5 ms·

Did you watch the video? Removing access to drugs and providing them with I assume subsidized medication that is used to treat addiction.

m_ke 8y ago
Do you honestly believe that throwing mentally ill and addicted people in jail is the right solution to this problem?
- trashcan 8y ago
  I do believe that when someone is slowly dying of addiction on the streets, that it might be more compassionate to help them cure that addiction, even if it is against their will (not like you normally get to decide you don't want to go to jail when you've comitted a crime anyway). I know it's not a one size fits all solution by any means, and has the potential for tons of liberty infringing issues, but it sounds better than doing nothing.
  - grogenaut 8y ago
    The goal of Safe injection sites are specifically aimed at getting people care while letting them deal with their addictions, under monitoring. Whether they'll work here in the us or if we'll let them is a different question. They worked where the idea came from. That's what gp didn't like. What do you think since you seem to want a better option. Is that better than jail as a default? It's supposed to do what you want without prison.
    - Fellshard 8y ago
      Do you have evidence they worked, short or long-term? Are there any substantive differences between the two programs?
      - grogenaut 8y ago
        I'm not a policy wonk. Research them and make your own opinion. Portugal and another country have tried them. Portugal to amazing success. Turns out many people wanted off the drugs and just needed help is the summary I saw there. I think we do have data on how well the current system works. The two programs being what? I know Seattle is having a lot of troubles even implementing them well due to stigmas so I don't know if we even have finished. I do anecdotally know one of my hyper liberal teacher friends was against them on the east side as she associated heroin use with only downtown Seattle homeless. When I pointed out they were more likely to use the center downtown instead of a 2 hr bus ride and the ones on the east side were for all the people you hear about being hooked on oxygen... She actually started thinking about it instead of just reacting. It's a hard sell with a lot of stigma and fud around it. It's not my goal to argue you one way or another in a post like this. It's my goal that you actually make an informed decision instead of an uninformed one off of anecdotal data.
c22 8y ago
I was in jail once. Apart from weed it seemed like illegal drugs were readily available and much cheaper than they were on the street. I've also been in a mental hospital where unprescribed drugs were impossible to get, they put me on some crazy stuff though. I met addicts in both of these places and honestly neither of them seemed to offer much help for that condition.
- trashcan 8y ago
  I'm not saying that just throwing a person into jail will help. But a jail with a working treatment program could.* Maybe everyone in the video they talked to in the CT treatment program was being disingenious or dishonest, but it sounded like it was effective. * Which also implies a lack of readily available drugs - and guards who aren't accepting bribes to let them in.

m_ke 8y ago

Do you honestly believe that throwing mentally ill and addicted people in jail is the right solution to this problem?

trashcan 8y ago
I do believe that when someone is slowly dying of addiction on the streets, that it might be more compassionate to help them cure that addiction, even if it is against their will (not like you normally get to decide you don't want to go to jail when you've comitted a crime anyway). I know it's not a one size fits all solution by any means, and has the potential for tons of liberty infringing issues, but it sounds better than doing nothing.
- grogenaut 8y ago
  The goal of Safe injection sites are specifically aimed at getting people care while letting them deal with their addictions, under monitoring. Whether they'll work here in the us or if we'll let them is a different question. They worked where the idea came from. That's what gp didn't like. What do you think since you seem to want a better option. Is that better than jail as a default? It's supposed to do what you want without prison.
  - Fellshard 8y ago
    Do you have evidence they worked, short or long-term? Are there any substantive differences between the two programs?
    - grogenaut 8y ago
      I'm not a policy wonk. Research them and make your own opinion. Portugal and another country have tried them. Portugal to amazing success. Turns out many people wanted off the drugs and just needed help is the summary I saw there. I think we do have data on how well the current system works. The two programs being what? I know Seattle is having a lot of troubles even implementing them well due to stigmas so I don't know if we even have finished. I do anecdotally know one of my hyper liberal teacher friends was against them on the east side as she associated heroin use with only downtown Seattle homeless. When I pointed out they were more likely to use the center downtown instead of a 2 hr bus ride and the ones on the east side were for all the people you hear about being hooked on oxygen... She actually started thinking about it instead of just reacting. It's a hard sell with a lot of stigma and fud around it. It's not my goal to argue you one way or another in a post like this. It's my goal that you actually make an informed decision instead of an uninformed one off of anecdotal data.

c22 8y ago

I was in jail once. Apart from weed it seemed like illegal drugs were readily available and much cheaper than they were on the street. I've also been in a mental hospital where unprescribed drugs were impossible to get, they put me on some crazy stuff though. I met addicts in both of these places and honestly neither of them seemed to offer much help for that condition.

trashcan 8y ago
I'm not saying that just throwing a person into jail will help. But a jail with a working treatment program could.* Maybe everyone in the video they talked to in the CT treatment program was being disingenious or dishonest, but it sounded like it was effective. * Which also implies a lack of readily available drugs - and guards who aren't accepting bribes to let them in.