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I saw this first hand from the locals too in Lisbon. I was up the hill looking over a wall to get a photo of the bay from down a side street. I noticed there wa

I saw this first hand from the locals too in Lisbon. I was up the hill looking over a wall to get a photo of the bay from down a side street. I noticed there was bits of broken bottle cemented into the top Of the wall as a kind of razor wire. When I looked closely and slightly over the wall I found syringes with remnants of brown tar leaking of of them. Less than the time it took me to realize a window in the house opened and someone was clearly going to give me a good yelling at but when she saw we were just tourists in the alley closed the window mumbling something and left us alone. So yea, what it does to communities is bad but the solution isn’t to look back at old ways hoping things will change if we try again. As you’ve mentioned, a better solution needs to be found, but it’s a difficult problem, and there aren’t many great ideas going around

SECProto 2y ago
> I noticed there was bits of broken bottle cemented into the top Of the wall as a kind of razor wire. That has nothing to do with drug policy, and is common in many places around the world. https://www.reddit.com/r/asklatinamerica/comments/ifbvbh/is_placing_broken_glass_on_top_of_house_walls/ https://www.reddit.com/r/asklatinamerica/comments/ifbvbh/is_... https://www.reddit.com/r/HostileArchitecture/comments/eh9fz4/broken_glass_bottles_built_into_the_walls_in_the/ https://www.reddit.com/r/HostileArchitecture/comments/eh9fz4...
- Affric 2y ago
  Drugs are criminalised here and it still happens. Safe injecting room actually means less of this stuff on the streets round my house.
  - throwaway290 2y ago
    If BC will recriminalize "use in public spaces", presumably means injection rooms can remain. Best of both worlds?
    - Affric 2y ago
      True. Having read the article I am interested in what the penalty would be. If you can’t do it with a civil penalty then criminal proceedings make sense I guess.
- aunty_helen 2y ago
  This is correct, I mentioned it more as a scene setting mechanism. A quiet alleyway with a wall you can’t climb over at the end. Seems like a nice quiet place to shoot up.
pedrogpimenta 2y ago
But you have no idea how it was before, do you?
foldr 2y ago
This doesn't seem like a particularly good example of the negative effects on communities. Fundamentally, your story is that you looked over a wall and then someone opened a window and didn't shout at you.
- aunty_helen 2y ago
  The lady was obviously conditioned to think noises in the alley meant people shooting up heroin. Sorry your weren’t there to see it but the discarded drug paraphernalia and then scowl on her face which subsided when she realized we were taking photos and not horse really was the important aspects of the story
ranguna 2y ago
You should've seen what it was before. Read up on Portuguese drug history before you speak please. Decriminalising drug usage was a good move by the Portuguese government and it improved the population's wellbeing significantly by introducing rehab instead of imprisonment. Also, you'll find things like that on every capital of the world, no exceptions. Maybe you'll notice it a little less in Singapore, where drug consumption can lead to the death sentence.
- aunty_helen 2y ago
  I’m aware of Portuguese drug policy as I would say most people here. There’s a 6 monthly refresher article on the front page. Decriminalization and the rehabilitation focus that followed has been a huge success for Portugal’s drug taking population. I was excited to see it in action when I was there but what I found and what I mentioned earlier wasn’t all positives. For example, everywhere outside at night in Lisbon you’re going to have people trying to sell you coke. A guy from the tour group I was in was getting free samples poured into his hand. The level of pushy these sellers are too, I had a guy follow me into a _bank_ offering me his mothers home phone number that I could call if the coke he was trying to sell me was shit quality. The discussion though is the impacts of this policy on local communities. I’ll defer to my last paragraph on this from my previous post. Lastly, I’ve never been chased or offered a free sample in any other European capital, even the party ones. Once in South America though.

SECProto 2y ago

> I noticed there was bits of broken bottle cemented into the top Of the wall as a kind of razor wire. That has nothing to do with drug policy, and is common in many places around the world. https://www.reddit.com/r/asklatinamerica/comments/ifbvbh/is_placing_broken_glass_on_top_of_house_walls/ https://www.reddit.com/r/asklatinamerica/comments/ifbvbh/is_... https://www.reddit.com/r/HostileArchitecture/comments/eh9fz4/broken_glass_bottles_built_into_the_walls_in_the/ https://www.reddit.com/r/HostileArchitecture/comments/eh9fz4...

Affric 2y ago
Drugs are criminalised here and it still happens. Safe injecting room actually means less of this stuff on the streets round my house.
- throwaway290 2y ago
  If BC will recriminalize "use in public spaces", presumably means injection rooms can remain. Best of both worlds?
  - Affric 2y ago
    True. Having read the article I am interested in what the penalty would be. If you can’t do it with a civil penalty then criminal proceedings make sense I guess.
aunty_helen 2y ago
This is correct, I mentioned it more as a scene setting mechanism. A quiet alleyway with a wall you can’t climb over at the end. Seems like a nice quiet place to shoot up.

pedrogpimenta 2y ago

But you have no idea how it was before, do you?

foldr 2y ago

This doesn't seem like a particularly good example of the negative effects on communities. Fundamentally, your story is that you looked over a wall and then someone opened a window and didn't shout at you.

aunty_helen 2y ago
The lady was obviously conditioned to think noises in the alley meant people shooting up heroin. Sorry your weren’t there to see it but the discarded drug paraphernalia and then scowl on her face which subsided when she realized we were taking photos and not horse really was the important aspects of the story

ranguna 2y ago

You should've seen what it was before. Read up on Portuguese drug history before you speak please. Decriminalising drug usage was a good move by the Portuguese government and it improved the population's wellbeing significantly by introducing rehab instead of imprisonment. Also, you'll find things like that on every capital of the world, no exceptions. Maybe you'll notice it a little less in Singapore, where drug consumption can lead to the death sentence.

aunty_helen 2y ago
I’m aware of Portuguese drug policy as I would say most people here. There’s a 6 monthly refresher article on the front page. Decriminalization and the rehabilitation focus that followed has been a huge success for Portugal’s drug taking population. I was excited to see it in action when I was there but what I found and what I mentioned earlier wasn’t all positives. For example, everywhere outside at night in Lisbon you’re going to have people trying to sell you coke. A guy from the tour group I was in was getting free samples poured into his hand. The level of pushy these sellers are too, I had a guy follow me into a _bank_ offering me his mothers home phone number that I could call if the coke he was trying to sell me was shit quality. The discussion though is the impacts of this policy on local communities. I’ll defer to my last paragraph on this from my previous post. Lastly, I’ve never been chased or offered a free sample in any other European capital, even the party ones. Once in South America though.