Posted by Jay2112 on March 9, 2022, at 23:21:47
In reply to Re: The state of Oregon legalized psilocybin in 2020 » Hugh, posted by SLS on March 9, 2022, at 21:48:29
> > I would not criminalize the possession of fentanyl. Making addicts criminals drives them underground, making it much less likely that they'll seek treatment for their addictions.
> >
> > The following is from https://time.com/longform/portugal-drug-use-decriminalization/
> >
> > In 2016 alone, an estimated 64,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses -- more than the combined death tolls for Americans in the Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq Wars. In Portugal [which decriminalized all drugs in 2001], meanwhile , the drug-induced death rate has plummeted to five times lower than the E.U. average and stands at one-fiftieth of the United States'. Its rate of HIV infection has dropped from 104.2 new cases per million in 2000 to 4.2 cases per million in 2015. Drug use has declined overall among the 15- to 24-year-old population, those most at risk of initiating drug use.
>
> This is a difficult problem to deliberate.
>
> What about manufacturing and distributing fentanyl? Would you find that acceptable?
>
>
> - Scott
>Hi Scott:
I think maybe we are getting some ideas confused here. I *don't* think decriminalization means that we can just walk into a pharmacy and pick out any drug we want. What Portugal has done essentially means that if you are caught with whatever drug, you are not going to get criminally charged. Instead, you will go to a social worker/counsellor, and likely have to go through treatment. The premise of doing this is to keep people with addictions out of the insane prison system, and/or from marking them from life with a criminal record.
As well, I believe there are quantity limits. Like here in Canada, where we decriminalized cannabis, I can't start up a grow-op of rows of greenhouses for my own use. Just as I believe there would be laws governing the use of any substance. It's not about creating bastions of limitless, unregulated drug use. I think any (well..most..lol) recreational user would agree that there do have to be *some* limits and responsibility, and most certainly governments are not looking to create some kind of libertarian drug free-for-all. And that definitely is NOT what Portugal modelled it's drug possession policy after.
So, I hope that clears a few things up.
Jay :)
Humans punish themselves endlessly
for not being what they believe they should be.
-Don Miguel Ruiz-
poster:Jay2112
thread:1118896
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20220128/msgs/1118960.html