91–100 of 545 posts
It's much easier to double down on it.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
And plenty of countries without private prisons or large alcohol & tobacco companies or "slave labor" treat drugs way worse than the US. My point isn't that "countries all treat things exactly the same". My point is that the OP's alleged reasons don't really hold up once you abandon a myopic US-centric view and actually look at other countries.
With the exception of the ones with insane politics involving execution, dictatorships or the ones that have a harsh posture because of religious motives, I can't find a single one that has a war on drugs at the same level as the United States, can you point me to some sources about democratic countries that are worse than the United States on this specific point?
But to your question, I would note that drug laws in Japan and South Korea are among the harshest in the world.
Much of the world might copy it. It's not going to get copied overnight, that's not how big change occurs in a culture. Portugal was culturally ready for it. Things like this always start very slowly and then gain momentum.
The US might even copy it given enough time, it will probably take two decades though. The US notoriously tends to slowly get around to things (although it did legalize gay marriage before ~96% of the rest of the planet). It goes back to the old joke about the US trying everything else first before finally doing the right thing, it's a partially accurate assessment of US history.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
And plenty of countries without private prisons or large alcohol & tobacco companies or "slave labor" treat drugs way worse than the US. My point isn't that "countries all treat things exactly the same". My point is that the OP's alleged reasons don't really hold up once you abandon a myopic US-centric view and actually look at other countries.
With the exception of the ones with insane politics involving execution, dictatorships or the ones that have a harsh posture because of religious motives, I can't find a single one that has a war on drugs at the same level as the United States, can you point me to some sources about democratic countries that are worse than the United States on this specific point?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That wasn't the question, though. Why has no other country copied it—for example, a social-welfare state like Sweden, or a technocracy like Singapore?
In Sweden’s case it’s because we - as a nation - view non state sanctioned drug use in any form as a moral failing, rather than medical one. Lethality among heavy drug users is really high compared to Central European countries, and politicians think that’s fine as long as the stats for how many people have used drugs in any capacity look good.
>Portugal’s remarkable recovery, and the fact that it has held steady through several changes in government – including conservative leaders who would have preferred to return to the US-style war on drugs – could not have happened without an enormous cultural shift, and a change in how the country viewed drugs, addiction – and itself. In many ways, the law was merely a reflection of transformations that were already…
The US has a higher percentage of its citizens than almost any other country, and the majority are in for non violent drug related offenses.
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…
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 allow it, out of ~195.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The fact that things work differently outside of the US yet most foreign countries still haven't adopted it suggests that none of your purported reasons are the primary cause. They almost certainly are tiny things with very small marginal contributions when countries as varied as Russia, Australia, Sweden, Poland, Singapore, and Switzerland -- who don't have of the factors you mention -- also have failed to follow Po…
Many of those countries don't treat drugs anywhere near like the way the US does. Switzerland in fact has a system very similar to what is described in this article. Methadone (and even in some cases heroin) is readily dispensed to those in need. You aren't going to end up with a 10 year sentence for possessing hard drugs, you'll be helped.
The conditions to enter those programs are rather strict. Depending on age, attempts to kick the habit and other factors.
That said. I'd say that the program is very successful for two main reasons:
It massively raises the health of the addicts and lets them actually conduct a normal life despite being addicted.
It also totally changed the image of the drug from something around hero mystique (as it had in the 80s and partially 90s) to a total loser drug. While there certainly still is a problem for a lot of addicts uptake has seriously declined.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That doesn't explain the rest of the world.
The US uses a couple tools to make US drug policy essentially world drug policy. Mainly trade agreements, military agreements(weapon sales and defense agreements), and economic aid. We attach riders to these agreements which make adoption of US drug law a condition of the deal. This is in first world countries. In the second and third world countries (the middle east and south america, and to a lesser but not negligi…