When I was a much-younger man, the John Birch Society folks (in the world I was growing-up in,1960s western Pennsylvania) pretty-much saw everything as a communist plot to destroy this country. "Sex, Drugs & Rock & Roll" were their primary complaints about popular culture and, as a young man of-course, I thought (then) that they were nothing but total-weirdos who were determined to stop any and all of my adolescent "fun". From where I sit now, however, I'm beginning to think that they might have been onto something. Legalising pot here has had devastating effects on several aspects of life in Colorado (downtown Denver is almost unrecognisable to me now, and I worked downtown for almost all of my professional life). Crime, homelessness, urban-decay and businesses fleeing the city, illegal immigration, etc. are all problems that can arguably be laid at the feet of that one questionable decision. Large demographic shifts are a big part of that problem as well, and like all complex issues, it's very hard to identify a starting point. But, I'm now thinking that the pot legalization really got things rolling here.

Last edited by Lloyd3; 02/17/24 08:02 PM.