I’m not sure to be honest. The overheads for smuggling drugs illicitly must surely be a lot higher than the legalised stuff. The drugs trade waste loads of money laundering and smuggling (paying off security staff, losing stashes that get caught out, moving it around inefficiently to avoid detection etc etc). But I suppose it would depend on the extent that the legal stuff was taxed. If that was too high, then it tips the balance in favour of the illegal stuff. So just a matter of balancing the tax so that it nullifies the incentive to produce and smuggle illegally. Legalisation would be the worst thing for organised crime, which is probably why it’s never seriously debated in parliament…
I do wonder at the rational behind 'celebrating' catching a big drugs haul if it isn't linked to even greater efforts to reduce demand for the product. One of the significant issues with drugs is the crimes committed by users to pay for the product. Supply and demand suggests that if the number of users doesn't decrease, capturing a lot of drugs simply puts the price up, and the users have to commit more crime to make up the difference.
It was already a big hit in Europe, where Paul Anka heard it on holiday in France and wrote new lyrics for Sinatra…
Cannabis is still imported illegally into the USA including states where it is legal because they can undercut the prices and offering higher strengths than the legal stuff. Would be interesting to see crowds at football if you could legally snort cocaine on the concourse.
I think we’re pretty much there with football now to be honest. In the USA, as I understand it, it’s legal in some states and illegal in others, and it’s quite easy to smuggle a cross a state order! We have an advantage as an island to better control trade. We just need to make better use of it. But it’s a demand led business, so the less people consume, the less of a social problem it is.
The second half was not just a complete turnaround, it was a complete volte-face" PAT NEVIN, Radio 5 Live
David Bowie, then little known, was asked by a music publisher to write English lyrics for the song OLM mentions. He wrote a song and recorded a demo but it was never released and he wasn’t happy. Though he said he dashed them melody and phrasing of Life On Mars and what he had come up with.
That awful moment when the train gets to Doncaster & you think only 15/20 min until I get off at York BUT then you remember you are on a slow Hull trains & actual have another 2 hours until I get off….
All is well until you "hang a right" at Doncaster, and have to follow every local service, stopping at every station. There is no fast track for want of a better description. Spend billions so you move between London and Birmingham a few minutes faster, but money to reduce journey times elsewhere cannot be found.