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I'm watching Murder Mountain - a heartbreaking story of how law and a bunch of small marijuana farmers - "After 20 years of law enforcement attempting to wipe everybody out, it's really ironic that legalization is able to destroy what criminalization couldn't"

Aella

@Aella_Girl

Dec 21, 2019

Basically, the law imposed such heavy pressures that farmers who happily tried to go legal once marijuana was made legal, ended up going out of business. I can't help but viewing this as a warning parable for legalization of sex work.

Aella

@Aella_Girl

Legalization of marijuana pressed out the little independent guys and placed the power in the hands of the bigger corporations who could handle all the fees and taxes, and ended up incentivizing crime and abuse for the remaining black market workers (hence name Murder Mountain)

8:46 AM · Dec 21, 2019

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If sex work is legalized in the US, will this end up punishing independent workers and putting the power in the hands of Big Brothel? Will this end up only increasing the crime and abuse for those who refuse to take on the heavy mantle of legal requirements?

Aella

@Aella_Girl

Dec 21, 2019

I mean I assume yes, I'm already biased towards yes, but this happening in the marijuana business really accentuates this. Decriminalize, don't legalize!

Replying to

My take is that was 50% of the problem. The other 50% was that their community was loaded with people who not only tolerated but enjoyed being on the wrong side of the law. They didn’t suddenly become bland shopkeepers just because some laws changed.

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The doc i'm watching alludes to this; says that the raids on farms that started up ended up driving all the peaceful people out, leaving the hardened. And then after it got legalized, it made it worse for the remaining who wanted to go legal.

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The black market for weed was already violent and already big business. A lot comes from Mexican drug cartels who reportedly have been hurt by legalization.