Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Portugal’s radical drug policy is working. Why hasn’t the world copied it?

theguardian.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 545 posts

Re: Portugal’s radical drug policy is working. Why hasn’t the world copied it?

#141

Post by itsybitsyspider »

adventured wrote: post #97
toomanybeersies wrote: post #50

This scenario doesn't just happen with drug policy, but with practically any divisive policy discussion. People will debate something that is done elsewhere, and ignore completely that it's done elsewhere. Gay marriage is a prime example, as it's something that has been legalised in a lot of countries now. Every time a country goes through the process of debating whether to legalise gay marriage, there's a bunch of p…

> Gay marriage is a prime example, as it's something that has been legalised in a lot of countries now. Unfortunately that's an exaggerated claim. The world is still extraordinarily backwards when it comes to gay marriage. 70% of European nations for example don't allow gay marriage. About 90% of the world's population live in a nation where gay marriage is not yet legalized. Only a little over two dozen nations allo…

Sticking to tradition doesn't necessarily mean that those countries are backwards.

Re: Portugal’s radical drug policy is working. Why hasn’t the world copied it?

#142

Post by icebraining »

arcool wrote: post #98

I've visited Lisbon last week. I had at least 15 different guys offering me heroin, cocaine or LSD in various parts of the city. This never happened to me before but I didn't realise it used to be such a big problem. The point is, if someone wants to get drugs, he/she will just get drugs. I think the best prevention is awareness and I think this policy might have gotten them this far but they seem to need a different…

FWIW, most of those are not selling actual drugs; they're just scamming tourists. For example, the hashish they sell is actually a pressed laurel plant. Not only it's much cheaper for them, as they avoid the cops, since it's not a crime to sell laurel even under a false name.

Re: Portugal’s radical drug policy is working. Why hasn’t the world copied it?

#143

Post by devuo »

arcool wrote: post #98

I've visited Lisbon last week. I had at least 15 different guys offering me heroin, cocaine or LSD in various parts of the city. This never happened to me before but I didn't realise it used to be such a big problem. The point is, if someone wants to get drugs, he/she will just get drugs. I think the best prevention is awareness and I think this policy might have gotten them this far but they seem to need a different…

Well... the thing is those guys really only approach foreigners. I am sorry for your experience, but as a nearly 30y old Portuguese who lives and works in Lisbon, I had that only happen to me once, and it was while speaking in English with a visiting friend.

Re: Portugal’s radical drug policy is working. Why hasn’t the world copied it?

#144

Post by mmjaa »

toomanybeersies wrote: post #50

This scenario doesn't just happen with drug policy, but with practically any divisive policy discussion. People will debate something that is done elsewhere, and ignore completely that it's done elsewhere. Gay marriage is a prime example, as it's something that has been legalised in a lot of countries now. Every time a country goes through the process of debating whether to legalise gay marriage, there's a bunch of p…

>Less Handguns, less handgun crime.

(More violent knife crime, though. This goes ignored by the anti-gun nuts.)

Re: Portugal’s radical drug policy is working. Why hasn’t the world copied it?

#145

Post by negativ0 »

mmjaa wrote: post #144
toomanybeersies wrote: post #50

This scenario doesn't just happen with drug policy, but with practically any divisive policy discussion. People will debate something that is done elsewhere, and ignore completely that it's done elsewhere. Gay marriage is a prime example, as it's something that has been legalised in a lot of countries now. Every time a country goes through the process of debating whether to legalise gay marriage, there's a bunch of p…

>Less Handguns, less handgun crime. (More violent knife crime, though. This goes ignored by the anti-gun nuts.)

yeah but you cannot kill 40 people in 20 seconds with a knife... come on guns are just wrong

Re: Portugal’s radical drug policy is working. Why hasn’t the world copied it?

#146

Post by randyrand »

toomanybeersies wrote: post #50

This scenario doesn't just happen with drug policy, but with practically any divisive policy discussion. People will debate something that is done elsewhere, and ignore completely that it's done elsewhere. Gay marriage is a prime example, as it's something that has been legalised in a lot of countries now. Every time a country goes through the process of debating whether to legalise gay marriage, there's a bunch of p…

All the rights you brought up have a strong moral component. Moral questions can't be answered by looking to other countries with different morals.

Re: Portugal’s radical drug policy is working. Why hasn’t the world copied it?

#147

Post by lpa22 »

mmjaa wrote: post #144
toomanybeersies wrote: post #50

This scenario doesn't just happen with drug policy, but with practically any divisive policy discussion. People will debate something that is done elsewhere, and ignore completely that it's done elsewhere. Gay marriage is a prime example, as it's something that has been legalised in a lot of countries now. Every time a country goes through the process of debating whether to legalise gay marriage, there's a bunch of p…

>Less Handguns, less handgun crime. (More violent knife crime, though. This goes ignored by the anti-gun nuts.)

I hope you are either being sarcastic or are you actually equating a knife with an AR-15?

Re: Portugal’s radical drug policy is working. Why hasn’t the world copied it?

#148

Post by adventured »

msg3 wrote: post #130
adventured wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't think a tripling of acid attacks, a 20% increase in violent offenses, a 24% increase in knife attacks, a 42% jump in gun offenses - all in such a short amount of time, amounts to a wave of crime?

No.

Please enlighten as to what would qualify as a wave of crime then, in your opinion.

A 600% increase in acid attacks? A 200% increase in gun offenses? A 70% increase in knife crimes?

Re: Portugal’s radical drug policy is working. Why hasn’t the world copied it?

#149

Post by AstralStorm »

negativ0 wrote: post #145
mmjaa wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Less Handguns, less handgun crime. (More violent knife crime, though. This goes ignored by the anti-gun nuts.)

yeah but you cannot kill 40 people in 20 seconds with a knife... come on guns are just wrong

Cannot easily do that with a handgun either.

Re: Portugal’s radical drug policy is working. Why hasn’t the world copied it?

#150

Post by andrenth »

toomanybeersies wrote: post #50

This scenario doesn't just happen with drug policy, but with practically any divisive policy discussion. People will debate something that is done elsewhere, and ignore completely that it's done elsewhere. Gay marriage is a prime example, as it's something that has been legalised in a lot of countries now. Every time a country goes through the process of debating whether to legalise gay marriage, there's a bunch of p…

> less handguns = less deaths.

This does not follow. Take Brazil for example. 60k homicides per year, and guns are pretty much forbidden.

Of course, criminals don’t seem to care.

Post reply on HN