Ironically legalization has done more to reduce weeds popularity than any ad campaign. The old-school California medical system was honestly much better than what we see now though. Rather than moving marijuana to an alcohol type model, I wish they had moved alcohol to a medical marijuana one instead. Quick doctors appointment every 6-12 months on an opt in basis - just a check up to make sure you are partaking responsibly. America loves to make things a binary; all or nothing.

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butlike 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Devil's advocate: I don't need you to police my behaviors or protect me from myself. I know what I need better than you do.

	▲	altairprime 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		This turns out to be false for addiction-class things like cigarettes, alcohol, and opium where a chemical dependency is statistically likely to form across an entire population. Oxycontin (for example) trivially overwhelms “I know my needs” and virtually the entire population is vulnerable, barring those very few of us with the anti-addiction adaptations (who then also tend to lack a working feeling of completion-success, which is a curse in its own right!). Most societies choose not to apply a Darwinian filter along those lines, as evidenced by the absence of addiction testing and culling at birth, so it doesn’t make much sense to consider that with adults, either — and as one of those few without the proper brain wiring for the rewards-addiction circuit, I have zero interest in a world populated exclusively by people with brains like mine. There are solidly good reasons we have these neurotransmitter systems and it’s a bad plan to winnow out those who don’t by applying an Randian ethos to drug policies.

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pavel_lishin 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> Quick doctors appointment every 6-12 months on an opt in basis - just a check up to make sure you are partaking responsibly.

What would irresponsible partaking look like, and would doctors be able to actually detect it?

Nearly every prescription I've ever received has been pretty lax, with the only exception being one psychiatrist who prescribed me ADD medication - but only after I had both an EKG and an ECG done. Everyone else just asked me a few questions, and filled out the prescription.

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jmalicki 2 hours ago | parent [-]

Minor nit, but ECG and EKG are synonyms - the K is used because it is less likely to be confused verbally or in a written order... perhaps you mean EEG?

	▲	pavel_lishin an hour ago \| parent [-]
		You know what, you're almost certainly right. One was a check to make sure my heart was ok, and the other one was a check to make sure my brain was ok.

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ratelimitsteve 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

>Quick doctors appointment every 6-12 months on an opt in basis - just a check up to make sure you are partaking responsibly.

I'm in a medical state that does this and it's just hilariously corrupt. That checkup to ensure responsibility is nothing more than a drug fee. There is nothing to it beyond a phone call where they ask you if you still want to be certified and you say "yes".

	▲	FireBeyond 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Even within the last ten years, in California, we were visiting. Went to a store. "Oh, we only sell medical", "Oh, sorry to bother you". They hand us a business card. "Just go outside the store, call this number, and they'll get your info, give them your card number (I want to say it was like $20?) then you can come back inside and will show up in our database. "Do you have anxiety or trouble sleeping and do you think marijuana would help you with this?" "Yes I do." "Sounds good to me."

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thot_experiment 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

What are you talking about. A. those systems don't make sure you partake responsibly, you even admit it yourself with the claim that legalization reduced popularity. and B. it's like so so so much better than alcohol or tobacco. Are you seriously suggesting that's where the bar should be for government regulation?

All drugs should be legal and we should have good programs to take care of you if you fuck up their use, it would be vastly cheaper and better for society than criminalization, especially if your claims about legalization reducing use are true.

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stringfood 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

but some people want to enjoy the recreational aspect who have no disability or strict medical need for the drug?