I get that it’s to decriminalize the drug use and reduce discriminatory arrests, I get the positive aspects. But man, more drugs will make more folks acting like an ass in public.
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Yep. The fact that the prohibition of cocaine has hurt some people does not mean that doing cocaine is a good thing. Cocaine being illegal is a compromise. We don’t want people to go to jail if possible, but we also want to discourage people from using or selling cocaine, because if cocaine is available some people will do bad things they wouldn’t have done if they weren’t taking cocaine. Making cocaine legal is the replacement of that compromise with another compromise: we’ll tolerate the bad behaviour of people who take cocaine because trying to stop people from doing or selling cocaine by sending cops after them didn’t stop the cocaine trade, damaged a lot of people who were already damaged, and cost a lot of time and money.
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British Columbia (in Canada) decriminalized all hard drugs earlier this year. Results so far have been really positive. They also opened up new drug treatment and testing centres, and started education programs for users about how to detect fentanyl and other risks.
The biggest problem being addressed now are contaminated drugs. The supply is not regulated or tested like normal food and drug products, so there are a lot of users getting sick from drugs laced and cut with bad shit. This is not a new problem of course, but it’s more in the forefront now.
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And until the state can produce and distribute the stuff for less $ than the cartels, they will still be in business. Illegal growers and dealers are still there in places that have legalized weed.
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I think that really depends on what is meant by “making it legal”. I don’t think it necessarily follows that more people will use it and become addicted. Particularly if there is education in place. There probably aren’t many people out there going “gee, I’d love to use coke but don’t want to get jailed”.
Treat it like cigarettes and put graphic warnings on the packaging.
Addiction is more of a function of circumstances/mental state than it is legality.
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Thinking that the fact that cocaine causes physical addiction (in addition to psychological), vs. marijuana and psilocybin having no physical addictive properties (respectfully, if I’m wrong, correct me with legit studies that prove otherwise).
Anyone doing “really bad things” to get psilocybin or marijuana has other skeletons in the closet that are the real cause of their behaviors.
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This explains a lot about The Economist.
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I hear what you’re saying, but the forces of reaction have a very, very strong track record of exploiting this thinking. There are many areas where X needs to stop so Y can happen:
- defunding the police to allow proper services for domestic violence, mental health crises etc.
- legalizing homeless people so they can stand a chance of improving their situation
- raising taxes to fund public services
- ending voucher scams so public schools can become the good schools
- …
And always the right just blocks the second part, and then sensible liberals have to agree that we’re not ready to do the first part, and nothing continues to be done.
I think we’d be better off with kamikaze politicians who just did stuff like ending prohibition. Then you’d have an urgent political fight to deal with addiction as a public health crisis – but you already have that fight anyway, and it’s not urgent enough, so what’s to lose.
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Welcome to BoingBoing!
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All lines matter.
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I remember reading a piece in The Independent a while back about the people who were/are still legally receiving heroin on the NHS.
They were perfectly normal, functioning members of society, and didn’t have to worry about where they were going to get their regular dose (“fix” seems a bit gauche to use in this scenario).
Historically, this was known internationally as “The British System”. Before the US successfully lobbied for prohibition in the UK, heroin users rarely, if ever went above 1,000 nationally, and it completely neutered the illegal trade in the UK, as what was the point selling it if people could get medical-grade heroin free on the NHS?
The entire article is powerful stuff, and highlights the callous, uncaring ignorance of prohibition.
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Would this include Crack too, or is this just a call to legalize the drugs of the more entitled parts of society?
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I was thinking this might be the first post for which Jr. has some relevant experience.
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Ok that was my first thought. The Econonmist suggesting the drug most associated with the upper class in the US should be legalized is another one of those things that would be too “on the nose” in some dystopian fiction.
Also, after the week I have had, the first thing they need to do is take off all the goddamn restrictions on actual useful prescription drugs (AKA my Adderall prescription) that make it so damn hard for people to get them who actually need them.
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British Columbia took the approach that I think a lot of other places are, which is decriminalizing possession of small amounts. That turns 90% of the drug situation from a criminal problem into a public health problem, where it belongs. It’s still illegal to import or sell cocaine, heroine, etc of course, but you’re free to buy and use it. While you’re doing that, the province is going to do what it can to help you get clean.
Of course weed has been 100% legal here for a long time. No news there.
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Oh they love to tell their voters they want smaller government. And yet…pretty consistently, the deficit balloons when they’re in charge. They just want the parts of government that actually help poor people and marginalized people to disappear.
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Citation needed.
