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Given what we have observed with alcohol, cannibis, and prescription drugs, I think it's safe I expect that decriminalization, legal suppliers, and free drugs w

Given what we have observed with alcohol, cannibis, and prescription drugs, I think it's safe I expect that decriminalization, legal suppliers, and free drugs would probably not reduce recreational use & abuse of opiates in America... If anything, I would expect usage to increase. Don't get me wrong: I am absolutely in favor of decriminalization, as well as other radical changes in our society's relationships with drugs, mental health, and addiction. But it would be catastrophically naive to suggest that legalized/decriminalized opiates are some kind of panacea. If heroin didn't exist, these people would probably plain old alcoholics. The damage caused by an alcoholic is pretty similar to the wake of a heroin addict... It's not identical, but the overlap in causes & effects of abuse is pretty similar between the two drugs. Ultimately, the problem is that some people reach young adulthood without having developed a robust set of emotional coping mechanisms for handling the stresses of their lives. These folks are a LOT more likely to fall into the larger patterns of self-destructive behavior that drive them back toward drugs, over and over again.

gaganyaan 5y ago
I think legalization is the only real solution, but you bring up a good point about alcohol. The best approach there is preventative, and do things like strictly ban all advertising of all drugs, before there's a strong lobby to prevent that from being enacted. We should really ban advertising of alcohol and prescription drugs too, but there's unfortunately vested interests that make that a hard task. I think the ideal system is some sort of government-run one that is not out to profit, and keep on suggesting that maybe you don't need any drugs, but will give you some if you insist and are willing to watch a safety video.
- SkittyDog 5y ago
  There is a big problem with your first sentence, possibly semantic. You said: "I think legalization is the only real solution..." Legalization alone is NOT a solution, and it WILL result in increased rates of abuse, addiction, death, and human misery if other changes are not implemented concurrently with legalization. I understand why people want to focus on legalization of drugs. It's a simple idea, with precedent in th US and many other countries, and it doesn't require expanding goverment spending or power. But it's just too simplistic to be useful. We cannot limit the harms caused by addictive behavior with pure Libertarian self-interest, because addiction IS a self-interested response to larger problems that the addict lacks the capability to handle, emotionally. If we want to truly reduce the addiction, death, and suffering, we need to develop real, effective social services that help families and individuals on many, many levels. We need to plug the gaps in our children's emotional upbringings, which means permanently repairing the jagged indifference of our society that inflicts so much harm, in the first place. In short, we need to let go of our fear of collective social welfare programs, and start truly giving a shit about each other.
  - gaganyaan 5y ago
    I believe we agree. Let me rephrase my first sentence: Legalization is a necessary component of the overall solution that also includes social services intended to reduce both the need for drug use and mitigate any impacts from it. I just wanted to emphasize that without legalization, we'd be failing before we started to fix the problem as a society.
- eitland 5y ago
  > We should really ban advertising of alcohol and prescription drugs too, but there's unfortunately vested interests that make that a hard task. Around here ads for alcohol has been banned since I don't know when despite having multiple producers, of which at least one classify as large on a national basis. The last two decades we've also seen laws against tobacco coming into place and - as someone who had friends who smoked since early teenage years or in at least one case even well before that - it is kind of weird to see someone young smoking in public today so the law has obviously worked.

gaganyaan 5y ago

I think legalization is the only real solution, but you bring up a good point about alcohol. The best approach there is preventative, and do things like strictly ban all advertising of all drugs, before there's a strong lobby to prevent that from being enacted. We should really ban advertising of alcohol and prescription drugs too, but there's unfortunately vested interests that make that a hard task. I think the ideal system is some sort of government-run one that is not out to profit, and keep on suggesting that maybe you don't need any drugs, but will give you some if you insist and are willing to watch a safety video.

SkittyDog 5y ago
There is a big problem with your first sentence, possibly semantic. You said: "I think legalization is the only real solution..." Legalization alone is NOT a solution, and it WILL result in increased rates of abuse, addiction, death, and human misery if other changes are not implemented concurrently with legalization. I understand why people want to focus on legalization of drugs. It's a simple idea, with precedent in th US and many other countries, and it doesn't require expanding goverment spending or power. But it's just too simplistic to be useful. We cannot limit the harms caused by addictive behavior with pure Libertarian self-interest, because addiction IS a self-interested response to larger problems that the addict lacks the capability to handle, emotionally. If we want to truly reduce the addiction, death, and suffering, we need to develop real, effective social services that help families and individuals on many, many levels. We need to plug the gaps in our children's emotional upbringings, which means permanently repairing the jagged indifference of our society that inflicts so much harm, in the first place. In short, we need to let go of our fear of collective social welfare programs, and start truly giving a shit about each other.
- gaganyaan 5y ago
  I believe we agree. Let me rephrase my first sentence: Legalization is a necessary component of the overall solution that also includes social services intended to reduce both the need for drug use and mitigate any impacts from it. I just wanted to emphasize that without legalization, we'd be failing before we started to fix the problem as a society.
eitland 5y ago
> We should really ban advertising of alcohol and prescription drugs too, but there's unfortunately vested interests that make that a hard task. Around here ads for alcohol has been banned since I don't know when despite having multiple producers, of which at least one classify as large on a national basis. The last two decades we've also seen laws against tobacco coming into place and - as someone who had friends who smoked since early teenage years or in at least one case even well before that - it is kind of weird to see someone young smoking in public today so the law has obviously worked.