3 ms·

It is a direct result of the drug war... Legalize all drugs, disempower doctors from being gatekeepers and allow anyone to get anything they want at any time,

It is a direct result of the drug war... Legalize all drugs, disempower doctors from being gatekeepers and allow anyone to get anything they want at any time, aside from age restrictions and things like antibiotics (which can contribute to making bacteria more robust and dangerous). Testable, trackable access to all drugs, without any stigma of illegality. This removes all incentive for adulterated substances, gives access to drug users to therapy / rehab / services without risk of law enforcement, provides for new classes of business around safe use locations (bars for alcohol, new kinds if bars for you name it), taxable revenue streams (which would still be cheaper than black markets for consumers), reduced medical costs (if you know what you need, why spend $500 seeing a doctor? An AI is cheaper and more effective here anyway) -- oh, and it actually wins the drug war against cartels and gangsters. The list goes on, but sounds kind of dumb to me not to do this? Fentanyl would be a non-issue, along with a host of other issues. We would switch to new issues that live in the light, and we could actively work on them suddenly. Freedom solves most of our invented issues. Controlling the will of people introduces all sorts of insidious complications. I wonder why that is?

Kalkaline 3y ago
You have to fund rehabilitation for addiction if you're going to open those flood gates. I'm all about legalization, but we need to follow Portugal's lead on this as they saw a major drop in overall drug use.
- survirtual 3y ago
  You could easily fund rehabilitation with a fraction of the taxable proceeds from legal drug sales.
0dayz 3y ago
I kind of agree, I agree 100% with transparency, it's something I think the UK does wonders with having drug testing sites where they don't confiscate the drug instead the user themselves can decide if they want to take whatever toxic waste is mixed in with MDMA for instance. I don't think legalizing it to the point where anyone can get it anywhere is the way to go, you have to rehabilitate not only users but the drug itself. Ecstasy as an example will contribute to death as long as people see ecstasy as a party drug (since most cause of death is because of heat stroke or drinking too much water), if you can rehabilitate the public perception that ecstasy is more of a relax drug akin to weed, then I think we're on to something. Issue is also that the cartel has grown so vast and powerful I doubt even if USA went full legalization that this will change much, the cartel will find grey area to smuggle in "illegal" legal drugs like how the Italian mafia are notorious for fake olive oil.
- survirtual 3y ago
  I agree with the idea of rehabilitating public perception, but I believe that happens naturally with legalization. The issue is that every day there is friction to acquire unadulterated drugs, is another day some young human dies for causes unrelated to the negative impacts of the substance they are taking themselves. It is easy to plan for the risk of something when you know what it is. How can they plan for risk of fentanyl laced MDMA? They are going to take the drug one way or another, so we can all start by making sure what they take is what they think it is. That will immediately begin saving lives and have drastic societal impacts. By doing that, the reshaping of perceptions and use of these drugs happens naturally. People taking them can be open about what they are on, and can have support when they use. Conversations will happen naturally -- "did you know MDMA has significant benefits when taken quietly and contemplatively? Maybe try that sometime." These conversations rarely happen now because you have to establish trust and knowledge with people to make sure they won't be a danger to your safety and freedom. With current mechanics, often times, people hide their use so well they look like advocates against use. How many police officers, for instance, are users of something? We don't have a clue. The users are absolute masters of hiding. But I promise you, they exist, and the numbers are higher than anyone would expect.

Kalkaline 3y ago

You have to fund rehabilitation for addiction if you're going to open those flood gates. I'm all about legalization, but we need to follow Portugal's lead on this as they saw a major drop in overall drug use.

survirtual 3y ago
You could easily fund rehabilitation with a fraction of the taxable proceeds from legal drug sales.

0dayz 3y ago

I kind of agree, I agree 100% with transparency, it's something I think the UK does wonders with having drug testing sites where they don't confiscate the drug instead the user themselves can decide if they want to take whatever toxic waste is mixed in with MDMA for instance. I don't think legalizing it to the point where anyone can get it anywhere is the way to go, you have to rehabilitate not only users but the drug itself. Ecstasy as an example will contribute to death as long as people see ecstasy as a party drug (since most cause of death is because of heat stroke or drinking too much water), if you can rehabilitate the public perception that ecstasy is more of a relax drug akin to weed, then I think we're on to something. Issue is also that the cartel has grown so vast and powerful I doubt even if USA went full legalization that this will change much, the cartel will find grey area to smuggle in "illegal" legal drugs like how the Italian mafia are notorious for fake olive oil.

survirtual 3y ago
I agree with the idea of rehabilitating public perception, but I believe that happens naturally with legalization. The issue is that every day there is friction to acquire unadulterated drugs, is another day some young human dies for causes unrelated to the negative impacts of the substance they are taking themselves. It is easy to plan for the risk of something when you know what it is. How can they plan for risk of fentanyl laced MDMA? They are going to take the drug one way or another, so we can all start by making sure what they take is what they think it is. That will immediately begin saving lives and have drastic societal impacts. By doing that, the reshaping of perceptions and use of these drugs happens naturally. People taking them can be open about what they are on, and can have support when they use. Conversations will happen naturally -- "did you know MDMA has significant benefits when taken quietly and contemplatively? Maybe try that sometime." These conversations rarely happen now because you have to establish trust and knowledge with people to make sure they won't be a danger to your safety and freedom. With current mechanics, often times, people hide their use so well they look like advocates against use. How many police officers, for instance, are users of something? We don't have a clue. The users are absolute masters of hiding. But I promise you, they exist, and the numbers are higher than anyone would expect.