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

theguardian.com

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

#511

Post by bonestamp2 »

danmaz74 wrote: post #246
bonestamp2 wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We should never downvote a comment just because we disagree with it. We should only downvote comments that don't contribute to the discussion. If someone is blatantly wrong, their information could be a common misconception that needs to be addressed and seen by everyone. Comments we disagree with are most often very good additions to the discussion and should be upvoted, even if they're factually inaccurate but ther…

I used to think like you, but I had to change my mind many years ago. There are opinions you don't agree with - and those shouldn't be downvoted - and there are blatant lies or idiocies at the "the World is flat" level, often put forward by trolls. Arguing with those is a total waste of time, and one reason why HN is so good is that they get downvoted to oblivion in no time.

I agree with you. I think "the world is flat" fits into my second sentence... do downvote things that don't contribute to the conversation.

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

#512

Post by belorn »

andrewG2 wrote: post #498
belorn wrote: post #380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> amok runs with guns This is the problem when discussing political issues like gun control. Gun related crimes has shown correlation with gun ownership laws. Gun accidents is naturally correlated to gun ownership. Mass public shootings however do not when adjusted for the population, but it draws so much political attention so it always get put into the discussion regardless if it match the data. Gun accidents is al…

If you refer to statistics, and there is official international statistics on that matter, please provide reference. So far I never see any evidence for your point of view. You refer to it like commonly "known" fact, but it is not.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/jun/...

It should also be noted that the data set they used only include mass killing with guns, and not mass stabbings. Those also happens, including here in Sweden a year ago at a school. But if you don't like that data then bring more and we can discuss.

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/Firearm.htm

Two things pops out. First that the variance is massive within the united states. The second part is that 63 percent were suicides. It is very doubtful that a single correlating factor accounts for the variance.

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

#513

Post by handbanana »

IgorPartola wrote: post #392
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…

I don’t know. Republicans had warned us that legalizing gay marriage would lead to widespread acceptance of pedophiles. And look now only a couple of years later the Republicans are fully supporting an alleged pedophile who is running for Senate. If you read that as more of a threat than a warning it all makes sense :)

I'd very much like to see references or supporting data for your claim that republicans warned of the "widespread acceptance of pedophiles" if gay marriage was legalized. Being genuinely curious + serious here

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

#514

Post by 1475315963 »

joshuaheard wrote: post #468
IgorPartola wrote: post #392

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know. Republicans had warned us that legalizing gay marriage would lead to widespread acceptance of pedophiles. And look now only a couple of years later the Republicans are fully supporting an alleged pedophile who is running for Senate. If you read that as more of a threat than a warning it all makes sense :)

Pedophilia is an attraction to pre-pubescent girls, under the age of 13. Judge Moore is accused of relations with women ages 16 to 22, with one girl 14 years old. The age of consent to sex in Alabama is 16. Thus, Judge Moore is not a pedophile. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Moore_sexual_abuse_allegat...

The correct word is ephebophile in most cases, or a hebephile in the case of the 14 year old. Although, there's no reason to get caught up in silly semantics when one accuser was 14.

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

#515

Post by CompanionCuuube »

grasshopperpurp wrote: post #433
Helmet wrote: post #428

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both the Russians and Chinese had big civil wars in which the governments you mention eventually came into power. The question of armed resistance isn’t a hypothetical. It was tried and it failed. This has nothing to do with my point, or if it does, it certainly isn't clearly elucidated. As far as I'm aware, there is no strong history of armed resistance from either of the groups that I mentioned. And I'll leave you…

>Which is why we have guns. If you try to take my gun by force, I will shoot you. So, just to be clear, if the government outlaws your guns, when they come for them, you're going out shooting?

Why is that the question? Gun control people always try to propose the hypothetical as a "voluntary buyback" rather than jackboots kicking doors down.

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

#516

Post by greglindahl »

owebmaster wrote: post #486
Nursie wrote: post #330

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really not, it's just like marriage involving people of the same gender. There's no practical difference. Marriage has meant all sorts of things over the ages in various cultures.

> There's no practical difference. There're a lot of practial differences and I can give you some: - male/female couples might have offsprings - Children change the amount of resources consumed and available - States need to plan based on these numbers and their variation - Married couples behave differently than single male and females both short and long-term which also affect governmental planning. So there are a…

Gay couples can't have offspring?! Lots of them do, actually.

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

#517

Post by sctb »

VeronicaJJ123 wrote: post #381
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…

Would also like to point out "more muslims = more terrorist attacks". But it would be begotry to ban immigration of Muslims and wont work in most western countries though it has worked real well in Japan and China.

This is an uncivil and unsubstantive comment. We said we would ban you if you posted like this again, so we have.

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

#518

Post by krapp »

alkonaut wrote: post #209
ohfunkyeah wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah! you've hit the nail on the head why the pro gun people are so adamant about not giving an inch to any sort of increased regulations. Most on the pro gun regulation left do not seem to be able to even fathom why closing the gun show loophole is a non-starter or how there can be push-back against banning guns for people on the terrorist watch list. It's because either are effectively turning the burner on very very…

Exactly. And people advocating stricter gun laws can't afford NOT be open about this. "We don't want to take your guns, we want to change attitudes so your grandchildren won't wan't to own guns, and most importantly won't feel the need to own guns". That said - gun show loophole is just that - a loophole. Should be fixed. I think those who want to keep responsible gun ownership also need to realize they have a lot to…

>Exactly. And people advocating stricter gun laws can't afford NOT be open about this.

People advocating stricter gun laws have been open about their intentions - it's obvious that such people just want to live in a safer society. Gun advocates just assume they're liars and really just want to come for their guns.

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

#519

Post by madeofpalk »

joshuaheard wrote: post #468
IgorPartola wrote: post #392

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know. Republicans had warned us that legalizing gay marriage would lead to widespread acceptance of pedophiles. And look now only a couple of years later the Republicans are fully supporting an alleged pedophile who is running for Senate. If you read that as more of a threat than a warning it all makes sense :)

Pedophilia is an attraction to pre-pubescent girls, under the age of 13. Judge Moore is accused of relations with women ages 16 to 22, with one girl 14 years old. The age of consent to sex in Alabama is 16. Thus, Judge Moore is not a pedophile. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Moore_sexual_abuse_allegat...

Seems like a weird time he get hung up on semantic.

"No, he's not a pedaphile, he's a just sex offender"

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

#520

Post by log_base_login »

knowaveragejoe wrote: post #31
log_base_login wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure why you have to point at the members of the Christian religion as the culprit, when there are people of similarly zealous ilk in each and every religion besides Christianity. Certainly, Christianity has the majority stake of religion in the Western world, but this question is a global one, and I don't remember the last time a person was summarily executed for dealing drugs in a Christian country like one mig…

> I don't remember the last time a person was summarily executed for dealing drugs in a Christian country like one might find in Singapore, or their head cut off like one might find in certain Middle Eastern countries, or (again) killed, in certain African countries. This is precisely what's happening in the Philippines, a predominantly Christian nation, and very devoutly so.

Fair point, I didn't realize that the Philippines were predominantly Christian.

I really didn't want to go about defending Christianity necessarily, though I realize that is how the beginning of my comment turned out, but rather point to how we shouldn't generalize the problem into a certain religion being responsible for problem.

Thanks for helping me understand the punitive issue in more detail.

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