patrick.net

Did Marijuana caused accidents double? or did the number of people using marijuana and getting in accidents double?

These are not the same questions. so to illustrate with a thought experiment:

Suppose it was illegal to wear a red shirt. and that 5 people, either unaware of this, or flaunting the law were killed while driving wearing red shirts.

Then, later, the red shirt law is repealed, and we find that 200 people died while driving wearing red shirts.

The headline would have read, Deaths caused by driving while wearing red shirts have increased by 40 fold, or 3900%

Would that prove how dangerous wearing red shirts is?

I have to say, taking a Prob/Stat class with Roberto could be fun.
That said, we need more treatment options. I hate to see Rew and bob2356 going at each other. I'll only vote for decriminalization if treatment is part of the package. Has anybody looked at the CA props that may end up on the November ballot. I know one has monies for funding treatment options, but, as with any big pot of money, also diverts taxes to other interests/projects.
And the obligatory, Dude, you just ran over a bicyclist...
Haynes admitted to smoking marijuana at the Berkeley Marina at 3:30 p.m., appeared high to police on the scene and “performed poorly” on a sobriety test conducted by a BPD officer after the crash. Police found marijuana and drug paraphernalia in the car, which also smelled strongly of burnt pot. Also found in the vehicle were numerous empty plastic “BPG House Blend” canisters.
Haynes — who is from Berkeley but lived in Sunnyvale as of February — told police he had stopped for the red light at Fulton and Bancroft right before the crash. When the light turned green, according to the police report, he drove forward and “he then felt ‘bumps’ from the front area of his vehicle. He said he did not know what the bumps were. He said he tried to stop but the vehicle began … going into a skid.”

Rew says

For clarity, I was referring to Europe, as in the previous context of our discussion. But, you believe these countries listed are examples of drug policy we should follow? Aren't these countries too culturally, politically, and economically different from the US to be a close enough comparison of what policy implementation effects would be for the US?

My conversations were about countries, not europe. You keep saying legalizing or decriminalizing will be the end of the world and everyone keeps pointing out wasn't the end of the world anywhere else. You are aware that drugs were perfectly legal for 150 years and the republic didn't fail weren't you?

The societal costs of legalization can't be anywhere near the disaster the war on drugs has been. Why don't you open your eyes and look at the huge societal costs of the war on drugs. Prohibition created organized crime, the war on drugs turned organized crime into a gigantic multinational phenomenon with almost unlimited power and money. Over 50 billion a year spent on the drug war by the US alone. US intervention and policies have been a disaster in latin america. Our policy and strategies have empowered organized criminals, corrupted governments, stimulated violence, assaulted the environment and created tens of thousands of refugees all across latin america. In the US police forces have been militarized across the country and are no longer trusted by the citizens. Huge swaths of the cites are no go zones. A large number of civil rights have been stripped away. Anything you own can be taken away on the say so of a cop with no recourse at all. You then have to prove you weren't committing a crime to get it back. Minorities are marginalized and distrusted. Blacks are arrested up to 50 times more for drugs even though usage rates are the same as whites. Half a million people are in prison on drug charges. A large percentage of minorities are now ex cons. A single drug offence, including marijuana possession, means you cannot get education financial aid, public housing, food stamps, etc.. Huge numbers of people have to submit to urine testing without cause. This is somehow better than going back to legal drugs or at least legal pot? I don't think so. Where is your concern for the irreparable societal damage done by the war on drugs?