4 ms·

I wouldn't be so sure yet, the damage that drugs can do is immense. Meanwhile the damage of outlawing drugs is mainly from imperfect enforcement and inflicted o

I wouldn't be so sure yet, the damage that drugs can do is immense. Meanwhile the damage of outlawing drugs is mainly from imperfect enforcement and inflicted on people who willingly broke a law for personal enjoyment. A person that gets permanently mentally damaged (e.g becomes schizoid) from drug use is causing an 80 year long drain on society in every way. People apparently have to find out the hard way before they can understand how bad drugs are.

AnthonyMouse 3y ago
> Meanwhile the damage of outlawing drugs is mainly from imperfect enforcement and inflicted on people who willingly broke a law for personal enjoyment. That's omitting the murderous drug cartels that wouldn't otherwise exist. > A person that gets permanently mentally damaged (e.g becomes schizoid) from drug use is causing an 80 year long drain on society in every way. What about a person who gets denied necessary medication out of overzealous enforcement, or can't get access to it because they would have to already be on the medication in order to navigate the bureaucracy necessary to get a prescription? > People apparently have to find out the hard way before they can understand how bad drugs are. This is like pointing to a stabbing victim and saying "people apparently have to find out the hard way how bad knives are." Yes, cutting tools are dangerous. No, we shouldn't ban cutlery. But maybe we should teach people how to safely use sharp objects.
- ffgjgf1 3y ago
  I don’t why people keep bizarre metaphors which make little as id that somehow reinforces their point. Fentanyl and knives are not quite the same (I hope I don’t have to try and explain why). More seriously though all those issues you mentioned are caused by flaws in the enforcement mechanism. Addressing them directly seems like a better idea than full legalization. As flawed as the current situation is how exactly would legalization of hard drugs improve it or be a net benefit for the society?
  - amanaplanacanal 3y ago
    Many ways: put the murderous cartels out of business, stop ruining people’s lives with felony convictions, cut down on accidental overdoses from black market drugs of unknown contents and potency, less impetus for corruption in law enforcement. All the same benefits that we gained from repealing alcohol prohibition.
    - alienicecream 3y ago
      The cartels are mostly killing each other, those people weren't going to be a great boon to society anyway, they would've found a different criminal enterprise to get into. And if you don't want to go to jail for doing drugs, you can just not do drugs.
      - ffgjgf1 3y ago
        > And if you don't want to go to jail for doing drugs, you can just not do drugs Or we could just not put people in jail for using drugs? What’s the point of that? Not that I think it it happens particularly frequently in most places these days.
        AnthonyMouse 3y ago
        We put people in jail for using drugs because we put people in jail for having drugs because otherwise people could sell the drugs that they have in private, and at that point what are you even trying to make illegal? Sales from ordinary merchants subject to purity standards?
        ffgjgf1 3y ago
        Generally in many places you would only be put in jail if you possess medium/large amounts of drugs and/or the state can prove that you intended to distribute them. > Sales from ordinary merchants subject to purity standards? You mean pharmacies?

AnthonyMouse 3y ago

> Meanwhile the damage of outlawing drugs is mainly from imperfect enforcement and inflicted on people who willingly broke a law for personal enjoyment. That's omitting the murderous drug cartels that wouldn't otherwise exist. > A person that gets permanently mentally damaged (e.g becomes schizoid) from drug use is causing an 80 year long drain on society in every way. What about a person who gets denied necessary medication out of overzealous enforcement, or can't get access to it because they would have to already be on the medication in order to navigate the bureaucracy necessary to get a prescription? > People apparently have to find out the hard way before they can understand how bad drugs are. This is like pointing to a stabbing victim and saying "people apparently have to find out the hard way how bad knives are." Yes, cutting tools are dangerous. No, we shouldn't ban cutlery. But maybe we should teach people how to safely use sharp objects.

ffgjgf1 3y ago
I don’t why people keep bizarre metaphors which make little as id that somehow reinforces their point. Fentanyl and knives are not quite the same (I hope I don’t have to try and explain why). More seriously though all those issues you mentioned are caused by flaws in the enforcement mechanism. Addressing them directly seems like a better idea than full legalization. As flawed as the current situation is how exactly would legalization of hard drugs improve it or be a net benefit for the society?
- amanaplanacanal 3y ago
  Many ways: put the murderous cartels out of business, stop ruining people’s lives with felony convictions, cut down on accidental overdoses from black market drugs of unknown contents and potency, less impetus for corruption in law enforcement. All the same benefits that we gained from repealing alcohol prohibition.
  - alienicecream 3y ago
    The cartels are mostly killing each other, those people weren't going to be a great boon to society anyway, they would've found a different criminal enterprise to get into. And if you don't want to go to jail for doing drugs, you can just not do drugs.
    - ffgjgf1 3y ago
      > And if you don't want to go to jail for doing drugs, you can just not do drugs Or we could just not put people in jail for using drugs? What’s the point of that? Not that I think it it happens particularly frequently in most places these days.
      - AnthonyMouse 3y ago
        We put people in jail for using drugs because we put people in jail for having drugs because otherwise people could sell the drugs that they have in private, and at that point what are you even trying to make illegal? Sales from ordinary merchants subject to purity standards?
        ffgjgf1 3y ago
        Generally in many places you would only be put in jail if you possess medium/large amounts of drugs and/or the state can prove that you intended to distribute them. > Sales from ordinary merchants subject to purity standards? You mean pharmacies?