I think we have enough data from the legal and grey market cannabis experiments that have been going on for a while now to have something of a basis to to build upon.

Given that data, decriminalization will have to come first in order to build up the entirely absent cohesive institutional knowledge required to make legalization work on a solid and coherent basis. Not only is it politically easier to sell it's also wiser from a healthcare perspective in order for us to really understand what does and doesn't work.

The legalization efforts of Cannabis in Spain & Germany for example are extremely restrictive, but while they're far from ideal they're an excellent safeguard against the excesses we see daily on the r/fakecartriges sub.

Mind altering substances are an absolutely ENORMOUS goldmine for both good and ill, and we need to avoid confusing the fact users aren't evil with the idea that would-be entrepreneurs are going to remain honest without extreme levels of oversight.

This oversight is something that needs to be built gradually and therefore cannot be established from day one with a single legal pen stroke.

It's easy to go BUT ALCOHOL, but unfortunately we DO have a far better handle (heh) on how to navigate the relationship between booze sales, modern advertising and child protection to some degree, whereas the last time even weed was entirely legal even phones were still something of an uncommon item.

So, yes. I think he's got the right of it. Additionally consumption locales and methods likely need to be stringently delineated. I say this too often, but the health externalities of IV use for example are a very strong concern.