re: "Legalizing Marijuana Is a Big Mistake" (The New York Times, May 17, 2023)
Although he does not mention that popular drug that is far more harmful to both users and society than marijuana is, Mr Douthat is presumably aware that that is the case. The silence is odd. Anyone who opposes marijuana legalization on the grounds that it is personally degrading will logically be a rabid abolitionist when it comes to the more toxic and degrading alcohol.
As for the argument that cops "simply substitute some other pretext when the law changes, leaving arrest rates basically unchanged," what this shows is that more laws need to be amended or revoked to prevent such racialized abuse by police.
But Mr Douthat's founding premise is hazy unto murk. He appears to think that if X is known to cause some harm to some adult users, that is a sufficient reason to ban it for all. There goes not only alcohol and parachuting, but cars and swimming pools. The degradation is seeping in everywhere.
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The above comment was submitted by Felix Qui to The New York Times article.
It is published there at https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/17/opinion/marijuana-legalization-disaster.html#commentsContainer&permid=125154054:125154054
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