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Pointers from Portugal on Addiction and the Drug War

nytimes.com

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Re: Pointers from Portugal on Addiction and the Drug War

#11

Post by bismuthsalt »

To note, in 2001 Portugal has decriminalized possession of small quantities of drugs, for first time offenders. Drug trafficking is still just as illegal as ever. There are no cannabis shops or pervasive cannabis advertisement, as opposed to US liberal states, for example CO or WA.

> But Portugal’s experience is often misunderstood. Although it decriminalized the use of all illicit drugs in small amounts in 2001, including heroin and cocaine, that’s different from making them legal. And it did not decriminalize drug trafficking, which would typically involve larger quantities.

> Portugal’s law removed incarceration, but people caught possessing or using illicit drugs may be penalized by regional panels made up of social workers, medical professionals and drug experts. The panels can refer people to drug treatment programs, hand out fines or impose community service.

> A lot of the benefits over the years from Portugal’s policy shift have come not from decriminalization per se, but in the expansion of substance-use disorder treatment. Such a move might bring the most tangible benefit to the United States.

Re: Pointers from Portugal on Addiction and the Drug War

#12

Post by ttul »

edogg wrote: post #9
ttul wrote: post #8

British Columbia’s medical health officer recently gave nurses the ability to prescribe opioid replacement drugs to improve the supply. Many more people are dying from toxic street drugs than are dying from COVID-19. It’s a “shadow pandemic” that has been raging for decades and is only getting worse as border closures make it harder for gangs to move drugs like heroin and fentanyl across borders, leading to shortages…

do you think some pay back from China for the opium wars is part of the dynamic?

That’s going back a ways...

Re: Pointers from Portugal on Addiction and the Drug War

#13

Post by edogg »

ttul wrote: post #12
edogg wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

do you think some pay back from China for the opium wars is part of the dynamic?

That’s going back a ways...

To the century of humiliation starting in 1839 with the opium war [1]. I’m told saving face is very important in Chinese culture. I could see it being quite easy for people in China whose job it might be to prevent the export of fentanyl or fentanyl precursors to only do the minimum to keep up appearances. not nearly as blatant as the British but were but we aren’t getting any help from China in preventing the deadly drugs from being shipped here. It would be better if they would just send actual heroin instead of having casual mdma and cocaine users dying from fentanyl.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_of_humiliation

Re: Pointers from Portugal on Addiction and the Drug War

#14

Post by mkatx »

ttul wrote: post #8

British Columbia’s medical health officer recently gave nurses the ability to prescribe opioid replacement drugs to improve the supply. Many more people are dying from toxic street drugs than are dying from COVID-19. It’s a “shadow pandemic” that has been raging for decades and is only getting worse as border closures make it harder for gangs to move drugs like heroin and fentanyl across borders, leading to shortages…

> Many more people are dying from toxic street drugs than are dying from COVID-19. It’s a “shadow pandemic”

In America, the worse year of the opioid crisis killed ~65k people from my recollection. The "real pandemic" killed that many americans in the past 2 months. Am I misunderstanding something?

Edit: I cannot spell.

Re: Pointers from Portugal on Addiction and the Drug War

#15

Post by justinclift »

yborg wrote: post #7
opiate_recovery wrote: post #2

This is the key from my perspective: "Moreover, as of 2008, three-quarters of those with opioid use disorder were receiving medication-assisted treatment. Though that’s considered the best approach, less than half of Americans who could benefit from medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction receive it." Buprenorphine has saved my life and I wish everyone could have access to it and that it would be provided…

The current system in the US is a virtuous cycle - companies like Purdue make tens of billions creating a huge population of addicts, and then the resulting crime justifies the expansion of heavily militarized police to wage war "on drugs", which then can funnel the losers of the battle into a for-profit prison system. Imagine the profit potential of a nation of 150 million junkies. Actually solving the problem costs…

> virtuous cycle

That example would probably be called a vicious cycle, rather than a virtuous one. ;)

Re: Pointers from Portugal on Addiction and the Drug War

#16

Post by Synaesthesia »

There was a RAND study many years ago which showed that, from a pure cost benefit point of view, the best way to deal with drugs is through education and treatment, not policing and punishment.

Eg Americans today smoke a lot less tobacco and drink less coffee too. Education works!

Re: Pointers from Portugal on Addiction and the Drug War

#17

Post by tacocataco »

opiate_recovery wrote: post #2

This is the key from my perspective: "Moreover, as of 2008, three-quarters of those with opioid use disorder were receiving medication-assisted treatment. Though that’s considered the best approach, less than half of Americans who could benefit from medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction receive it." Buprenorphine has saved my life and I wish everyone could have access to it and that it would be provided…

The purpose of the drug war isn't to prevent drug use or help people quit drugs.

Re: Pointers from Portugal on Addiction and the Drug War

#19

Post by m463 »

Synaesthesia wrote: post #16

There was a RAND study many years ago which showed that, from a pure cost benefit point of view, the best way to deal with drugs is through education and treatment, not policing and punishment. Eg Americans today smoke a lot less tobacco and drink less coffee too. Education works!

(it has all switched to sugar/processed carbs!)

Re: Pointers from Portugal on Addiction and the Drug War

#20

Post by ChuckNorris89 »

Synaesthesia wrote: post #16

There was a RAND study many years ago which showed that, from a pure cost benefit point of view, the best way to deal with drugs is through education and treatment, not policing and punishment. Eg Americans today smoke a lot less tobacco and drink less coffee too. Education works!

By contrast some European countries, like Austria, drink a lot of coffee and smoke a lot of tobacco(they just banned indoor smoking last year).

National culture plays a huge role in what vices people take on.

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