9 ms·
Bigger one to me is decriminalizing all personal amounts of drugs: https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2020/11/oregon-decriminalizes-possession-of-street-drugs
by forsaken 6y ago
Bigger one to me is decriminalizing all personal amounts of drugs: https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2020/11/oregon-decriminalizes-possession-of-street-drugs-becoming-first-in-nation.html https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2020/11/oregon-decrimina...
- mimikatz 6y agoThat's not going to help their junkie problem.
- toomuchtodo 6y agoFrom the link in the comment you replied to: “It funnels millions in marijuana tax revenue toward what it calls Addiction Recovery Centers, where people can be screened and directed to treatment options. Those tax dollars will also go to a Drug Treatment and Recovery Services Fund overseen by the state that could be used to pay for treatment, housing or other programs designed to address addiction.”
- hcurtiss 6y agoThere’s not enough money. Millions doesn’t go very far in this arena.
- toomuchtodo 6y agoGotta walk before you can run. Still a long way to go in America towards treating addiction as a health issue, not something to be locked up in prison for. Prove effectiveness and then make your case for more funding.
- boomboomsubban 6y agoEven if most of the money comes from the general budget, that still would be a huge saving compared to trying and incarcerating them. Whether it's paid for is the big question.
- ClumsyPilot 6y agoIs that a speculatuon or do you know / have data for how much is needed? Can you tell us at least roughly what percentage of expence will this revenue cover?
- boomboomsubban 6y agoIt's hard to believe it will harm them more than imprisonment.
- howlgarnish 6y agoQuite the contrary, it shifts the problem from being a criminal problem into a medical one.
- jacobush 6y agoNext up: fixing healthcare in the US.
- toomuchtodo 6y agoUphill doesn’t fully capture the nuance of the climb ahead on that issue. I say this as an aggressive supporter of Medicare For All [1]. [1] https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/1129/text https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/112...
- belorn 6y agoThe medical community has a long history of wanting to ban substances that has a known history of causing medical issues in people. Like lead in paint.
- eyelidlessness 6y agoYes, it is. “Their junkie problem” is a reasonably well understood addiction problem. Criminalizing addiction harms users and promotes addicts’ cycle of addiction. Even when legal, shaming addiction promotes relapse. Learn what you’re talking about. People’s lives depend on it.
- holler 6y agoI think you can also argue the opposite. Decriminalizing addiction incentivizes people to use, as well as cushions the potential consequences of their use and prevents them from hitting rock bottom. I don't think we should shame use and we should offer anyone who's addicted a path out of it through treatment etc.
- bird_monster 6y agoWhat's the difference between getting addicted to gambling (legal), alcohol (legal), prescription drugs (legal) vs. any criminalized drug? And why does the government draw this arbitrary line? Before we strawman me, I'm not advocating _all_ drugs become legal, but pointing out the absurdity of the legality of it all. Decriminalization brings on a greater opportunity for rehabilitation without entering the legal system (which lots of people never escape from). Keeping more people in the legal system should not be the goal.
- cies 6y agoCalling addiction a "junky" problem is akin to calling obesity a "fatso" problem. It says a lot about your mindset towards it. And this mindset is very much the reason why it is still a problem. Have this though experiment. If the obese would get as much hate as junkies (junkies steal vs obese make health care insurance expensive, etc), would that help them?
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- thehappypm 6y agoHonestly? Maybe. There is almost no anti-obesity stigma in the US. Everyone’s fat, so nobody cares. If being obese was stigmatized I bet people would care a lot more about avoiding the stigma.
- shredprez 6y agoThere is absolutely a stigma against obesity in the US. The country’s fixation on weight is well-documented and the last decade of “body-positivity” has done little to change it. That said, the stigma against obesity is absolutely less severe than the stigma against drug addiction. Personally, I think that’s appropriate.
- cies 6y agoOne can be a healthy addict (i know very healthy people who cannot stop coffee without withdrawal), one cannot be a healthy obese person. The problem in this comparison is that addiction has a very broad scale (e.g. coffee to crack) similar to body weight. Obesity already entails the person well over-weight (in terms of drug use that'd be "daily crack use" or smth). I personally would rather be in a relation with a coffee addict than someone suffering from obesity.
- Simulacra 6y agoIt’s about time
- cies 6y agoPortugal did it. (okay they decriminalized, not legalized, sadly)
- yandie 6y agoI wouldn't legalize all drugs. Meth is one hell of a drug. Same for heroin. I like how they approach safe injection sites to make up for not legalizing everything.
- cflynnus 6y agoCriminal prohibition of drugs just drives sales underground where there’s no regulation or testing of substances for potentially lethal contaminants. It also creates a huge economic opportunity for violent cartels/criminal organizations which can destabilize entire regions. Furthermore it does almost nothing to reduce the supply or availability of illegal drugs - we’ve been fighting a war on cocaine for 50 years and cocaine has never been more readily available or cheaper. The only thing criminal prohibition of drugs has accomplished is an explosion of the prison population making America the country with the highest level of incarceration in the world. The war on drugs causes more death and damage than drugs. The only way out is for the government to legalize, regulate and tax drugs just like alcohol and cannabis. If heroin were sold at a pharmacy there would be laws against selling to minors... dealers today will sell to anyone.
- McWobbleston 6y ago> The only thing criminal prohibition of drugs has accomplished is an explosion of the prison population making America the country with the highest level of incarceration in the world. Some would argue this is actually by design, and I'm inclined to believe them. The prison pipeline is horrifying
- 6y ago
- aurelius83 6y agoI'm actually really sad this passed. This takes money that was earmarked for schools from the Marijuana tax fund and puts it in unproven addiction treatments. It also takes away the only real leverage of consequence that legal authorities had at compelling people into a treatment programs and replaces it with a 150 dollar fine, which won't be paid anyways.
- pessimizer 6y agoYou want people to be compelled to undergo unfunded unproven addiction treatments?
- leetcrew 6y agowhy is it desirable to have leverage to compel people into treatment they wouldn't otherwise accept?
- andai 6y agoThis includes heroin, does anyone know if it also covers psilocybin? Edit: It reduces misdemeanor drug possession to a non-criminal violation on par with a traffic offense. People with small amounts of drugs including heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, ecstasy, LSD, psilocybin, methadone and oxycodone will get a ticket and face a $100 fine or have the option of being screened for a substance abuse disorder. Makes it sound like they'll send people to rehab for psychedelics, which is pretty funny.
- Lambdanaut 6y agoThe law states that all I, II, III, and IV class drugs will be decriminalized, however certain listed drugs will only be decriminalized when found with quantities below a threshhold.
- pc86 6y agoHonestly I think it's great. If you're doing heroin or meth, you definitely don't have $100 lying around for a fine, and not paying it would just land you in jail anyway. This gives people who don't have or want to pay the fine a way to stay legal without doing so, and also gives someone a chance to talk to them and potentially help. This seems really well thought out, however with sale still being as illegal as it was, I'm not sure crime/danger on that side of the transaction will decrease at all.
- piva00 6y agoCrime and danger from the drug trade will always be lurking around. Even with legal cannabis there is a black market around, diminished but not gone. This law seems to be more for harm reduction, for people to seek help without fear of prosecution, to enable others to call for an ambulance in case of something bad happens without fear of being arrested because they were shooting heroin.
- Nbox9 6y agoI read that sentence as saying “If you could afford the drugs but not the $100 fine then you probably have a substance abuse disorder and we will force you to get treatment.”