Tax Revenue - Do you really think the money generated from taxing cocaine would go to treating addicts?? The taxes on cigarettes have already proven that point into the ground. None of that goes towards helping people quit smoking. Here in Cleveland nearly all of it went towards building a baseball stadium, which quite frankly the sports teams should have payed for themselves. That's like asking taxpayers to fund the construction of a Nordstrom's, while the company takes all the profits for themselves. And, no, the stadium doesn't drive a boost in local businesses near it either - which has also been studied and proven wrong. In fact, on game days, the congested traffic and mayhem around the stadium drives away patrons from the local businesses near it. Taxing addicts is a sleazy way to make money off of their addictions, and it's no better than what the drug dealers themselves are doing. The government doesn't really want people to quit smoking all together - despite putting on a front by banning it in public places - if that cash cow were to dry up on them, they would be freaking out. They're as addicted to the revenue stream from smoking as smokers are to their cigarettes.
Loss Of Criminal Revenue - There will still be a black market for cocaine. Oxycontin is legal, but there is still a black market for it as well, and all the criminal activity that comes along with it.
Public Health - Our health care system in this country already sucks. There are millions of people forgoing treatment for a multitude of illnesses because they cannot afford it, or are being bankrupted by skyrocketing medial costs because they are without insurance. The "war on drugs" was a disaster on many fronts, but currently, it *is* relatively difficult to get access to cocaine on a regular basis due to it's illegal status. If it became as readily available as cigarettes, there would be a tremendous spike in people abusing it and becoming addicted far more than there is now. Would insurance companies even cover treatment for this in the first place? Probably not. And although street cocaine is heavily cut, that also means it's heavily diluted - could you imagine of readily available pure cocaine was accessible? What's the lesser of two evils, some cocaine cut with asparin, dextrose and epsom salt, or pure cocaine that is like 100x stronger?
Corruption and Organized Crime - Again, if cocaine is legal, how will it be distributed? If it's sold like cigarettes, you can bet stores will be getting broken into left and right with people stealing it. If it's sold under a prescription, you can bet there will be a black market for it just like Oxycontin and Vicodins. How will it be priced? If it's ridiculously expensive, as the states that have legalized marijuanna have made legal weed, then it becomes out of reach for lower middle class people to buy. So only the rich folks can afford it and hence stay out of jail, while the poorer populations will continue to be targeted and jailed for illegal possession of it, and for stealing it because they cannot afford it.
Portugal and Colorado - This thread was mainly about legalizing cocaine specifically, which is entirely different from legalizing weed. I'm in favor of legalizing weed (though I don't agree how it's been handled, particularly in terms of the cost of it), but I really don't know if legalizing cocaine is a better option than not legalizing it. Once your hooked on that crap, the laws don't matter to you. You don't care if it's legal or not, you just want it regardless. It doesn't matter if you're jailed over it or not to keep you away from it, because if you have regular access to it instead, you will become just as much of a detriment to society anyhow in so many other ways. Who is going to food the bill for all the cocaine addicts going to emergency for overdoses, with no insurance?
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