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We should move towards the elimination of all drugs. Prohibition has worked wonderfully well for tobacco in many countries, cutting consumption in half and eve

by narzu 8y ago

We should move towards the elimination of all drugs. Prohibition has worked wonderfully well for tobacco in many countries, cutting consumption in half and even more.

geff82 8y ago
I just upvoted your comment because it is the truth and most probably you will be heavily downvoted for not being mainstream :)
- PhasmaFelis 8y ago
  It is literally false. There are only two countries with actual tobacco prohibition, Bhutan and Turkmenistan, and only since 2005 and 2016, respectively. We have decades of evidence from dozens of countries that total prohibition of recreational drugs is disastrous. Sensible regulation is what's needed.
sigi45 8y ago
And? It is not your choice to tell me if I wanna get buzzed or not. I don't mind others smoking. I mind wrong advertising, advertising to kids, cigarettbutts, the stink etc.
- narzo 8y ago
  Actually yes, it's society's choice to tell you what you can do or not. Deal with it, or maybe go to live to Liberland.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
df24g3t36 8y ago
We should move towards the elimination of authoritarianism. Giving those the right to push their beliefs, no matter how apparently beneficial, cuts human freedoms. Let people do what they want to do as long as it doesn't harm others. It's not your business otherwise.
- simion314 8y ago
  The problem is that you have big financial interest from tabacoo (or other) industry that promotes consumption of X and on the other hand you have an under-budgeted health department that will try to spread information and make studies etc. So the average person will be tricked by the gigantic adverting campaigns... my point a person can't do a correct choice when big money companies have the intrest he does the wrong choice.
  - InitialLastName 8y ago
    It's funny you brought up tobacco, since it's a counter-example to your point. Somehow, even with Big Tobacco putting tons of money towards promotion and an under-funded health department spreading information, we've arrived at a society where a) nobody can deny that tobacco consumption is harmful (and be seen as sane) and b) tobacco consumption is declining (nicotine use may not be, but it's also not clear that nicotine use alone is as harmful). It took a few decades to get there, but it worked.
    - kadendogthing 8y ago
      >It took a few decades to get there, but it worked. Yeah let's not take a few decades this time around? You're basically talking about an entire person's life at some scale.
    - simion314 8y ago
      >It took a few decades to get there, but it worked. Better to count lives not decades though
    - moate 8y ago
kofejnik 8y ago
> We should move towards the elimination of all drugs. I agree. While we're at it, also elimination of all crime and immorality. Let's start by executing offenders on the spot. Guaranteed to deter drug usage in adolescents. And adultery, too. Also, we could and should do better than allow people to harm themselves by unhealthy food choices. It logically follows that we need to ban cheeseburgers and sugary drinks!
mylons 8y ago
wow. you have some scary views. how about you mind your own business and let others do the same.
- shady-lady 8y ago
  > how about you mind your own business and let others do the same. said on a public forum in reply to a comment on a public forum...¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  - mylons 8y ago
    they're actively advocating to legislate this stuff. /shrug /shrug /shrug /shrug /shrug
gbrown 8y ago
Would you seriously contend that prohibition doesn't come with awful side effects? The cartels in Mexico and South America are big fans. We tackle smoking and alcohol abuse through education (and tax, to a certain extent). Meanwhile prohibition is being selectively enforced in the US to criminalize being non-white. I see zero reason to continue the madness, and economics, social science, and history tend to agree.
adonnjohn 8y ago
We should start a war on drugs and check back in in 40 years.
Kurtz79 8y ago
"Prohibition has worked wonderfully well for tobacco in many countries" Examples? As far as I know in most western countries tobacco "prohibition" is limited to interior common spaces, not in private homes or in the open (say, on the street). It is actively discouraged (and in that it has been very succesful) through PSAs, medical counseling, warnings on packets, high taxes and the mentioned public bans, but that's not "prohibition". "Prohibition" is more akin to the alcohol ban in the US in the 1920s, or the current status for drugs in most countries. In all cases it has been far from successful, the only things that are accomplished is favoring the black market and related criminal activities.
Xylakant 8y ago
How is tobacco prohibited? Smoking in public spaces is prohibited, but tobacco is still legal to buy, own, smoke or use in any way you want.
andrepd 8y ago
>Prohibition has worked wonderfully well It very much hasn't. The War on Drugs is very much a catastrophic failure, claiming the lives of millions with no tangible improvement to control drug addiction. Meanwhile liberalisation and decriminalization programmes (e.g. Portugal for decriminalization and de facto tolerance without legalisation) have been much more successful. When will you start looking at empirical evidence and realise prohibition simply doesn't work?

by narzu 8y ago

We should move towards the elimination of all drugs. Prohibition has worked wonderfully well for tobacco in many countries, cutting consumption in half and even more.

geff82 8y ago

I just upvoted your comment because it is the truth and most probably you will be heavily downvoted for not being mainstream :)

PhasmaFelis 8y ago
It is literally false. There are only two countries with actual tobacco prohibition, Bhutan and Turkmenistan, and only since 2005 and 2016, respectively. We have decades of evidence from dozens of countries that total prohibition of recreational drugs is disastrous. Sensible regulation is what's needed.

sigi45 8y ago

And? It is not your choice to tell me if I wanna get buzzed or not. I don't mind others smoking. I mind wrong advertising, advertising to kids, cigarettbutts, the stink etc.

narzo 8y ago
Actually yes, it's society's choice to tell you what you can do or not. Deal with it, or maybe go to live to Liberland.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]

df24g3t36 8y ago

We should move towards the elimination of authoritarianism. Giving those the right to push their beliefs, no matter how apparently beneficial, cuts human freedoms. Let people do what they want to do as long as it doesn't harm others. It's not your business otherwise.

simion314 8y ago
The problem is that you have big financial interest from tabacoo (or other) industry that promotes consumption of X and on the other hand you have an under-budgeted health department that will try to spread information and make studies etc. So the average person will be tricked by the gigantic adverting campaigns... my point a person can't do a correct choice when big money companies have the intrest he does the wrong choice.
- InitialLastName 8y ago
  It's funny you brought up tobacco, since it's a counter-example to your point. Somehow, even with Big Tobacco putting tons of money towards promotion and an under-funded health department spreading information, we've arrived at a society where a) nobody can deny that tobacco consumption is harmful (and be seen as sane) and b) tobacco consumption is declining (nicotine use may not be, but it's also not clear that nicotine use alone is as harmful). It took a few decades to get there, but it worked.
  - kadendogthing 8y ago
    >It took a few decades to get there, but it worked. Yeah let's not take a few decades this time around? You're basically talking about an entire person's life at some scale.
  - simion314 8y ago
    >It took a few decades to get there, but it worked. Better to count lives not decades though
  - moate 8y ago

kofejnik 8y ago

> We should move towards the elimination of all drugs. I agree. While we're at it, also elimination of all crime and immorality. Let's start by executing offenders on the spot. Guaranteed to deter drug usage in adolescents. And adultery, too. Also, we could and should do better than allow people to harm themselves by unhealthy food choices. It logically follows that we need to ban cheeseburgers and sugary drinks!

mylons 8y ago

wow. you have some scary views. how about you mind your own business and let others do the same.

shady-lady 8y ago
> how about you mind your own business and let others do the same. said on a public forum in reply to a comment on a public forum...¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- mylons 8y ago
  they're actively advocating to legislate this stuff. /shrug /shrug /shrug /shrug /shrug

gbrown 8y ago

Would you seriously contend that prohibition doesn't come with awful side effects? The cartels in Mexico and South America are big fans. We tackle smoking and alcohol abuse through education (and tax, to a certain extent). Meanwhile prohibition is being selectively enforced in the US to criminalize being non-white. I see zero reason to continue the madness, and economics, social science, and history tend to agree.

adonnjohn 8y ago

We should start a war on drugs and check back in in 40 years.

Kurtz79 8y ago

"Prohibition has worked wonderfully well for tobacco in many countries" Examples? As far as I know in most western countries tobacco "prohibition" is limited to interior common spaces, not in private homes or in the open (say, on the street). It is actively discouraged (and in that it has been very succesful) through PSAs, medical counseling, warnings on packets, high taxes and the mentioned public bans, but that's not "prohibition". "Prohibition" is more akin to the alcohol ban in the US in the 1920s, or the current status for drugs in most countries. In all cases it has been far from successful, the only things that are accomplished is favoring the black market and related criminal activities.

Xylakant 8y ago

How is tobacco prohibited? Smoking in public spaces is prohibited, but tobacco is still legal to buy, own, smoke or use in any way you want.

andrepd 8y ago

>Prohibition has worked wonderfully well It very much hasn't. The War on Drugs is very much a catastrophic failure, claiming the lives of millions with no tangible improvement to control drug addiction. Meanwhile liberalisation and decriminalization programmes (e.g. Portugal for decriminalization and de facto tolerance without legalisation) have been much more successful. When will you start looking at empirical evidence and realise prohibition simply doesn't work?