Is There a Case for Legalizing Heroin?
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Is There a Case for Legalizing Heroin?
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Re: Is There a Case for Legalizing Heroin?
#2Is there a case for RE legalising heroin: my aunt was one of a small number of GPs in London licenced to prescribe heroin to addicts in the sixties and seventies as part of a treatment programme.
Re: Is There a Case for Legalizing Heroin?
#3Is there a case for RE legalising heroin: my aunt was one of a small number of GPs in London licenced to prescribe heroin to addicts in the sixties and seventies as part of a treatment programme.
Switzerland has had programs giving methadone and heroin to addicts for more than 20 years now. They've been a success; heroin use has plummeted since it's peak in the 90s.
One reason for the success is that giving out free product kills the local market; many users finance their use by selling to and actively recruiting new users.
Re: Is There a Case for Legalizing Heroin?
#4Several cases most likely.
If they could make it actually go away by banning it those cases become much weaker, but so far that hasn't worked out.
Re: Is There a Case for Legalizing Heroin?
#5The only arguments against legalizing heroin are paternalistic - not trusting people to be responsible. In a bygone era I was prescribed Percocet for a dental procedure, which I have been told is an extremely strong opioid, and I did not like the numb feeling and eventually threw them away. So I have 100% proof that not everyone who takes opioids gets addicted and winds up in the gutter.
The absolute truth is that drug use is a victimless crime and banning it doesn’t make it go away. I would argue the death of legendary actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was a direct result of this - he purchased heroin off the black market, was an experienced heroin user, but the potency of the drug is unpredictable and he accidentally overdosed https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Seymour_Hoffman
America is finally legalizing marijuana and soon magic mushrooms. I would argue LSD and MDMA are not far behind. Why stop there? Cocaine and heroin are not the devil incarnate - I don’t see why we continually move the goal posts for “good” drugs but say others are beyond the pale. I don’t care what your anecdata says as an “experienced” drug user - I have had several friends become marijuana burnouts who still work shit jobs, if you want to argue heroin is simply too dangerous for society then alcohol and weed should get the ban as well.
The push for individual rights continues. I guarantee you within 10 years prostitution will be fully legalized in progressive coastal states. I don’t see why we can’t accept vice as a natural human past time (people like pleasure) and try to manage the down-sides of legalization the same way we do with all other legalized vice like gambling (state lotteries(!)) and alcohol. Better this than a bunch of criminals providing it anyway.
Re: Is There a Case for Legalizing Heroin?
#6The only arguments against legalizing heroin are paternalistic - not trusting people to be responsible. In a bygone era I was prescribed Percocet for a dental procedure, which I have been told is an extremely strong opioid, and I did not like the numb feeling and eventually threw them away. So I have 100% proof that not everyone who takes opioids gets addicted and winds up in the gutter. The absolute truth is that dr…
drug use is a victimless crime
That's not remotely true. Use of certain drugs (such as heroin) leads to horrible expectations for children of addicts. These children can only be thought of as victims of heroin use.
Now I'm not saying that should be used to curtail the freedom of non-parents. But the experience of children shouldn't be ignored either.
And I'm the first person who will agree that alcohol abuse in the home leads to horrible expectations for children as well.
try to manage the down-sides of legalization the same way we do with all other legalized vice like gambling (state lotteries(!)) and alcohol
Well, we don't do a good job of this. Alcohol has a devastating effect on lives (but of course not all lives, save your down votes recreational drinkers)
Re: Is There a Case for Legalizing Heroin?
#7Flip that. What's the social value of criminalizing any drug consumption?
Profit and advertisement of these products should be banned, and the state should provide addicts with clean supplies at-cost to out compete criminal enterprises.
The amount of violence this would avoid in the Americas is staggering, and clearly desirable.
Re: Is There a Case for Legalizing Heroin?
#8The only arguments against legalizing heroin are paternalistic - not trusting people to be responsible. In a bygone era I was prescribed Percocet for a dental procedure, which I have been told is an extremely strong opioid, and I did not like the numb feeling and eventually threw them away. So I have 100% proof that not everyone who takes opioids gets addicted and winds up in the gutter. The absolute truth is that dr…
drug use is a victimless crime That's not remotely true. Use of certain drugs (such as heroin) leads to horrible expectations for children of addicts. These children can only be thought of as victims of heroin use. Now I'm not saying that should be used to curtail the freedom of non-parents. But the experience of children shouldn't be ignored either. And I'm the first person who will agree that alcohol abuse in the h…
I was raised by an alcoholic. You’re not wrong that drug abuse affects others, and yes kids. But prohibition not only doesn’t address that, it amplifies it.
I wasn’t just raised by an alcoholic. I was raised by an addict. Being dragged bar to bar, party to party, neglected and abused while my mom was drinking was one thing.
Being loaded up in a car to far flung places up and down the mid-Atlantic in the middle of the night for god knows what was another thing.
I have more specific reasons I favor full legalization of drugs, but “think of the children” definitely falls flat for my experience. If drugs were legal I sincerely doubt I would have spent a considerable amount of my childhood waking up 100s of miles from home, people I cared about in jail, probably a great deal of risk I was put in and many others as well.
Re: Is There a Case for Legalizing Heroin?
#9The libertarian in me says yes, but practically I know there are very few heroin users who are otherwise normal. The problem with the victimless claim is that it's literally true, but practically absurd. I am conflicted.
Re: Is There a Case for Legalizing Heroin?
#10The libertarian in me says yes, but practically I know there are very few heroin users who are otherwise normal. The problem with the victimless claim is that it's literally true, but practically absurd. I am conflicted.
Maybe if they didn't have to chase illegal drugs, they would only be semi-broken, like the rest of us?
And at the very least there wouldn't be space for gangs, the quality on the heroin would be higher and it would be possible to ensure the drug was only take at certain locations, maybe even create an opt-out or opt-in model where you needed to wait a few weeks from the time you have requested access until you get your heroin card?