Because the world doesn't want it. The drug addict problem exists by design.
Portugal’s radical drugs policy is working (2017)
71–80 of 252 posts
Re: Portugal’s radical drugs policy is working (2017)
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
Illegal drug use. People use alcohol, caffeine, nicotine all the time but most people don't even view those as "drugs".
The boundary between drugs and non-drugs is murky. Even refined salt, sugar, and flour could be classified as "drugs" -- your brain gets affected by them, potentially permanently, and they are hardly natural -- and even less people consider them as drugs.
Refined salt?
Re: Portugal’s radical drugs policy is working (2017)
#73A lot of this depends on how evenly people suffering are distributed through society.
One reason queer rights caught on so quickly is that LGBTQ people are evenly distributed across racial, ethnic and class boundaries. A rich white kid is exactly as likely to be trans, say, as a poor Brown or Black kid. People suffering from drug addictions in the US are more concentrated among certain communities.
Re: Portugal’s radical drugs policy is working (2017)
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nothing tinfoil hat about it. Drug dealers & cartels are well-known for using force to maintain monopolies.
I’m assuming the parent comment referred to “legal” actors lobbying to keep drugs illegal, as opposed to the cartels themselves. Do you think cartels have an interest in drugs being illegal, and if so could you explain why? I’d expect cartels to welcome the change as they can do away with fighting the law (where they no doubt pour a lot of their resources into) and start operating as legitimate businesses.
Your definitions of cartels & force are different to mine :)
Legitimate opiate producers compete in the same market with illegitimate ones. The force they use is police, dea, etc., instead of guns directly, but the techniques are the same.
After all, a state is what happens when organized crime expands its time horizons.
Re: Portugal’s radical drugs policy is working (2017)
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
For obvious reasons, I think many people would be against the suggestion that if more people were suffering from life-destroying drug addiction, a turning point would be reached and the problem would be solved faster. Surely there is a way to push back the spread of drugs and addiction, without letting it overtake society first.
Democracies often resist legislation that is proactive and instead react to a disaster
Same goes for individuals. How many people wait until they get a heart attack before they change their diet or quit smoking?
Re: Portugal’s radical drugs policy is working (2017)
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
Illegal drug use. People use alcohol, caffeine, nicotine all the time but most people don't even view those as "drugs".
The boundary between drugs and non-drugs is murky. Even refined salt, sugar, and flour could be classified as "drugs" -- your brain gets affected by them, potentially permanently, and they are hardly natural -- and even less people consider them as drugs.
salt, sugar, and flour aren't natural?
Re: Portugal’s radical drugs policy is working (2017)
#77From what I hear (as someone now living in rural Portugal), a turning point came when most of the electorate knew someone suffering from a drug addiction. Be it a family member, partner, or friend - there came a point when the majority of people could not only see the problems caused by the epidemic, but could also empathise with those with addictions. As a result of this understanding/empathy, it was possible to pas…
For obvious reasons, I think many people would be against the suggestion that if more people were suffering from life-destroying drug addiction, a turning point would be reached and the problem would be solved faster. Surely there is a way to push back the spread of drugs and addiction, without letting it overtake society first.
People became more sympathetic to LGBTQ issues when people started coming out of the closet and they learned that their neighbours, cousins, nieces and nephews were being prevented from marrying their loved ones. We didn't need to "turn more people gay" to accomplish this.
Similarly, we need to raise the visibility and openness of dealing with drug addiction, to come out of the closet so to speak, not increase drug addicted people.
Re: Portugal’s radical drugs policy is working (2017)
#78A lot of this depends on how evenly people suffering are distributed through society. One reason queer rights caught on so quickly is that LGBTQ people are evenly distributed across racial, ethnic and class boundaries. A rich white kid is exactly as likely to be trans, say, as a poor Brown or Black kid. People suffering from drug addictions in the US are more concentrated among certain communities.
Do you have a source on racial/class distribution for lgbt? Would be interested to see it
Re: Portugal’s radical drugs policy is working (2017)
#79“The world” is not just US and UK. Here in Switzerland, you can register as e.g. a heroin user, and be provided with cheap Swiss pharmaceutical quality heroin, for the nominal price, in specialized centers for drug users (you obviously can’t take it away, consumption is only allowed on premises — where medical and psychological help is available, and counseling programs for quitting drugs are advertised). The program…
> And yes, marijuana is now fully legalized (up to some percentages of THC) and you can buy it with grocery stores just like cigarettes. Nobody seems to be particularly interested, there were no significant changes in consumption culture, etc. I disagree. I find the inundation of marijuana products in San Francisco pretty shocking and frankly as disagreable as general alcohol ads.
Are you comparing SF to Switzerland?
Re: Portugal’s radical drugs policy is working (2017)
#80The CIA aren't going to give up their lucrative drug business that easily