5 ms·

What is a better solution?

etage3 4y ago
Portugal decriminalised drugs in 2000 and this is regarded as a better solution. Drug use is treated as a health issue rather than a crime issue, and the results are better. See here : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_policy_of_Portugal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_policy_of_Portugal
- ginja 4y ago
  I'm Portuguese and can confirm this works pretty well overall. It's still too strict though - I got convicted of essentially "possession with intent to distribute" just for having ~15g of hashish when I was young and a regular smoker some 15 years ago (the legal limit is 5g). I only got a bit over a year probation and it never showed up on my record, but it was extremely unfair IMO and a traumatic experience - to this day I still have nightmares of being arrested and my home being searched every once in a while, and a big distrust for police and the justice system which will probably never go away.
- Gloomily3819 4y ago
  Decriminalizing drugs wasn't the only thing Portugal did. They virtually force people into rehab. They don't just go around distributing crack pipes like the US.
gambiting 4y ago
And also - it's not like Americans are uniquely prone to opioid addiction, why isn't the rest of the world seeing this problem on anything approaching similar scale? What are they doing differently?
- npteljes 4y ago
  I think you'd want to look into the Opioid Epidemic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opioid_epidemic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opioid_epidemic
- williamvds 4y ago
  I get the impression America is uniquely vulnerable among the wealthiest nations. Private healthcare providers, a defanged health regulator, and rampant corporate bribery/advertising. Purdue salespeople lobbied doctors directly to prescribe their opioids to patients, while Purdue suppressed knowledge their incredibly addictive nature, and later offloaded blame to the addicts they largely created. Here's a long overview of the Sackler family and their involvement in creating the opioid epidemic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-dptkIZ7tI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-dptkIZ7tI
rocqua 4y ago
Decriminalize drug use, thorough social services support, start treating drug-users as patients with an illness rather than criminals with a moral-failing. This will probably require some decriminalization of drug sales. Just to get the drug-users out of constant contact with crime.

Portugal decriminalised drugs in 2000 and this is regarded as a better solution. Drug use is treated as a health issue rather than a crime issue, and the results are better. See here : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_policy_of_Portugal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_policy_of_Portugal

ginja 4y ago
I'm Portuguese and can confirm this works pretty well overall. It's still too strict though - I got convicted of essentially "possession with intent to distribute" just for having ~15g of hashish when I was young and a regular smoker some 15 years ago (the legal limit is 5g). I only got a bit over a year probation and it never showed up on my record, but it was extremely unfair IMO and a traumatic experience - to this day I still have nightmares of being arrested and my home being searched every once in a while, and a big distrust for police and the justice system which will probably never go away.
Gloomily3819 4y ago
Decriminalizing drugs wasn't the only thing Portugal did. They virtually force people into rehab. They don't just go around distributing crack pipes like the US.

gambiting 4y ago

And also - it's not like Americans are uniquely prone to opioid addiction, why isn't the rest of the world seeing this problem on anything approaching similar scale? What are they doing differently?

npteljes 4y ago
I think you'd want to look into the Opioid Epidemic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opioid_epidemic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opioid_epidemic
williamvds 4y ago
I get the impression America is uniquely vulnerable among the wealthiest nations. Private healthcare providers, a defanged health regulator, and rampant corporate bribery/advertising. Purdue salespeople lobbied doctors directly to prescribe their opioids to patients, while Purdue suppressed knowledge their incredibly addictive nature, and later offloaded blame to the addicts they largely created. Here's a long overview of the Sackler family and their involvement in creating the opioid epidemic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-dptkIZ7tI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-dptkIZ7tI

rocqua 4y ago

Decriminalize drug use, thorough social services support, start treating drug-users as patients with an illness rather than criminals with a moral-failing. This will probably require some decriminalization of drug sales. Just to get the drug-users out of constant contact with crime.