This is basically a reply I made to a comment on an article posted by MrSpof: http://tinyurl.com/neab8v

I was replying to the claim that “establishing a legal marijuana supply will substantially increase use”. I disagree. The person I was replying to had claimed that demand for personal computers and iPods did not exist until after they were invented and put on the market…

Before the invention of personal computers there most certainly *did* exist a demand for a personal computing and communications device that allowed people to easily access news articles and debate issues. To fill this demand people turned to what was available – newspapers, writing letters to editors, talk radio etc.

And if you look at what people did before iPods were invented you’ll see that demand for a mobile personal entertainment device able to hold thousands of songs and allow users to easily navigate through those songs *did* already exist. That’s why iPods sold so well when they were invented.

Just because a product hasn’t been invented doesn’t mean that demand for it doesn’t already exist. Good marketers are able to identify this pre-existing demand and create suitable products to fill it.

And regarding your cigarette example, I hope you don’t seriously believe that prohibiting cigarettes would eliminate their supply. If that were an accurate assumption then after *seventy years* of marijuana prohibition we’d have NO marijuana left in our country at all. ZERO supply would equal ZERO demand, right? But we *don’t* see zero demand for marijuana – kids, adults, medical patients, spiritual people, doctors, lawyers, students and politicians all seek out marijuana in order to meet a need in their life. Making a product illegal doesn’t make the demand for it go away, all it does is divert it to alternative products and illegal suppliers. Demand drives supply.

Demand for a safe, mild intoxicant has always existed in people. Look back in history as far as you want and you’ll always find evidence of this demand. In fact take a look at wild animals and you’ll find evidence of this demand there too. Caribou, cats, insects and birds all go out of their way to take substances that allow them to put aside reality for a time and let them experience altered states of consciousness.

Demand drives supply. Demand for marijuana will ALWAYS exist in our society. We can either allow marijuana to be legally produced and sold to adults or we can do nothing to fill this demand and watch as drug dealers move into our neighborhoods selling to children and protecting their interests with violence. Your support for the prohibition puts non-drug using families in danger!

[There is also the concept espoused by Ryan Grim in his new book that says a demand for consciousness-altering is a constant, though the choice of drugs to achieve that is modified by prohibitions.  It's possible that legalized marijuana may see an increase in use, some people too timid to break the law trying it for the first time and those of us who use it already but often go without because of "dry spells" being able to have a more reliable supply.  However, if the constant demand theory is correct, increased marijuana use may lead to a decrease in the use of alcohol and other hard drugs.  More pot smoking may end up being better for the country and its people in the long term. -- "R"R]

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