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Top medical experts say we should decriminalize all drugs (2016)
41–50 of 377 posts
Re: Top medical experts say we should decriminalize all drugs (2016)
#42Some reasons for decriminalization of use and possession, summarized: (i.e., removing criminal penalties or making it no jail time possible, but not government supplied) - War on drugs has failed. Criminalization has consequences on community - in many cases, most of the negative effects come from the criminalization, not the drug. - Consensual crimes that don’t harm others shouldn’t be crimes. - Drug prohibition doe…
Other reasons:
- Prisons are known to make criminals. You don't want to risk converting a non-violent addict into a violent one.
- The psychological effects on the addict's children when visiting them. A rehab home for non-violent addicts is a actually a nice place, in a way that most prisons simply can't be.
- At least in Portugal, prisons are actually not a very difficult place to get a fix. Rehab houses can be, since they're usually much smaller and isolated, not worth the dealer's time.
Re: Top medical experts say we should decriminalize all drugs (2016)
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree, but if someone somehow gets a hold of drugs--and puts it in their body they shouldn't go to jail for that... putting substances in one's own body doesn't necessarily hurt others--unless they become violent as a result - but until they commit some violent crime hopped up on meth -- innocent till guilty of a violent crime. Morality and what not should not be forced on people. And most people with drug dependen…
"drinking & driving doesn't necessarily hurt others--unless there is an accident as a result - but until there is an accident -- innocent till guilty of an accident while influenced." Do you agree also with the statement above? My view is that most of the externalities of drug uses should be managed by taxation, not forbidden. But there are some externalities that require more brutal coercion than just taxation.
This isn't comparable. The odds of hurting someone else when youre driving after drinking are ridiculously high.
If someone is driving after consuming a drug throw the book at them. But if they're just chilling at home that's a completely different matter.
Re: Top medical experts say we should decriminalize all drugs (2016)
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
The main reason we won't get decriminalization is moral panic. :( But if we did... There are still better and worse ways to make drugs available. Same as with alcohol, addicts doing high volume are where the money is -- and it's better to design regimes that prevent commercial actors from abusing vulnerable populations. Mark Kleiman has a lot of great stuff to say on the subject.
How did you discover Kleiman's work? I read his 'Marijuana Legalization' over the weekend, and have previously read his 'Drugs and Drug Policy.'
I heard Kleiman interviewed on some public radio show a decade ago. It was so refreshing to hear a rational, skeptical view in favor of measured legalization, minimizing the potential public health harms yet with a realistic assessment of the economic forces at work... it was one of those "stay in the car and finish the radio show" moments.
Re: Top medical experts say we should decriminalize all drugs (2016)
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
The main reason we won't get decriminalization is moral panic. :( But if we did... There are still better and worse ways to make drugs available. Same as with alcohol, addicts doing high volume are where the money is -- and it's better to design regimes that prevent commercial actors from abusing vulnerable populations. Mark Kleiman has a lot of great stuff to say on the subject.
> and it's better to design regimes that prevent commercial actors from abusing vulnerable populations. Unless we're looking to apply the law inconsistently based on some arbitrary prejudice of "vulnerability", this would seem to be basically what we're already doing. Any decriminalization approach which criminalizes access for addicts almost defeats the purpose according to your own rubric.
Here's a representative Kleiman article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-kleiman/six-undeniable-fa...
The bullet points:
1. Cannabis prohibition is broken and can’t be fixed.
2. Cannabis is an abusable drug, and the rate of
problem use has been soaring for two decades.
3. Legalization on the alcohol model is likely to make
cannabis extremely cheap.
4. Cheap cannabis is a threat to public health.
5. The interests of the industry conflict with the
public interest.
6. There are many alternatives to current laws, and
the differences matter.Re: Top medical experts say we should decriminalize all drugs (2016)
#46Finally. I hope this will signal a turning point on this insane approach to national health in all countries. Drugs are a health problem, not a criminal problem. Lone experts have been fired in western countries when they have expressed this common sense sentiments alone [0]. I hope this groups fares better. Nixon started the war on drugs anyway as a mean to attack left and black activists [1]. Any previous legislati…
Depends on your goal. If it's to reduce mortality, yes, decriminalize is good. But it will increase usage.
Re: Top medical experts say we should decriminalize all drugs (2016)
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
What does this mean? Make all Rx drugs OTC?
I think we leave the Rx system as is, in that we still let pharmacists do their job and protect their mainstream normal patients and give good standard of care, but any party drugs where there is already a clandestine market become OTC. i.e. if you want some weird medicine for some weird thing that no one else wants, you'll have to go through the steps to get a Rx for it. But it won't be hard to get. Because once add…
I just wish we could do away with having to get the prescription in the first place and have the pharmacist be the gatekeeper. You keep a medical history on file so they can quickly figure out if the medication you want is likely to cause complications. Then I don't have to leave work and meet with my doctor every few weeks/months to get another prescription which I then have to take to the drug store and wait to get filled.
Re: Top medical experts say we should decriminalize all drugs (2016)
#48Finally. I hope this will signal a turning point on this insane approach to national health in all countries. Drugs are a health problem, not a criminal problem. Lone experts have been fired in western countries when they have expressed this common sense sentiments alone [0]. I hope this groups fares better. Nixon started the war on drugs anyway as a mean to attack left and black activists [1]. Any previous legislati…
Depends on your goal. If it's to reduce mortality, yes, decriminalize is good. But it will increase usage.
>But it will increase usage.
Not necessarily. When people really want something they will eventually find a way to get it anyway, it's not because you criminalize it that its usage drops. Just like IP infringement has not significantly dropped since they can put people in jail for it.
Re: Top medical experts say we should decriminalize all drugs (2016)
#49As Chomsky said, the way to deal with drug abuse is through education and treatment. That’s how we successfully reduced smoking, drinking coffee and other unhealthy habits in the USA. Not by throwing people in jail.
Drinking coffee is unhealthy? You sure about that? > Studies have shown that coffee may have health benefits, including protecting against Parkinson's disease, type 2 diabetes and liver disease, including liver cancer. Coffee also appears to improve cognitive function and decrease the risk of depression. http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-he...
The high caffeine intake is still quite bad for your heart. And it's bad for your teeth. Just googling shows that the scientific results have been quite mixed. By that I mean that scientists have found some positive correlations, and some negative ones.
From my layman's perspective, I would think a doctor would say there isn't a consensus on whether coffee is holistically healthy. In other words, it's good for some things, bad for others.
Re: Top medical experts say we should decriminalize all drugs (2016)
#50Some reasons for decriminalization of use and possession, summarized: (i.e., removing criminal penalties or making it no jail time possible, but not government supplied) - War on drugs has failed. Criminalization has consequences on community - in many cases, most of the negative effects come from the criminalization, not the drug. - Consensual crimes that don’t harm others shouldn’t be crimes. - Drug prohibition doe…
Other reasons: - Prisons are known to make criminals. You don't want to risk converting a non-violent addict into a violent one. - The psychological effects on the addict's children when visiting them. A rehab home for non-violent addicts is a actually a nice place, in a way that most prisons simply can't be. - At least in Portugal, prisons are actually not a very difficult place to get a fix. Rehab houses can be, si…
- drug cartels run dry if you can just farm and distribute narcotics through regular, taxed sales channels, just like alcohol.