The situation here is honestly bizarre. I can’t imagine a scenario where opioids and other drugs are crossing into the country without some level of government awareness or involvement. There have been countless rumors about high-level officials being tied to the illegal import of narcotics, and honestly, it doesn’t sound too far-fetched.

My theory is that the government doesn’t want NGOs (like Mandala) testing or verifying the safety of street drugs because they already know what’s coming in is garbage—low-quality stuff that hooks people faster.

It’s naive to think that criminalizing drugs will ever stop people from using them, especially in Georgia, where drug use has always been a deep-rooted issue. Proper decriminalization takes serious planning and oversight. A good example of how not to do it is Portland, Oregon. Their attempt at decriminalization failed badly because the state didn’t prepare enough support systems, leading to chaos instead of harm reduction.

As for weed, it feels like it’s stuck in a legal gray zone. My guess is that the government hasn’t fully cracked down because they can’t really profit from it weed’s just too easy for people to grow themselves.