In the online world you can’t make sure of anything. Florida for instance requires age verification for porn sites. Guess how many mainstream sites not based in the US are completely ignoring the law and guess how many others are easily accessible via a VPN? If you guessed the sum total of both is less than 100%, you would be wrong - and even that is tilted toward sites that just ignored it.

The one thing you can control is your childs access through their device using parental controls.

I can absolutely guarantee you that any teenager can easily get access to weed, cigarettes and alcohol despite the laws and definitely can use a VPN. It only takes one smart kid to show them how.

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delusional 2 days ago | parent [-]

> I can absolutely guarantee you that any teenager can easily get access to weed, cigarettes and alcohol

Is you argument then that we shouldn't age gate those things in reality either? Would you suggest that teenagers smoke and drink just as much as they would have had it been legal to sell to minors?

Laws don't just exist to stop you, they also exist to shape society. They exist as signals for what we deem appropriate behavior.

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raw_anon_1111 2 days ago | parent [-]

So we make meaningless laws that inconsistently enforced? What do you think happens when little Johnny is caught with weed in his car in a 95% White high income school district vs little Jerome in a 95% Black school district?

Also how much “shaping of society” do you expect to happen when you pass a law that no one respects?

How many kids do you think a law is going to stop from going to the porn sites that completely ignored the law?

How many kids say “I really want to smoke weed but it’s illegally so I won’t do it”?

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iamnothere 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

Laws that nobody respects lead to lack of respect for the law as a whole.

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delusional 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

> How many kids say “I really want to smoke weed but it’s illegally so I won’t do it”?

I think it's generally accepted that marijuana use increases after legalization. So yes.

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pksebben 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

You would think so, but DARE increased adolescent usage of some drugs while having little to no effect on others.

Turns out being illegal isn't as much of a disincentive as being uncool. If your parents are smoking it...

	▲	raw_anon_1111 2 days ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Nancy Reagan: Don’t sniff glue to get high. Kids: You can sniff glue and get high!!!
	▲	delusional 2 days ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		We have newer and more relevant data than DARE.

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raw_anon_1111 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Not according to the CDC with kids

https://www.mpp.org/issues/legalization/adult-use-legalizati...

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delusional 2 days ago | parent [-]

My guy, this is making the opposite argument from what you think:

"On the illegal market, no one is checking IDs before selling marijuana. When and where cannabis is illegal, high schoolers often sell cannabis to their peers. In contrast, licensed cannabis stores have overwhelming compliance with age-gating."

It has indeed not increased the cannabis use of kids, but that would also still be illegal. That study is an argument that age gating works.

	▲	raw_anon_1111 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		You would be surprised to know that illegal weed sells still happen where it’s legal because it’s cheaper. But even if that wasn’t the case, underage cigarette smoking has been rampant forever