4 ms·
Sure, in the abstract (whatever good that does), some amount of enforcement almost necessarily impacts some drug trade, pretty much by definition. But in the p
by emn13 12y ago
Sure, in the abstract (whatever good that does), some amount of enforcement almost necessarily impacts some drug trade, pretty much by definition.
But in the practical sense, for relevant real-world drugs and populations, I don't think there's any evidence that enforcement has ever had one iota of effect. People switch drugs, switch suppliers, switch habits, switch methods of consumption etc. etc. Not to mention that some drugs are legal (mostly, such as alcohol and nicotine, or partly such as various medicines), so even if "drugs" are less-consumed, the legal variant might still be just as nasty which renders the enforcement pointless despite "success". And even if overall consumption were to drop, you still might find that drug harm has not - some methods of consumption are more dangerous than others.
Given the absurd level of long-term investment there's been, you'd expect some evidence of meaningful success. Where is it?
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- msane 12y agoFlorida isn't an abstract place, it's located in the southern United States. Contrast it with other states that enforce OxyContin better. I believe you are confused about enforcement of sale vs use, and the specifics of any policy beyond the buzzword "drug war", which is typical of this debate.
- emn13 12y agoMeasured how? Overall harm is what we're interested in, not usage and not necessarily crime related to a specific drug. In any case, I don't want to suggest that the alternative is some kind of anarchic free-for-all - so enforcement wasn't a well chosen word (sorry!). I mean prohibition specifically, not just any kind of regulation. If anything, I think existing "legal" drugs like nicotine and especially alcohole could use more regulation, not less. The saying perfect is the enemy of good pretty much sums up my stance here :-) - don't bother aiming for complete abolition despite the fact that that might be a "perfect" solution if achievable.