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Prohibition doesn't work at all at stopping people from starting in the first place. It has over a hundred years of failure. Switzerland hugely reduced an ende

Prohibition doesn't work at all at stopping people from starting in the first place. It has over a hundred years of failure. Switzerland hugely reduced an endemic heroin problem in part by making it a health issue instead of a criminal issue. And Portugal has shown a lot of success in decriminalization of most drugs. Illegal drugs are perhaps the 2nd largest business globally, after petroleum. Prohibition is an abject failure at "not starting in the first place".

starkd 4y ago
Yes. I was not claiming prohibition did anything.
- tchaffee 4y ago
  So how do you suggest "not starting in the first place"? How would you implement that if not prohibition? Keeping in mind that the parent comment made a concrete suggestion on what could replace prohibition. If prohibition didn't do anything then we should surely drop it. And then?
  - starkd 4y ago
    Well, policies that introduce a little bit of friction into the choice to do drugs would be a good start. Mostly, education that warns against the harms. But, your comment seems to indicate you are more interested in legal ways you can use them than recognizing the lives that have been damaged.
    - tchaffee 4y ago
      Then you've completely misread my comments. Where did you get the idea that I'm interested in anything other than what actually works in reducing harm? Can you quote me? Pumping money into education about the pros and cons of recreational drug use would likely do a lot to reduce abuse and addiction. However only talking about the harms was already tried and was a failure. Most kids will at least try alcohol or marijuana or vaping nicotine and if you've already lied by omission about the pros they won't trust you anymore. But if you can manage to educate in an unbiased and scientific way that would likely lead to fewer lives damaged. Worth a try at least.
      - starkd 4y ago
        Yes, more education that is honest about the effects, good and bad, would be the best approach. But that involves a cultural shift where celebrities, teachers and parents all recognize the dangers and preach/remind young people how bad it is. I was not saying you were more interested in doing drugs, but your language just seemed to weight users' interests equally with harm reduction. That is just my instinct though. Sorry, if I am mistaken.

starkd 4y ago

Yes. I was not claiming prohibition did anything.

tchaffee 4y ago
So how do you suggest "not starting in the first place"? How would you implement that if not prohibition? Keeping in mind that the parent comment made a concrete suggestion on what could replace prohibition. If prohibition didn't do anything then we should surely drop it. And then?
- starkd 4y ago
  Well, policies that introduce a little bit of friction into the choice to do drugs would be a good start. Mostly, education that warns against the harms. But, your comment seems to indicate you are more interested in legal ways you can use them than recognizing the lives that have been damaged.
  - tchaffee 4y ago
    Then you've completely misread my comments. Where did you get the idea that I'm interested in anything other than what actually works in reducing harm? Can you quote me? Pumping money into education about the pros and cons of recreational drug use would likely do a lot to reduce abuse and addiction. However only talking about the harms was already tried and was a failure. Most kids will at least try alcohol or marijuana or vaping nicotine and if you've already lied by omission about the pros they won't trust you anymore. But if you can manage to educate in an unbiased and scientific way that would likely lead to fewer lives damaged. Worth a try at least.
    - starkd 4y ago
      Yes, more education that is honest about the effects, good and bad, would be the best approach. But that involves a cultural shift where celebrities, teachers and parents all recognize the dangers and preach/remind young people how bad it is. I was not saying you were more interested in doing drugs, but your language just seemed to weight users' interests equally with harm reduction. That is just my instinct though. Sorry, if I am mistaken.