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The only thing that is good about this epidemic is that it seems to have moved harm reduction onto the agenda after decades of militarized and/or "lock 'em up a

The only thing that is good about this epidemic is that it seems to have moved harm reduction onto the agenda after decades of militarized and/or "lock 'em up and throw away the key" responses. Hopefully the result will be a more rational response for all of America's drug problems regardless of the color of the users.

rm_-rf_slash 10y ago
Are you kidding? The attorney general of the United States is on record saying the one thing that kept him from joining the KKK was their marijuana use, stating that "decent people don't smoke marijuana." Public opinion may have shifted, but as far as the current White House is concerned, it's their way or the highway.
- soundwave106 10y ago
  For the record I've noticed the tone of reporting these days is a little different as well, personally. It is harder for people to demonize prescription drug abuse; you don't get quite as much of the broad stereotyping and Hollywood-ization that happened in the 1980s on this subject. Yes, some people cling to old-fashioned hardened attitudes. But if you look at Gallup's poll on drugs (http://www.gallup.com/poll/1657/illegal-drugs.aspx http://www.gallup.com/poll/1657/illegal-drugs.aspx), people are way more worried about prescription drugs and the related heroin epidemic these days. Way more than cocaine, certainly. It's not in the poll, but it's hard to remember when the last time the boogeyman of the 1980s (crack cocaine) came up in reports. Support for marijuana legalization stands at 60% now, compared to the 1980s where support was at 25%. There is a large age gap in support, in marijuana at least (http://www.gallup.com/poll/196550/support-legal-marijuana.aspx http://www.gallup.com/poll/196550/support-legal-marijuana.as... -- 55+ 45% support, 18-34 77% support). Although I'm sure harder stances will linger onward, as it has in the AG's mind, the AG's stance is increasingly looking out of touch.
Clubber 10y ago
Where do you see any evidence of that?
- glangdale 10y ago
  Everywhere. I don't know if you were around in the 80s and 90s but the contrast in rhetoric about drug use is amazing. Both sides of politics were tripping over themselves to be tougher on drug crime back when it was perceived as a non-white problem. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/there-was-no-wave-of-compassion-when-addicts-were-hooked-on-crack/ http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/there-was-no-wave-of-compassi... This not to say that harm minimization is now successfully mainstream, but the shift in attitudes and rhetoric is huge.
  - Clubber 10y ago
    I was, and I think the penalties and number of people in "the system" for drug offenses is significantly higher than it was in the 80s and 90s. We now have more people (not percentage of people) incarcerated than any other country, even China. The rhetoric may be softer, but I don't think the judges are. Here is a year over year incarceration map. http://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-war-on-drugs-changed-americas-prison-population-2014-4 http://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-war-on-drugs-changed-... Here's prison population by country: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/uk/06/prisons/html/nn2page1.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/uk/06/prisons/html/nn2... Incarcerate is the only hammer many of our state governments will even consider using for most social problems.

rm_-rf_slash 10y ago

Are you kidding? The attorney general of the United States is on record saying the one thing that kept him from joining the KKK was their marijuana use, stating that "decent people don't smoke marijuana." Public opinion may have shifted, but as far as the current White House is concerned, it's their way or the highway.

soundwave106 10y ago
For the record I've noticed the tone of reporting these days is a little different as well, personally. It is harder for people to demonize prescription drug abuse; you don't get quite as much of the broad stereotyping and Hollywood-ization that happened in the 1980s on this subject. Yes, some people cling to old-fashioned hardened attitudes. But if you look at Gallup's poll on drugs (http://www.gallup.com/poll/1657/illegal-drugs.aspx http://www.gallup.com/poll/1657/illegal-drugs.aspx), people are way more worried about prescription drugs and the related heroin epidemic these days. Way more than cocaine, certainly. It's not in the poll, but it's hard to remember when the last time the boogeyman of the 1980s (crack cocaine) came up in reports. Support for marijuana legalization stands at 60% now, compared to the 1980s where support was at 25%. There is a large age gap in support, in marijuana at least (http://www.gallup.com/poll/196550/support-legal-marijuana.aspx http://www.gallup.com/poll/196550/support-legal-marijuana.as... -- 55+ 45% support, 18-34 77% support). Although I'm sure harder stances will linger onward, as it has in the AG's mind, the AG's stance is increasingly looking out of touch.

Clubber 10y ago

Where do you see any evidence of that?

glangdale 10y ago
Everywhere. I don't know if you were around in the 80s and 90s but the contrast in rhetoric about drug use is amazing. Both sides of politics were tripping over themselves to be tougher on drug crime back when it was perceived as a non-white problem. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/there-was-no-wave-of-compassion-when-addicts-were-hooked-on-crack/ http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/there-was-no-wave-of-compassi... This not to say that harm minimization is now successfully mainstream, but the shift in attitudes and rhetoric is huge.
- Clubber 10y ago
  I was, and I think the penalties and number of people in "the system" for drug offenses is significantly higher than it was in the 80s and 90s. We now have more people (not percentage of people) incarcerated than any other country, even China. The rhetoric may be softer, but I don't think the judges are. Here is a year over year incarceration map. http://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-war-on-drugs-changed-americas-prison-population-2014-4 http://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-war-on-drugs-changed-... Here's prison population by country: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/uk/06/prisons/html/nn2page1.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/uk/06/prisons/html/nn2... Incarcerate is the only hammer many of our state governments will even consider using for most social problems.