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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
And making them legal decreases the threat they are to public safety because it means that people with addictions get help instead of arrested. The place that drug use is the worst is in prisons. Making it illegal doesn't fix the issue. Treating it as a medical and social problem does.
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. DickPortugal's drug policy has a mixed record, but here are the facts:
- Drug use among adolescents (13-15 yrs) and "problematic" users declined.
- Reported lifetime use of "all illicit drugs" increased from 7.8% to 12%, use of cannabis increased from 7.6% to 11.7%, cocaine use more than doubled, from 0.9% to 1.9%, ecstasy nearly doubled from 0.7% to 1.3%, and heroin increased from 0.7% to 1.1%
- Reduction in drug related deaths, although this reduction has decreased in later years, and the number of drug related deaths is now almost on the same level as before the Drug strategy was implemented
- Reduction in HIV diagnoses amongst drug users by 17%
To me, this all makes sense.
edited 11th Dec '12 8:37:59 PM by DeviantBraeburn
Everything is Possible. But some things are more Probable than others. JEBAGEDDON 2016![]()
What are those use percentages measuring, exactly?
And that last one is a good point that is worth keeping in mind.
edited 11th Dec '12 8:32:51 PM by OhnoaBear
"The marvel is not that the Bear posts well, but that the Bear posts at all."![]()
I think that if someone is selling something that kills people they should be the ones arrested, not the drug users. But use the same sort of common sense laws on it that they use for the FDA on prescription drugs. Don't criminalize the use. Prisons and criminalizing drug use do nothing for the problem. What they really need is treatment. Not prison.
We honestly have bigger issues with people abusing prescription drugs than illegal ones. We need better social care for drug issues. This is a job for hospitals and therapists. Not police.
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. DickWal-Mart CEO says 'fiscal cliff' affects U.S. shoppers
I agree with this. I've seen what the really heavy stuff can do to people and it is terrifying. We should not allow it to be legally sold and advertised.
edited 11th Dec '12 8:43:02 PM by DeviantBraeburn
Everything is Possible. But some things are more Probable than others. JEBAGEDDON 2016I believe that they should be legal but regulated. Anyone who commits crimes while high should be sent to treatment. Anyone who isn't hurting anyone and just making an ass out of themselves should get a fine and mandatory therapy. But it shouldn't be illegal.
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. DickActually, the banning of certain weapons is equally ridiculous and also does nothing to stop crime.
What does stop crime is increased gun safety regulation, increased treatment for mental illness, and better screening of potential gun purchasers for histories of violence and mental illness.
In both cases people are guilty of demonizing the object when what is really needed is a better social safety net and saner laws that actually help people instead of indiscriminately banning things.
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick
Looks it's very likely the legalization of a drug means it will become more widely used. I don't want the real heavy stuff in use. It does the most f*cked up things to people.
If down side is that I'm screwing over the few who currently use it illegally, than I can live with that.
Although I agree with you on Gun Control.
edited 11th Dec '12 9:07:59 PM by DeviantBraeburn
Everything is Possible. But some things are more Probable than others. JEBAGEDDON 2016Just a little protip: most people, myself included, don't care for murderers any more than you do, regardless of where they stand on the death penalty. This is about legal ethics, not feelings.
Anyways, I pretty much agree that drugs need to be treated as more of a social problem than anything else.
Yeah, the problem with legalizing something is that legitimizing the practice does swell the market. Unless the product is incredibly cheap to produce and not regulated or taxed to any cumbersome degree, the black market can easily undercut those costs and will grow instead of shrinking.
We do need to start replacing blindly punitive measures with rehab and detox, but legalizing drugs all over the place isn't such a hot idea IMO.
edited 11th Dec '12 9:46:19 PM by Pykrete
Legalizing most drugs would remove most of the 'mystique' from them, but drugs like Crystal Meth should stay banned. Basically, if it can kill you during production even if you're doing everything right, stands a chance of randomly exploding and can kill you without warning, it shouldn't be available to anyone. Bath Salts to, although that's more because it doesn't seem to have an upside to its use.
People use methamphetamine because it's stronger than cocaine. If we're going by terms of how much it'll get you high, then methamphetamine is considered one of the "better" ones.
Meth faces the same sort of dichotomy that cocaine does - "speed", the pill form, is the one that rich and middle-class people take. It's very expensive. "Crystal" - the smokeable form, is the cheap inexpensive one for poor trailer trash.
The issue is that meth is cheap and, to drug addicts, is very, very nice.
edited 12th Dec '12 8:28:05 AM by Completion

It's been the best thing Portugal has ever done.
Portugal's case study is of some interest to lawmakers in the U.S., confronted now with the violent overflow of escalating drug gang wars in Mexico. The U.S. has long championed a hard-line drug policy, supporting only international agreements that enforce drug prohibition and imposing on its citizens some of the world's harshest penalties for drug possession and sales. Yet America has the highest rates of cocaine and marijuana use in the world, and while most of the E.U. (including Holland) has more liberal drug laws than the U.S., it also has less drug use.
edited 11th Dec '12 8:27:18 PM by shimaspawn
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick