situation, a school principal saw a bag of pot fall from a student’s pocket, and much like someone dropping their wallet, the student reached out to take his weed back.
He didn’t realize that he was doing something wrong by violating school policies, or that there were disciplinary actions.
As we continue to look to Washington and Colorado as the small examples for our nation, we also notice the crimes that follow the legalization.
In the first 4/20 celebration after the November law allowing marijuana use, there was a shooting that left two wounded at Denver’s Civic Center Park.
As people were celebrating and having fun with like-minded attendees, a man, his dog and a woman were shot for unknown motives, as cited by the Associated Press.
While we can pass this incident off as individuals ruining more freedom for others, what can we expect if the entire United States legalized drugs?
Another reason legalizing is not a good option can be an increase in other forms of crime. Like the saying goes, “When one king has fallen, another will take his place.”
This means people in the drug trade won’t just stop, shrug and hit the breaks.
To sustain their business, drug peddlers will either be aggressive in preventing a bill from curbing their trade or just move on to a more dangerous drug that is “better” than the legal options.
A system of legal sales only works if vendors sell what they’re supposed to, as pointed out by an article on the website Policy Mic called “6 Biggest Problems With Marijuana Legalization According to Pot Supporters.”
Some shops are not bothering with the strict labeling or packaging regulations that are needed for the products.
Regulations also have little effect on the various nature of some drugs. Stronger or mixed variants of drugs are too much for officials to keep track of.
The ease of mixing up legal, pre-approved drugs for sale with other types is scary, as vendors themselves control what’s sold with no one official to tell the difference.
In an attempt to stop the drug trade in its tracks, much more potential problems are brought up.
We have a society that isn’t ready for a change that huge.
Colorado is a small scale example of what may happen to young children everywhere.
