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I have a friend whos a raging alcoholic who's almost died from alcohol intoxication, and I have a cousin who has overdosed on prescription pain killers. I also

I have a friend whos a raging alcoholic who's almost died from alcohol intoxication, and I have a cousin who has overdosed on prescription pain killers. I also know a few acquaintances who have died from prescription fentanyl. The answer here isn't to make alcohol illegal, or to ban prescription pain killers, because that would surely exacerbate the problem. I don't know why Americans seem to think that banning substances and jailing people who use them is the answer to this problem.

TheAdamAndChe 6y ago
Making harmful drug dealing illegal while providing support to those addicted would be a good way to handle it IMO. I DO NOT want opioids or meth legalized, they are entirely too harmful to the user and those around them.
- saiya-jin 6y ago
  You realize opioids are required and necessary medicine in many cases? You can't really ban them, without making millions suffer excruciating debilitating pain. And this whole situation of having them via badly-designed prescription process got US where its now. Your approach looks like naive one - this bad, I want this banned. You for sure must understand the world is more complex than that? I consider tobacco and alcohol harmful substances. They should be outright banned, people should go to jail for trafficking and consuming that vile liquid/plant which destroyed tens of millions of lives. But somehow, world doesn't revolve around my personal wishes, does it. Because there are other views in society on those
  - TheAdamAndChe 6y ago
    I don't understand how you interpreted my comment like that. I'm arguing against legalizing it like tobacco, I'm not arguing for banning it completely. Opioids are already used in the medical system.
  - bserge 6y ago
    Alcohol is such an underrated substance it's ridiculous. Its health destroying properties are right under heroin's imo. Heavily addictive, while there are several great alternatives to it when it comes to recreation and relaxation, which are ironically either heavily regulated or illegal.
throwaway0a5e 6y ago
It's not an American thing. It's an authoritarian thing. Authoritarians the world over love criminalizing people. It just so happens that drugs are a great way to go about it because so much of the population does this or that drug and so few people are gonna step up and defend the addicts.
- TheAdamAndChe 6y ago
  It's not criminalizing people. It's criminalizing behavior that is very detrimental to society.

TheAdamAndChe 6y ago

Making harmful drug dealing illegal while providing support to those addicted would be a good way to handle it IMO. I DO NOT want opioids or meth legalized, they are entirely too harmful to the user and those around them.

saiya-jin 6y ago
You realize opioids are required and necessary medicine in many cases? You can't really ban them, without making millions suffer excruciating debilitating pain. And this whole situation of having them via badly-designed prescription process got US where its now. Your approach looks like naive one - this bad, I want this banned. You for sure must understand the world is more complex than that? I consider tobacco and alcohol harmful substances. They should be outright banned, people should go to jail for trafficking and consuming that vile liquid/plant which destroyed tens of millions of lives. But somehow, world doesn't revolve around my personal wishes, does it. Because there are other views in society on those
- TheAdamAndChe 6y ago
  I don't understand how you interpreted my comment like that. I'm arguing against legalizing it like tobacco, I'm not arguing for banning it completely. Opioids are already used in the medical system.
- bserge 6y ago
  Alcohol is such an underrated substance it's ridiculous. Its health destroying properties are right under heroin's imo. Heavily addictive, while there are several great alternatives to it when it comes to recreation and relaxation, which are ironically either heavily regulated or illegal.

throwaway0a5e 6y ago

It's not an American thing. It's an authoritarian thing. Authoritarians the world over love criminalizing people. It just so happens that drugs are a great way to go about it because so much of the population does this or that drug and so few people are gonna step up and defend the addicts.

TheAdamAndChe 6y ago
It's not criminalizing people. It's criminalizing behavior that is very detrimental to society.