4 ms·

Criminalization of drugs feeds the private prison industry, where the real addiction is to profits. "The new Portuguese law has also had a striking effect on t

Criminalization of drugs feeds the private prison industry, where the real addiction is to profits. "The new Portuguese law has also had a striking effect on the size of the country’s prison population. The number of inmates serving time for drug offenses fell by more than half, and today they make up only 21 percent of those incarcerated. A similar reduction in the United States would free 260,000 people — the equivalent of letting the entire population of Buffalo out of jail." The War on Drugs is Bullshit https://medium.com/@camplommer/the-war-on-drugs-is-bullshit-27c210086010 https://medium.com/@camplommer/the-war-on-drugs-is-bullshit-...

mariopt 6y ago
As a Portuguese citizen, I find it quite fascinating that this topic is trending for quite a while now. Doing the same in USA won't work due to lack of a public health system, without it is impossible to help people recover from addiction. Providing methadone is the easy bit, having a public network of doctors, therapists and social workers is the key ingredient.
- edbob 6y ago
  The US has methadone clinics too. I don't know the details of the program, but I've known several people who used them.