Flame — HabitableZone

Flame » in reply to Yeah, stoner culture is something we really need to condone.

Missing the point. Think: Prohibition.
Mary Anne — (archived)

When we made alcohol illegal, what happened?

Did drinking stop? No. It became a criminal activity, though, so it became secret. If someone's drinking became a health problem, he or she could not seek help without exposing the criminal activity. Result: untreated addiction with resulting health and social problems.

Did the demand for alcohol go away? No. Supplying it became a criminal activity, though, so only criminals engaged in large-scale supply operations, which gave them a lot of income and incidentally introduced violence into marketplace competition. Result: continued use of alcohol giving financial support to a robust and violent criminal community, which set the prices of the commodity for its own benefit.

Did the quality of alcohol remain uniform? No. Manufacturing it became a criminal activity, though, so no quality control mechanisms from public health organizations were used. Alcohol that was too strong, contaminated, and downright poisonous was produced. People suffered illness, blindness and sometimes death.

Alcohol is no longer illegal. We can, and do, talk about addiction, health problems, and responsible use. We can engage in public discussion of its effects in an atmosphere free of fear of the law. Organized crime no longer derives its income from alcohol sales and transportation. Alcohol we purchase has uniform standards of production, so people no longer drink alcohol that blinds them. People still do reckless things under the influence, true, but alcohol's legality doesn't excuse people from acting responsibly. People still abuse alcohol, but it's easier to discuss treatment for drug abuse when admitting the abuse doesn't mean confessing to a crime first.

Now: apply all that to the stoner subculture.

Think cigarettes.

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