4 ms·

The only solution is to have less people use drugs so that there is less money to be made selling drugs. The best way to have less people use drugs is probably

The only solution is to have less people use drugs so that there is less money to be made selling drugs. The best way to have less people use drugs is probably to make it illegal to use and buy drugs.

rasz 3y ago
or provide unlimited free hard drugs and wait for the problem to solve itself
pstuart 3y ago
We've already determined that it's okay to sell highly addictive and lethal drugs (tobacco and alcohol). Now it's a matter of being consistent about it. The best way to to have people use less drugs is to have them live happy lives that they don't feel compelled to escape.
hn666 3y ago
The only solution to have less people drinking alcohol so that there is less money to be made selling alcohol. The best way to have less people drinking alcohol is probably to make it illegal to use and buy alcohol.
- flakeoil 3y ago
  Exactly!
- SirSavary 3y ago
  Because this worked out very well during prohibition, and lead to zero long-term negative consequences /s
ilovetux 3y ago
> The best way to have less people use drugs is probably to make it illegal to use and buy drugs. I think we have proven this to be incorrect. In fact, making it illegal to use and buy drugs has the effect of locking people into a counter-culture and making it a major life decision to use drugs instead of a daily decision like it should be. If I want to take time off of work to waste a day of my life doing drugs for fun and pick up where I left off the next day, that shouldn't be a life destroying decision.
- flakeoil 3y ago
  > making it a major life decision to use drugs instead of a daily decision You basically spell it out yourself. Making it legal and accepted to use drugs makes more people use it. If more people use it there will be more drugs being sold. People think that by making it legal the drug dealers will go away (and all other drug related problems) and serious companies will take over. But this is very unlikely so as the illegal sellers will always be able to undercut the legal sellers on price as well as service (24/7 etc). Same with legal producers vs illegal producers etc. In addition, making it legal and thus having more people use drugs increases those side effects as well (such as you say "waste a day of my life doing drugs" or maybe waste your whole life or your spouses life or your kids life).
  - ilovetux 3y ago
    > You basically spell it out yourself. Making it legal and accepted to use drugs makes more people use. I don't think I said that at all. Just because it is made to be a major life decision does not mean that the decision is made with proper due diligence or even with a rational mind. In fact, these decisions are usually made by very young people. This has the unfortunate side effect of locking a lot of people into a way of life because they decided to try drugs as a teen. It is possible to try some drugs and walk away like smoking a little weed as a college kid, but a lot of times drugs are used as an escape. At a young age that escape can be tempting and you can develop a habit. Now, if drug use were legalized and normalized, you could seek help and not otherwise impact your life, but as it stands it is more likely that a habit would result in a conviction which will follow them around for life making it harder to find a well paying job, decent housing etc. The cycle reinforces itself over the course of a lifetime. Now as far as numbers go, the current policies ensure that a drugs retention rate is as high as possible. If policies forced more churn, then the number of simultanious users at any one time could be lower. They could be higher, but we havent had the oportunity to see.

rasz 3y ago

or provide unlimited free hard drugs and wait for the problem to solve itself

pstuart 3y ago

We've already determined that it's okay to sell highly addictive and lethal drugs (tobacco and alcohol). Now it's a matter of being consistent about it. The best way to to have people use less drugs is to have them live happy lives that they don't feel compelled to escape.

hn666 3y ago

The only solution to have less people drinking alcohol so that there is less money to be made selling alcohol. The best way to have less people drinking alcohol is probably to make it illegal to use and buy alcohol.

flakeoil 3y ago
Exactly!
SirSavary 3y ago
Because this worked out very well during prohibition, and lead to zero long-term negative consequences /s

ilovetux 3y ago

> The best way to have less people use drugs is probably to make it illegal to use and buy drugs. I think we have proven this to be incorrect. In fact, making it illegal to use and buy drugs has the effect of locking people into a counter-culture and making it a major life decision to use drugs instead of a daily decision like it should be. If I want to take time off of work to waste a day of my life doing drugs for fun and pick up where I left off the next day, that shouldn't be a life destroying decision.

flakeoil 3y ago
> making it a major life decision to use drugs instead of a daily decision You basically spell it out yourself. Making it legal and accepted to use drugs makes more people use it. If more people use it there will be more drugs being sold. People think that by making it legal the drug dealers will go away (and all other drug related problems) and serious companies will take over. But this is very unlikely so as the illegal sellers will always be able to undercut the legal sellers on price as well as service (24/7 etc). Same with legal producers vs illegal producers etc. In addition, making it legal and thus having more people use drugs increases those side effects as well (such as you say "waste a day of my life doing drugs" or maybe waste your whole life or your spouses life or your kids life).
- ilovetux 3y ago
  > You basically spell it out yourself. Making it legal and accepted to use drugs makes more people use. I don't think I said that at all. Just because it is made to be a major life decision does not mean that the decision is made with proper due diligence or even with a rational mind. In fact, these decisions are usually made by very young people. This has the unfortunate side effect of locking a lot of people into a way of life because they decided to try drugs as a teen. It is possible to try some drugs and walk away like smoking a little weed as a college kid, but a lot of times drugs are used as an escape. At a young age that escape can be tempting and you can develop a habit. Now, if drug use were legalized and normalized, you could seek help and not otherwise impact your life, but as it stands it is more likely that a habit would result in a conviction which will follow them around for life making it harder to find a well paying job, decent housing etc. The cycle reinforces itself over the course of a lifetime. Now as far as numbers go, the current policies ensure that a drugs retention rate is as high as possible. If policies forced more churn, then the number of simultanious users at any one time could be lower. They could be higher, but we havent had the oportunity to see.