entremet
Member
Ful Article
Let's face it. Full on legalization is not happening anytime soon, however, this is good example for other governments looking to deal with drug abuse, and not fill their prison with users, casual or addicts.
Portugal's Drug Experiment
- Thread starter entremet
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Ful Article
Let's face it. Full on legalization is not happening anytime soon, however, this is good example for other governments looking to deal with drug abuse, and not fill their prison with users, casual or addicts.
lightless_shado
Banned
So one can use drugs, but one cannot sell them? That makes no sense. So are they just hoping everyone will consume the drug supply thats in the country, while the government arrests drug dealers so in the end there are no drugs at all?
what's to stop someone from just cooking up their own meth and giving it to their friends whenever they show up?
what's to stop someone from just cooking up their own meth and giving it to their friends whenever they show up?
entremet
Member
But what's the difference between that other addictions from substances that are legal, such as nicotine or alcohol or even behaviors like gambling? Unless your driving under the influence, publicly drunk, or gambling illegally, you can be addicted to these thing without any legal consequences.Kodiak690 said:
crazy monkey
Banned
drugs are never a good option. nothing good comes out at the end.
I <3 Memes
Member
Without legalizing distribution you still keep the mechanisms of most drug related crime in place. You still have the distributors at every level killing for profit and you still have users who have to commit all kinds of crimes to support their habit due to the massively inflated prices. I read once that a hardcore cocaine addict has no choice but to commit crime to support their habit because their addiction costs them close to $1,000 a week. Actual cost of the amount of cocaine they use in a week is about $15. Legalizing use but not distribution is just dumb and will increase crime.
quilter46761
Member
lightless_shado said:
Makes perfectly fine sense. The point is that drug dealers are hurting (as it were) others, while addicts are hurting only themselves (or, really, are sufferers from something they have trouble controlling).
captmorgan
Banned
I cant wait for the government here to legalize and distribute drugs themselves.
I can`t see a better way to increase tax revenue and control a huge portion of the population at the same time. If the government does it right They could have a huge army of slaves willing to do anything they are told for there next hit. (clean highways, remove graffiti, build prymids whatever)
And the rest of us could have a tax cut on our income tax due to the increase in revenue a win-win.
I can`t see a better way to increase tax revenue and control a huge portion of the population at the same time. If the government does it right They could have a huge army of slaves willing to do anything they are told for there next hit. (clean highways, remove graffiti, build prymids whatever)
And the rest of us could have a tax cut on our income tax due to the increase in revenue a win-win.
There is no doubt that the legalisation of drugs is the future.
It makes no sense that I can serve time in prison for smoking weed while others are perfectly allowed to nuke my lungs with their cigarettes, or puke all over the pavement after a heavy night drinking.
The argument for the legalisation of drugs is so overwhelmingly strong, the fact it hasn't been realised is testament to how out of touch and clueless politicians are, and how they have a complete disregard for facts and evidence.
It makes no sense that I can serve time in prison for smoking weed while others are perfectly allowed to nuke my lungs with their cigarettes, or puke all over the pavement after a heavy night drinking.
The argument for the legalisation of drugs is so overwhelmingly strong, the fact it hasn't been realised is testament to how out of touch and clueless politicians are, and how they have a complete disregard for facts and evidence.
Funky Papa
FUNK-Y-PPA-4
Bad journalism is bad.
"Drug czar" makes him appear as if he were Portugal's kingpin instead of the public official in charge of drug politics.
This whole "czar" thing needs to stop. It is not cute nor appropiate. Fucking dolts.
Scuba Steve
Member
MrHicks said:
and sex, and concerts
Dude Abides
Banned
crazy monkey said:
Nah, they're fun.
crazy monkey said:
On a personal level I don't disagree. The problem is that the corollary is ALSO that prohibition is never a good option. Nothing good comes out at the end. People tend to want to forget that. Just because something is perceived as a negative does not mean the answer is to pass a law against it, in the end it just creates even MORE problems than the one you think you're trying to stop.
DeathNote - Heroin WAS legal in the US for the majority of our country's history. It's only been illegal since 1924.
DeathNote said:
No, I'm talking about laws against things that are not harmful to other people. Such as gambling, drug use, prostitution, etc. Non-violent, victimless crimes.
Now, within those activities there are certainly some activities which should be criminal (selling drugs to children, a "pimp" that FORCES a prostitute to engage in their business, committing robbery to pay for a gambling habit) but those activities are not inherently harmful to others.
And you base that assertion on what exactly?Kodiak690 said:
Every study I have ever seen and every professional I have ever talked to said that incarceration is not only an ineffective way to treat addiction, but usually (and especially when you consider the state of the correctional services in this country) counter productive.
So, I live in Portugal and really didn't know it wasn't illegal to be in possession of drugs but kinda makes sense now that I think of it.
I am still in high school and weed is a big thing in my school at least and although people still freak out about the police and things like that, I have never heard of a story about someone getting arrested because of it, besides all the undercover cops patrolling around my school (although arrests do occur, less frequently this year at least but still do, which I guess is because someone was trying to sell it).
I also remember that story actually, but it's so old now that people aren't talking about it anymore (now the economic crisis and the high gas prices are the fashion of the day)
I am still in high school and weed is a big thing in my school at least and although people still freak out about the police and things like that, I have never heard of a story about someone getting arrested because of it, besides all the undercover cops patrolling around my school (although arrests do occur, less frequently this year at least but still do, which I guess is because someone was trying to sell it).
I also remember that story actually, but it's so old now that people aren't talking about it anymore (now the economic crisis and the high gas prices are the fashion of the day)
Thunder Monkey
Banned
Explain the Pizza Bagel then.crazy monkey said:
Thunder Monkey
Banned
The kid that cures all forms of lymphomas just died last week in a drug raid.Rapstah said:
Now we will have to wait twenty years longer than we should to get to the same point. Then again the same could be said for a lot of things. The young woman that gets our aerospace ambitions on track for outer-solar travel was supposed to be the descendant of a young Chinese man that died a few weeks ago because of complications from surgery.
Seeing fate, knowing the results of human choices, the lives those choices have ended, it gives you a slightly different perspective on the universe. On humanities position in it.
This species is on the verge of total collapse every single day. The more people, the greater the threat. But also the greater the possibilities.
So? The same thing goes for the opposite. Arguing that drugs are responsible for any amount or no amount of human creativity is impossible because we don't know what never was. Stupid argument from both sides.Thunder Monkey said:
EDIT: Your avatar is so orange mine is looking pale. I should consider making mine darker...
Thunder Monkey
Banned
OooooRapstah said:
You're just as crazy as me.
What fun we will have.
Gaborn said:
What kind of skewed thinking is this? Heroin wasn't first synthesized until 1874 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroin#History), and was only branded and sold as "Heroin" in 1895. So heroin at a conservative estimate was effectively legal for 50 years. That's not the "majority of our country's history."
Princess Carl
Member
captmorgan said:
I like this post
crazy monkey
Banned
Chemo said:
All of those are work of amazing brains and human being. Drugs ruined many of those individuals.
Thunder Monkey
Banned
PIZZA BAGEL!crazy monkey said:
SolKane said:
True, cocaine is a better analogy, but the fact is, prior to 1914 heroin and cocaine and the like were essentially completely unregulated. It took till 1924 it was actually illegal as well. Drugs were not a big issue prior to that point. Countries existed quite comfortable with all sorts of substances legal that are now treated as the end of humanity.
Or, to use another example, marijuana. It wasn't until 1937 that it was regulated at all in the US. That, if you know a bit of history, means that marijuana was completely legal during alcohol prohibition (1919-1933). People want to believe the drugs are illegal because we've always viewed them as regulable and something that should be discouraged in society but in reality the history of drugs show typically long periods of legality with minimal problems.
Society is very different than it was 100 years ago.Gaborn said:
Marijuana is becoming more and more legal because of minimal problems in society. Throwing a used joint on the ground is no more dangerous than throwing any used cig on th ground. Can't really OD.
How would allowing the use of Heroin in today's society have minimal problems? There is no good medical reason to allow people to inject themselves with heroin and it has the dangers of spreading those diseases. Middle School kids having easy access and shooting up would be horrible compared to a joint.
hukasmokincaterpillar
Member
crazy monkey said:
The work of Human Beings on their drugs. On their diet. On their language. On their culture. On their conditioning and learning. Ultimately on their environment and awareness. Separating 'drugs' from the panoply of inspirado throughout human history seems to me a basic misapprehension of how our nervous system(mind) experiences and creates the world. IE, electrochemically. The problem starts with using the term 'drugs' as a catch all phrase (let alone the humans using them). A potato is psychedelic, it's a matter of degrees. You're on 'drugs' as we speak.
OT- Portugal's decriminalization is important in that it at least undercuts the first prohibition myth, lax enforcement leading to societal decay. As the studies have shown it's been the the opposite. Uptick in experimentation, but less long term use of physiologically addictive compounds and more needing treatment getting treatment. Removing the criminal stigma seems to have a large positive impact.
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