I'm wondering how many people in favor of legalization would actually like to see a pot shop in their own street. From my own experience in the Netherlands, these kinds of shops attract a sort of crowd that you would much rather avoid.
I dunno. We have a nice neighborhood pub on our street and it's great. I can stop in for a bite or a few beers and once in a while, yep...I have a few more with my neighbors/friends and we get a bit tipsy and are glad to be able to walk a block to get home instead of taking a cab.
There are also some other bars in town that "attract a sort of crowd that (I) would much rather avoid". So that's basically what I do. I don't hang out at bars that attract a bunch of tough guys looking to pick fights or pick up drunk women.
That still doesn't mean I think bars should be illegal or that people (even drunks and alcoholics) should be thrown in jail for whatever issues they have with drug (alcohol) abuse.
All other arguments about the relative benefits of alcohol or cannabis or anything else aside, that's what it comes down to for me. I just don't think the possession and consumption of anything should be enough to land you in prison. As with alcohol you must be held accountable for your actions whether sober or under the influence. And if you accidentally cause damage to person or property while under the influence, you can be held liable due to your own negligence in not managing your behavior properly.
But the idea that your diet can be considered "criminal" is frankly ridiculous to me. Either it's a relatively harmless vice where you occasionally engage in an activity with potential health risks in exchange for altering your mood/perception or you're self-medicating and habituated to something and could use help with withdrawal and with addressing the issues that led you to use intoxication as an escape or a coping mechanism.
Neither scenario is something I'd consider worth of criminal punishment. Crimes at their most basic should be situations where one person infringes the rights of another, not situations where one person makes potentially unhealthy decisions.
I believe you completely, but I bet that if their were more pot shops, that unsavory element would just frequent the shops in their own neighborhoods. The Netherlands in general seem to get all the yahoo's that would just as well stay home and smoke up if they could buy legally in their home nations.
There are a ton of shops in Boulder. They are very chill, safe, and full of normal citizens. They close before 7 so it's not like people are hanging out there later at night, bein seedy.
