Why is Oregon about to re-criminalize psychedelics in response to opioid crisis?
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Re: Why is Oregon about to re-criminalize psychedelics in response to opioid crisis?
#2[deleted]
Re: Why is Oregon about to re-criminalize psychedelics in response to opioid crisis?
#3Because people are bad at nuance.
The entire reason the decriminalization failed was because it had no nuance. It copied something that worked in a much different culture, and didn’t copy the other supports that caused it to work. Nothing to address the other side, the benefits of jailing addicts (i.e. preventing them from committing other crimes).
Re: Why is Oregon about to re-criminalize psychedelics in response to opioid crisis?
#4Because people are bad at nuance. The entire reason the decriminalization failed was because it had no nuance. It copied something that worked in a much different culture, and didn’t copy the other supports that caused it to work. Nothing to address the other side, the benefits of jailing addicts (i.e. preventing them from committing other crimes).
[deleted]
Re: Why is Oregon about to re-criminalize psychedelics in response to opioid crisis?
#5Decriminalization is a half-measure that's doomed to fail. The drugs are still the same impure crap that they were before decriminalization, leading to the same overdoses and deaths. And the people selling the drugs are the same violent criminal groups that were selling them before decriminalization, except now they are de facto endorsed by the government (where else are people suppose to buy the drugs they are now allowed to legally posses?). The only difference is that drug use becomes more public, to the benefit of absolutely nobody.
Re: Why is Oregon about to re-criminalize psychedelics in response to opioid crisis?
#6A very tricky situation. On the one hand, I'm very pro-liberty and firmly believe every human has a right to decide what substances to engage with. On the other hand, it may be that the changes in human behavior elicited from consuming some drugs are just fundamentally incompatible with our collective vision of a healthy society.
How can this be reconciled? At the very least, anti-social / anti-societal behavior, eg crime, must be dealt with even or especially if the root cause is drug use. But then you get in the argument, well they're sick and addicted, is it really their fault, do they deserve to be punished for the resultant crime? They made the first decision to act so ultimately they have to be held responsible for the downstream consequences, I guess.
And then, is being homeless a crime? I don't think so. But how about littering, or using public spaces as urinals? We've decided that, for our vision of society, littering is against the law, and so is public urination / defecation. So why not enforce that, maybe especially if you're addicted to drugs?
Re: Why is Oregon about to re-criminalize psychedelics in response to opioid crisis?
#7A very tricky situation. On the one hand, I'm very pro-liberty and firmly believe every human has a right to decide what substances to engage with. On the other hand, it may be that the changes in human behavior elicited from consuming some drugs are just fundamentally incompatible with our collective vision of a healthy society. How can this be reconciled? At the very least, anti-social / anti-societal behavior, eg…
There are simple, expensive answers: highly diligent social workers focusing on homelessness outreach + massive affordable housing construction that crunches housing prices. Regulate the substances but have them available to addicts, and make sure fentanyl is out of the supply chain, and make selling drugs outside the regulated system a felony.
We’re just not willing to pay the bills.
Re: Why is Oregon about to re-criminalize psychedelics in response to opioid crisis?
#8Because people are bad at nuance. The entire reason the decriminalization failed was because it had no nuance. It copied something that worked in a much different culture, and didn’t copy the other supports that caused it to work. Nothing to address the other side, the benefits of jailing addicts (i.e. preventing them from committing other crimes).
OT: I get tired of hearing 'nuance' over-applied.
What you're describing is cargo-culting. They missed at least half the picture, that's not a nuance.
Re: Why is Oregon about to re-criminalize psychedelics in response to opioid crisis?
#9A very tricky situation. On the one hand, I'm very pro-liberty and firmly believe every human has a right to decide what substances to engage with. On the other hand, it may be that the changes in human behavior elicited from consuming some drugs are just fundamentally incompatible with our collective vision of a healthy society. How can this be reconciled? At the very least, anti-social / anti-societal behavior, eg…
> How can this be reconciled?
I think one obvious solution is to stop grouping all drugs together. No one is robbing a place to feed their DMT addiction and no one is shooting up psilocybin outside our homes. The criminalization of these types of drugs does far more harm than the drugs themselves. The issue with opioids and speed is more complicated, but I think the options and solutions for the most addictive and harmful drugs will become more clear once we stop muddying the waters by grouping them with party drugs and psychedelics.
Re: Why is Oregon about to re-criminalize psychedelics in response to opioid crisis?
#10Because people are bad at nuance. The entire reason the decriminalization failed was because it had no nuance. It copied something that worked in a much different culture, and didn’t copy the other supports that caused it to work. Nothing to address the other side, the benefits of jailing addicts (i.e. preventing them from committing other crimes).
Binary crisis!