The following are my personal observations over the course of a year or two as cannabis has been gradually legalized, from small usage to quasi-legal pot shops to the first legal weed shop last December. There are many, many articles, studies and continual followup on what's happening both in New York City and nationwide, but these are my observations.

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The following are my personal observations over the course of a year or two as cannabis has been gradually legalized, from small usage to quasi-legal pot shops to the first legal weed shop last December. There are many, many articles, studies and continual followup on what's happening both in New York City and nationwide, but these are my observations.

I used to be in favor of legalization because I thought it would lead to better substance abuse treatments and slow the drug use to prison pipeline. But that seems to have become an afterthought as especially high taxes on this new industry provide a desperate state and city with new revenues, and jobs for an under-privileged but frankly, non-conforming semi-legal subculture supposedly keeps them from committing crimes. But...it doesn't. Crime is up, weed shops are both targets and sources of new crime, with states where cannabis has been legalized having higher homelessness, higher drug use including at younger ages and of still illegal drugs too, higher OD rates (today's cannabis has levels of THC 10-20X higher than decades ago), and generally making the city more tense, and smelly. Try going into any park nowadays; people are opening smoking weed even when they know it's a no-smoking environment. They don't care. They may even wait for you to challenge them, to get a knife in your gut.

Cannabis temporarily relieves anxiety, stress, but then it comes back even worse, from paranoia to psychosis - not always temporary either. Young people are being permanently harmed and no one seems to care except those who directly interact with them through a system more under-staffed than ever. It wasn't supposed to work this way; the profits from cannabis sales were supposed to go towards better treatments, but the revenue incentive is stronger, both on the private and public level.

I was wrong.

The city and state are wrong too.

Authors Website: http://newthinking.blogspot.com/

Authors Bio:

Scott Baker is a Managing Editor & The Economics Editor at Opednews, and a former blogger for Huffington Post, Daily Kos, and Global Economic Intersection.

His anthology of updated Opednews articles "America is Not Broke" was published by Tayen Lane Publishing (March, 2015) and may be found here:

http://www.americaisnotbroke.net/

Scott is a former and current President of Common Ground-NY (http://commongroundnyc.org/), a Geoist/Georgist activist group. He has written dozens of articles for Common Ground's national publication, GroundSwell, and has advocated for the Georgist Land Value Tax to public and political audiences.

A complete list of his publications can be found here:

Click Here

He is also New York State Coordinator and Senior Advisor for the Public Banking Institute

Click Here, which seeks to promote Public Banking. The PBI is chaired by another OEN blogger, Ellen Brown.
Scott has appeared on TV/Radio and in in-person Presentations to explain the principles of Georgism, Greenbacking, and State Banking. These may also be found on his personal blog: http://newthinking.blogspot.com/

Scott has a dozen progressive petitions on Change.org which may be found here:

http://chn.ge/10nUAmJ

Scott was an I.T. Manager for a major New York university for over two decades where he earned a Certificate for Frontline Leadership.

He had a video game published in Compute! Magazine: Click Here

Scott is a graduate and adjunct faculty of the Henry George School of Social Science in New York City.

Scott is a modern-day Renaissance Man with interests in economics, science and all future-forward topics.

He has been called an "adept syncretist" by Kirkus Discoveries for his novel, NeitherWorld - a two-volume opus blending Native American myth, archaeological detail, government conspiracy, with a sci-fi flair http://amzn.to/10nUoDV

Scott grew up in New York City and Pennsylvania. He graduated with honors and a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Pennsylvania State University and was a member of the Psychology honor society PSI CHI.

Today he is an avid bicyclist and ride co-leader in a prominent bike advocacy organization.

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