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It's an evergreen topic on north american conservative talk radio. Our local right wing talking head brought it up this week as part of an effort to erode suppo

It's an evergreen topic on north american conservative talk radio. Our local right wing talking head brought it up this week as part of an effort to erode support for the existing supervised consumption site in our city. As evidenced by a few comments in this thread, a lot of people see drug use solely as a sign of moral failing on the part of the user and will refuse to accept any solutions that don't involve punishment.

throwuwu 3y ago
They would likely accept it if it came with strict requirements that the addicts must also undergo counseling and engage in a job/housing search if they are currently unemployed or homeless. It’s not punishment that most people on the right want, it’s personal responsibility of which being punished for criminal activity is just a small component. If the addicts using these centres were demonstrated to be making real progress towards getting clean and reintegrated into society then the vast majority of conservatives would support them. The opposition is to a policy that is essentially no different from legalizing opium dens that support only the habit without requiring treatment.
- gaganyaan 3y ago
  The right wing people I know would never accept it, even if it came with counseling and all that. They have rejected Portugal's approach and said that that's just giving in to the druggies. There might be some conservative people that agree with you, but I think most strongly religious conservatives wouldn't. IMO it does come down to punishment. Druggies have sinned and must be punished, spare the rod and all that.
  - kranke155 3y ago
    This is such a bizarre idea. Thanks to this thread, I learnt that the entire Portuguese drug program now costs something like 16€ million. The results for that is - top 10 country in safety in the world - pretty average results in drug usage in the population. For 16! Million! That's a preposterous result.
beaeglebeach 3y ago
There are some "right wing" ideologies that basically align with non-interventionist decriminalization: don't fuck with me I won't fuck with you sort of individualistic thinking. Using violence such as taxation to solve it has parallels in some minds to the druggy coming up and robbing you. They don't want either, just the option to defend theyself or possibly engage in voluntary charity/assistance.

throwuwu 3y ago

They would likely accept it if it came with strict requirements that the addicts must also undergo counseling and engage in a job/housing search if they are currently unemployed or homeless. It’s not punishment that most people on the right want, it’s personal responsibility of which being punished for criminal activity is just a small component. If the addicts using these centres were demonstrated to be making real progress towards getting clean and reintegrated into society then the vast majority of conservatives would support them. The opposition is to a policy that is essentially no different from legalizing opium dens that support only the habit without requiring treatment.

gaganyaan 3y ago
The right wing people I know would never accept it, even if it came with counseling and all that. They have rejected Portugal's approach and said that that's just giving in to the druggies. There might be some conservative people that agree with you, but I think most strongly religious conservatives wouldn't. IMO it does come down to punishment. Druggies have sinned and must be punished, spare the rod and all that.
- kranke155 3y ago
  This is such a bizarre idea. Thanks to this thread, I learnt that the entire Portuguese drug program now costs something like 16€ million. The results for that is - top 10 country in safety in the world - pretty average results in drug usage in the population. For 16! Million! That's a preposterous result.

beaeglebeach 3y ago

There are some "right wing" ideologies that basically align with non-interventionist decriminalization: don't fuck with me I won't fuck with you sort of individualistic thinking. Using violence such as taxation to solve it has parallels in some minds to the druggy coming up and robbing you. They don't want either, just the option to defend theyself or possibly engage in voluntary charity/assistance.