[Politics] How would you vote in a referendum to legalise cannabis in the UK?

drew said:

So the answer is no then! Legal alcohol in this country far outweighs illegal hooch but it is not eliminated. With weed, what strength level would be legal? And there would still be the illegal trade for stuff stronger.

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Of course the answer is no, every regulated market has a black market too. It's just how the world works. We don't ban cigarettes because there are black market cigarettes, it's a weird comparison to make.

In regards to strength, in legal markets the strength of cannabis is a lot stronger when bought from a legal source. They have the money and production level to test and produce stronger strains, whereas the average small time supplier (which they become once the big boys are brought into the market legally) has no scale to produce the stronger stuff.

Strength of cannabis is an issue in my eyes, but certain provinces in Canada have regulated the strength of cannabis (others haven't, and IMO it's an issue).

We've seen in Canada that once a substance is legalised, people will pay more money to have the convenience and information available to choose the strain they buy. Illegal weed (sometimes called bush weed) has a bad rep in Canada and most people won't touch it.

I am a little concerned the amount of cars and vans that drive around with plumes of smelly smoke coming out I do wonder have driving under the influence of wackybacci

drew said:

So you know that the illegal supply has been eliminated then?

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Definitely not eliminated, but I live in a state where it's legal for medical and recreational, and you don't see many people looking for a weed dealer.

They actually did an excellent job of getting the dispensary licenses in the hands of those from minority backgrounds. My local dispensary is run by someone who was incarcerated for selling weed and it has a museum attached to it.

The stores are like an Apple store. You're handed an iPad and can scan through the different types of products, edibles, drinks, etc. I think people are happy to pay a premium. There's one on every corner.

Even with the tax, I don't think a local weed dealer can compete with the bigger distributors.

drew said:

So the answer is no then! Legal alcohol in this country far outweighs illegal hooch but it is not eliminated. With weed, what strength level would be legal? And there would still be the illegal trade for stuff stronger.

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Would you say we have an issue with illegal hooch in the UK other than in prisons, where alcohol is forbidden?

I've never walked into Tesco and thought I'd really like something with more alcohol content than they're selling. I certainly wouldn't then walk out and buy illegal hooch at a higher percentage from some random guy on the corner.