Donald Trump on Saturday commented about an upcoming vote on a new amendment in Florida, and conservatives are not happy about it. Trump over the weekend took to Truth Social to proclaim himself the "most respected LAW & ORDER President in U.S. History," before going off in an odd direction and ...
  • some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org
    912·
    2 months ago

    “Trump doesn’t understand a Florida Amendment,” she said Saturday. “Study shows crime goes up when marijuana is legal. Can his advisors prep him better, please? Vote NO on 3.”

    This sounds wrong to me. People smoking pot on the sofa eating munchies and watching tv are not out committing crimes.

    David Biddle, chair of the Gilchrist GOP in the state, said on Saturday, “Don’t listen to Trump. Vote NO on Amendment 3. We don’t need recreational marijuana in Florida. It’s been a disaster everywhere they have it, it brings zero benefit to society, it increases crime, increases homelessness, and increases further drug use. It’s bad for Florida.”

    Hmm. Hasn’t been a disaster where I am (California). I think the state makes a lot of money taxing it. But why don’t we ask the internet?

    This frees up significant law enforcement resources to protect our communities in other, more pressing ways.” Government-published data, academic research, and the experiences of many law enforcement officials indicate that marijuana policy reform does not increase crime rates.

    https://www.mpp.org/issues/legalization/marijuana-legalization-is-not-linked-with-increased-crime-rates/

    Results offer some evidence suggesting a beneficial impact of legalization on violent crime clearances, as manifested by significant increases in the clearance rate for overall violent crimes and that for aggravated assault in OR counties relative to those in the non-legalized states following legalization.

    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0047235220302361

    Conservatives are too stupid to actually verify anything their idiot “news” media tells them. They just know that they hate young people and people of color for loud music, getting high, and having a future.

    • thefartographer@lemm.ee
      501·
      2 months ago

      Biddle is actually correct about crime. If you truly believe that black people are criminals and marijuana laws are your shortcut to jail black people who appear threatening, then yeah. Obviously legalizing marijuana will leave more people on the streets who he feels should be labeled as criminals.

      I’d like to say /s, but I’m pretty sure when they say “crime goes up,” they mean “I see more black people looking comfortable wandering around in public.”

    • masterofn001@lemmy.ca
      37·
      2 months ago

      In Canada, where it’s legal throughout the whole damn nation:

      Usage among teens (under 18) has dropped since legalisation.

      There are almost no crimes associated with cannabis use aside from impaired driving.

      (It used to be a cash crop for certain motorcycle enthusiast clubs)

      The government has made billions in tax revenue.

      It employs thousands.

    • just_another_person@lemmy.worldOP
      26·
      2 months ago

      Most of the bullshit talking points out there come from the assholes making money from incarcerations, and GOP psychos have been all up in that forever. I can’t find the quote, but I remember the Senate hearing on Marijuana legalization where one of those southern state senators just straight up said something “Think about all the prisons we’ll have to close.”

    • Boddhisatva@lemmy.world
      15·
      2 months ago

      Conservatives are too stupid to actually verify anything their idiot “news” media tells them.

      It’s not that they’re too stupid. It’s that they are too biased. They don’t want to know the truth. Most of us acquire information and then come to a conclusion about reality. Conservatives, at least the worst of them, come to a conclusion about what they think reality is or should be and then go looking for information to support that conclusion. As long as the data supports their conclusion, it doesn’t matter if the information is wrong once they have it.

      Edit to remove extra word

      • aesthelete@lemmy.world
        5·
        2 months ago

        This is 💯.

        I remember after the 2016 election I was on Reddit saying how every cabinet pick Trump made they’d just research a different argument for why it wasn’t the worst pick ever. When I wrote that they were like, “what else could we do?!”. The idea of a politician picking easily understood and qualified people for cabinet positions didn’t even cross their minds.

    • Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works
      9·
      2 months ago

      Yeah, the crime thing is bullshit. All of their objections are bullshit. Canada is having absolutely zero problems from legalizing weed. It’s been a huge positive here.

    • Jesus@lemmy.world
      101·
      2 months ago

      There is arguably one crime that is an issue with legal dispensaries. Since pot is still illegal federally, dispensaries don’t have access to normal banking, which makes them a cash-heavy business. Which means like other cash-heavy businesses, they’re a prime robbery target.

      But there is great solution to this. Legalize it nationwide and let people pay with credit cards instead of debit or cash. Let them operate like a normal retail business.

    • SendMePhotos@lemmy.world
      11·
      2 months ago

      TO BE FAIR… It fucking sucks when I live in a residential neighborhood and put my kids down for bed at 8pm, and at midnight some asshat drives by with really loud pipes or like 12" doubles in the trunk.