It's great that they lowered their overdose percentage, but it's curious that they don't enumerate their actual addiction numbers. Again, it's great that they are getting people treatment instead of jail, but what is their overall addiction rate, and what's their success rate in getting people clean?
14 Years After Decriminalizing Drugs, Portugal’s Bold Risk Paid Off
121–130 of 134 posts
Re: 14 Years After Decriminalizing Drugs, Portugal’s Bold Risk Paid Off
#122Why would decriminalizing suddenly make people less likely to OD? The people that OD are often people that were users, have quit, but started using again but retake the drugs at their previous amounts without accounting for their loss in tolerance.
Re: 14 Years After Decriminalizing Drugs, Portugal’s Bold Risk Paid Off
#123Find it misleading that almost all of the recent articles on this subject talk about decriminalization as the cause for the drop in drug related health issues. They shifted a significant chunk of money to health services. If it proves anything, it is only that health services can reduce drug related health issues. Without a control, there is nothing to point to regarding criminalization vs decriminalization. People a…
There's a bill in California to de-criminalize drugs (AB 186) -- provided you use them in purpose built medical facility. Right now no serious (i.e. elected) politicians are discussing a totally deregulated drug market as far as I know.
Re: 14 Years After Decriminalizing Drugs, Portugal’s Bold Risk Paid Off
#124Earlier quoted context omitted.
How? It's entirely possible to decriminalize and simply move law enforcement monies to other efforts, leaving nothing for health services.
It's technically possible yes, but decriminalization is generally proposed as a component of a larger strategy called "treating addiction as a health issue rather than a criminal one".
Your belief in functional, rational government is encouraging.
Re: 14 Years After Decriminalizing Drugs, Portugal’s Bold Risk Paid Off
#125Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's technically possible yes, but decriminalization is generally proposed as a component of a larger strategy called "treating addiction as a health issue rather than a criminal one".
Your belief in functional, rational government is encouraging.
I think it's possible, although sometimes it doesn't feel so. :)
Re: 14 Years After Decriminalizing Drugs, Portugal’s Bold Risk Paid Off
#126Is this a correct summary?
USA
150 deaths/million/year
Portugal
3 deaths/million/year
Re: 14 Years After Decriminalizing Drugs, Portugal’s Bold Risk Paid Off
#127Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most importantly following the same reasoning so popular here we could argue that no one is a criminal, if anyone commits some crimes it is because of the social environment in which he was raised, or because of some mental health issues, or whatever excuse you want to find. In these years we are assisting to a de-responsibilization in which every one is excused for any behaviour. Pointing out like you that a lot of…
The problem with this is it doesn't match reality in many cases; people prescribed large doses of painkillers or drinking a bit more during a stressful life event are triggers for addiction. Those changes in behavior cause long term biological changes that can make people sick, and then their behavior changes. There is often no clear turning point like a decision to rob a bank. It really is a different kind of "crime…
So what about the people for which this matches reality?
Do you believe that they exists or not?
Re: 14 Years After Decriminalizing Drugs, Portugal’s Bold Risk Paid Off
#128Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm Portuguese and I grew up watching the heroin epidemic we had in Portugal. It was horrible, like the article mentions 1% of the population was addicted to heroin. Curiously I now live in Sweden, but I lived in Portugal for the first 11 years of the decriminalization. And the solution actually started years before, in the early 90s. It's a bit like you said, it was an huge investment in public health - the first su…
It's peculiar how reports of sensible policy make me feel Portugal is adorned in rubies and roses. Here in the UK the Home Office recently said they have no plans to look at even the classification of cannabis. Despite most local police forces not bothering with anything but factories, a majority of population supporting legalisation/decriminalisation, and global trends. We are comparatively medieval but for a few sm…
I blame Calvinism
If you blame Calvinism for either medievalism or postmodern bureaucracy, let alone the drug war, I suggest you don't know what Calvinism is. I'm for drug legalisation, but if you want the UK to adopt the policies of Portugal (or something similar) it will not help to blame the problem on the wrong people. You ought to be directing your anger at the social planners and the nanny state. That group, I can assure you, is very decidedly anti-Calvinist in nature.
Re: 14 Years After Decriminalizing Drugs, Portugal’s Bold Risk Paid Off
#129Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem with this is it doesn't match reality in many cases; people prescribed large doses of painkillers or drinking a bit more during a stressful life event are triggers for addiction. Those changes in behavior cause long term biological changes that can make people sick, and then their behavior changes. There is often no clear turning point like a decision to rob a bank. It really is a different kind of "crime…
So what about the people for which this matches reality? Do you believe that they exists or not?
I'm sure they do, but given a) the current approach isn't working well for anyone and b) this approach of decriminalization is working for some, I'm not sure it matters to me if some irresponsible people are spared the punishment they deserve for being irresponsible if we can stop punishing the undeserving.
And who knows, maybe the willfully irresponsible will also be helped by this approach, and the state will be saved the greater expense of imprisioning then.
Re: 14 Years After Decriminalizing Drugs, Portugal’s Bold Risk Paid Off
#130Find it misleading that almost all of the recent articles on this subject talk about decriminalization as the cause for the drop in drug related health issues. They shifted a significant chunk of money to health services. If it proves anything, it is only that health services can reduce drug related health issues. Without a control, there is nothing to point to regarding criminalization vs decriminalization. People a…
> decriminalization
Criminalization means, they send the police to address the issue.
De-criminalizaton means, they no longer send the police to address the issue.
This isn't hand-waving, the term really means what has happened: since people are no longer treated as criminals, humanity has been added to the mix - and, appears to be helping solve the problem.
I think you maybe just don't understand the term. Yes, in fact, de-criminalization is the key issue: patients, not criminals.