The Return of an Enemy – Reginald vs. Kevin Sabet

An Enemy Returns – Reginald vs Kevin Sabet

The benefits of legalizing cannabis are numerous and undeniable. First of all, legalization would allow cannabis to be regulated and controlled, ensuring that it is produced and sold in a safe and responsible manner. It would also free up law enforcement resources that could be better applied to fighting real crime and keeping our communities safe.

Legalization would also create jobs and boost economic growth. The cannabis industry is booming and legalizing cannabis would allow the creation of a whole new economic sector. It would also generate tax revenue that could be used to fund schools, infrastructure projects, and other public services.

But perhaps the most important reason for legalizing cannabis is that it would end the harmful and ineffective politics of prohibition. Prohibition hasn’t stopped people from using cannabis, instead creating a whole host of problems, including a massive black market, increased incarceration rates, and the perpetuation of harmful stereotypes and stigmas surrounding cannabis use.

Legalization would also allow more research into the medical benefits of cannabis, which could lead to the development of new treatments and therapies for a variety of diseases and conditions. It could also help reduce the harm caused by other drugs because people would have access to a safer alternative.

Legalizing cannabis is the only sensible approach to drug policy. It would benefit society as a whole by creating jobs, generating tax revenue, freeing up law enforcement resources, and ending failed prohibition policies. So let’s stop the scaremongering and start embracing the many benefits of cannabis legalization.

However, not everyone sees it that way.

That brings us to the main topic of today’s article – I expose the arguments of a seasoned prohibitionist. And who are we talking about?

Well, my old buddy Kevin Sabet. You know, the veteran prohibitionist who’s taking money from Big Rehab and has an agenda to keep cannabis “illegal” so they can keep making money off people the courts are ordering into their rehab programs.

Well, to be technically factual, he’s the founder of SAM, or Smart Approach to Marijuana, which takes money from Big Rehab. I think it’s important to mention this as this is clearly a conflict of interest. Maybe no more than my own who would like to see cannabis legal.

Maybe Kevin and I are the same beast but on opposite spectrums? I’m just way cooler!

In any case, let’s not beat around the bush. Equal to his not-so-good tactics, Kevin published an article across multiple outlets that criticized New York’s legalization efforts as “reason why cannabis shouldn’t be legal,” but I’ll point out how “affirmative legalization” was mixed in with Ban who is really responsible for the claims he made.

So if you’re ready for a wild ride… let’s get to the jousting tournament!

Kevin’s first claim: Legalize and kids will use it!

It seems obvious that as society puts its stamp on today’s high-potency marijuana, more kids will start using it.

This is his opening line of the article. The idea that legalizing cannabis will result in more children using it simply isn’t supported by evidence. In fact, studies have shown that legalization does not lead to an increase in cannabis use among teenagers and can even have the opposite effect.

One reason is that legalization would push cannabis out of the shadows and into the spotlight, making it less mysterious and boring for young people. Legalization would also allow for better education and prevention efforts, which could help lower teen use rates.

Additionally, evidence shows that cannabis use among teenagers has actually declined in states that have legalized cannabis. In Colorado, for example, teenage cannabis use has declined since legalization and is now below the national average.

It’s also worth noting that the harms of cannabis prohibition far outweigh any potential risks of legalization. Prohibition created a massive black market controlled by dangerous criminal organizations. It has also led to increased incarceration rates and racial disparities in the criminal justice system.

Of course, Kevin is talking about another marketplace – New York – which took an entirely different approach to cannabis legalization and created a bloated black market as a result. We’ll get into that later, as a lot of Kev’s arguments depend on it. This idea doesn’t stand up to scrutiny for now, as it doesn’t apply to other “approved” substances like alcohol.

Kevin’s second claim: legalization expands New York’s black market

Legalization has certainly expanded the black market in New York City. Merchants who once plied their trades in back alleys still do so, but many have set up illegal “shops” to expand their supply and other businesses.

These prohibitionists are like a bad dime, they just keep popping up no matter how hard we try to get rid of them.

Now Kevin seems to think that by legalizing cannabis, New York accidentally expanded the black market. But as is so often the case with these prohibitionists, the truth is much more complex. While it’s true that there are currently around 1400 unlicensed cannabis stores in New York, the reason for this isn’t just down to the decriminalization of cannabis.

In fact, there were a number of other factors that contributed to the rise of these “illegal” pharmacies. As Christopher Booker noted in a recent PBS article, sweeping criminal justice reforms in 2020, including bail reform, have also played a role in the rise of unlicensed pharmacies.

Additionally, the pandemic has left many in economic difficulties, and cannabis is a hot commodity. It’s not surprising that some people have turned to the black market to try and make a quick buck. Blaming this situation solely on the legalization of cannabis is not only disingenuous, it is deliberately deceptive.

The truth is that the rise of unlicensed dispensaries is a complex issue and cannot be attributed solely to the decriminalization of cannabis. However, one should not be surprised at the survival instinct of a dying species – in this case the prohibitionist.

Kevin admits he’s wrong

To make matters worse, law enforcement is unable to crack down on businesses that sell to minors. They can only fine those who sell without a license $250, illustrating why the negligible fines could not serve as a deterrent against illegal sellers.

Finally, in the article, Kevin cites exactly what I quoted earlier, a “$250 penalty,” which feeds into the entire criminal justice reform issue we touched on earlier.

See, Kevin and I always agreed that “kids shouldn’t smoke weed” or drink or do any of that crazy stuff. No one has ever claimed that this is the case.

However, it is equally cruel to deny an adult the autonomy of his own mind and body on an international scale. Both issues are equally important. But prohibitions also create inequality, injustice, make drugs and neighborhoods more dangerous.

If the U.S. government, with its fat, bloated war budget spanning nearly 80 years under the steel-toed boot of Prohibition, has only succeeded in increasing the distribution of cannabis, making it more potent, and spreading around the world…that speaks for the futility of this action. Damn, it’s straight up “Masterbatory” at this point.

The issue here isn’t that weed is illegal, but that penalties for selling without a license have shifted, encouraging criminals to behave in more “criminal” ways.

I’m sure you’ve seen the videos of the crazy things happening in New York – and while I’m sure this is a microscope over the macrocosm that is the city and state, the fact is that it’s happening . Every New Yorker has a crazy story.

The point here is that it’s true that we need to make sure kids understand the risks associated with cannabis use – especially if they consistently smoke highly potent stuff while still being a bunch of fools who still do not knowing how to use their genitals properly.

We need to get to a point in society where we can clearly distinguish the differences between “adult behavior” and “child behavior”.

The world Kevin dreams of…

Imagine the world of Kevin – a world where everything is “kidproof” and no one is allowed to do anything remotely dangerous or risky.

Everything in Kevin’s world would be censored and sanitized to protect the children. No more alcohol, no more cigarettes, no more fast cars, no more spicy food. All of these things would be banned because “what if a child” got them.

In Kevin’s world we would all be wearing helmets and knee pads and wrapped head to toe in bubble wrap. We would all live in padded cells, with no sharp objects or potentially harmful substances. We would all live in a sterile, safe, and utterly boring world.

But of course that’s not the world we want to live in. We don’t want a world where everything is childproof and nobody is allowed to take risks or make their own decisions. We want a world where we can live our lives as we see fit, without fear of persecution or judgement.

So let’s reject Kevin’s world and embrace a world where we can make our own decisions, take our own risks, and live our lives to the fullest. Let’s reject the notion that everything needs to be censored and sanitized for the good of children and instead focus on providing them with education and guidance so they can make their own choices in the future.

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If you’ve read this far, I haven’t read the whole article because at the end Kevin switches to citing studies that claim cannabis harms children…which may or may not be true because most of these studies never establish a causal relationship prove.

Virtually every study will include the phrase, “More research is needed…” but because of the prohibition machinery, there are an infinite number of these studies, 95% of which are government funded and specifically for “dangers of cannabis”.

So I didn’t want to distract the conversation from the main point I’m making… You can’t blame “legal weed” for the shit that’s happening in the New York market. If it was legal weed, why isn’t it happening everywhere cannabis is legal?

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