<story><title>Shedding light on the dark web</title><url>http://www.economist.com/news/international/21702176-drug-trade-moving-street-online-cryptomarkets-forced-compete</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>acctid4325</author><text>To what extend it is society&amp;#x27;s job to protect people from themselves?&lt;p&gt;So let&amp;#x27;s assume that we legalize &amp;#x27;drugs&amp;#x27; for everyone: can I now buy pot and meth and acid and heroine and what not complete with shooting accessories from 7-Eleven? Are we seriously proposing that people in masses would be able to responsibly consume these newly available substances. If there is doubt, maybe we add, similar to obtaining a drivers license, a class of responsible substance use for kids to their high school curriculum. A 12-step program from mild to mind blowing experience that runs from elementary to the high school graduation. Which begs the question, do we make them free for all ages, subject to parents discretion, or maybe no drugs for minors? Or high schoolers? But then again, that would make it all less-free.&lt;p&gt;These blanket statements about legalizing drugs made by arm chair i-dont-know-what equate to trolling, victim of which I feel I just fell ;-)</text></item><item><author>dopamean</author><text>Any time I read anything about the illegal drug trade I am struck by how much the industry would change if all drugs were legalized everywhere. So much effort is expended to keep things hidden from law enforcement and other criminals that it adds an incredible amount of friction to the purchasing process for the purchaser and the seller.&lt;p&gt;From the buyer&amp;#x27;s perspective you now have to go into business with some often unsavory people just to get high. From the seller&amp;#x27;s perspective you have to make sure that the buyer isn&amp;#x27;t law enforcement and also not someone who is going to rob you because you have zero legal recourse. It&amp;#x27;s really a shitty experience for everyone involved. Considering how shitty that experience is it says a lot about people and their desire to take drugs that the market continues to exist and basically never stops serving the customer.&lt;p&gt;It really seems like when confronted with something inevitable, like drug use and sales, the effort to prevent it may be more costly and damaging than just allowing it to happen in a more controlled environment.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>bwanab</author><text>At least in Colorado, you can only by pot from licensed shops where they card you when you go in and card you again when you purchase. This is a far cry from 7-Eleven.&lt;p&gt;Colorado has seen pot smoking go down for kids which is counterintuitive, right? Not really. I&amp;#x27;ve got kids in high school and they tell me that pot is easy to get (I don&amp;#x27;t live in Colorado). In Colorado, the illegal trade has dried up, thus making it harder, not easier for kids to get it. There&amp;#x27;s no reason to believe it would be that different for other drugs.</text></comment>
<story><title>Shedding light on the dark web</title><url>http://www.economist.com/news/international/21702176-drug-trade-moving-street-online-cryptomarkets-forced-compete</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>acctid4325</author><text>To what extend it is society&amp;#x27;s job to protect people from themselves?&lt;p&gt;So let&amp;#x27;s assume that we legalize &amp;#x27;drugs&amp;#x27; for everyone: can I now buy pot and meth and acid and heroine and what not complete with shooting accessories from 7-Eleven? Are we seriously proposing that people in masses would be able to responsibly consume these newly available substances. If there is doubt, maybe we add, similar to obtaining a drivers license, a class of responsible substance use for kids to their high school curriculum. A 12-step program from mild to mind blowing experience that runs from elementary to the high school graduation. Which begs the question, do we make them free for all ages, subject to parents discretion, or maybe no drugs for minors? Or high schoolers? But then again, that would make it all less-free.&lt;p&gt;These blanket statements about legalizing drugs made by arm chair i-dont-know-what equate to trolling, victim of which I feel I just fell ;-)</text></item><item><author>dopamean</author><text>Any time I read anything about the illegal drug trade I am struck by how much the industry would change if all drugs were legalized everywhere. So much effort is expended to keep things hidden from law enforcement and other criminals that it adds an incredible amount of friction to the purchasing process for the purchaser and the seller.&lt;p&gt;From the buyer&amp;#x27;s perspective you now have to go into business with some often unsavory people just to get high. From the seller&amp;#x27;s perspective you have to make sure that the buyer isn&amp;#x27;t law enforcement and also not someone who is going to rob you because you have zero legal recourse. It&amp;#x27;s really a shitty experience for everyone involved. Considering how shitty that experience is it says a lot about people and their desire to take drugs that the market continues to exist and basically never stops serving the customer.&lt;p&gt;It really seems like when confronted with something inevitable, like drug use and sales, the effort to prevent it may be more costly and damaging than just allowing it to happen in a more controlled environment.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>squeaky-clean</author><text>&amp;gt; So let&amp;#x27;s assume that we legalize &amp;#x27;drugs&amp;#x27; for everyone: can I now buy pot and meth and acid and heroine and what not complete with shooting accessories from 7-Eleven?&lt;p&gt;If I visit nearly any 7-Eleven after 10pm, I could buy any of these substances, it would just be in the parking lot instead of inside the store. And I wouldn&amp;#x27;t be able to tell if it was fake or cut with something.</text></comment>