Surprise, surprise. Decriminalizing Drugs reduces drug abuse by 50%

[99th_Monkey]

Ten Years After Decriminalization, Drug Abuse Down by Half in Portugal
Jul. 5 2011 - 3:09 pm | 7,569 views | 0 recommendations | 6 comments
By E.D. KAIN

Drug warriors often contend that drug use would skyrocket if we were to legalize or decriminalize drugs in the United States. Fortunately, we have a real-world example of the actual effects of ending the violent, expensive War on Drugs and replacing it with a system of treatment for problem users and addicts.

Ten years ago, Portugal decriminalized all drugs. One decade after this unprecedented experiment, drug abuse is down by half: Health experts in Portugal said Friday that Portugal’s decision 10 years ago to decriminalise drug use and treat addicts rather than punishing them is an experiment that has worked.

http://blogs.forbes.com/erikkain/2011/07/05/ten-years-after-decriminalization-drug-abuse-down-by-half-in-portugal/

[girl gone mad]

1. k & r

[Stuart G]

2. K and R thanks for posting..

[Demoiselle]

3. K&R indeed!

[PDJane]

4. The money spent on jailing people

Is better spent on treatment and education. It's rather like the business of the death penalty; when it's abolished, the murder rate usually goes down.

[Romulox]

5. "Whatever. I'm making MONEY!"

[nykym]

6. Drug warriors often contend that drug use would skyrocket

if we were to legalize or decriminalize drugs in the United States. Repeat the claim often enough to ensure continued funding otherwise we are out of a job.

[patrice]

8. Of course they do, it's how they pay their mortgages.

[patrice]

7. When you screw with your average person's decision making capacity by means of coercion, e.g.

unjust laws, it tends to affect the functionality of "decision" outcomes.

Make sure that social contract is respected, i.e. society ensures that there is a decent deal for the necessities of life, with some assurance of the possibility of success FOR ANYONE willing to engage in the bargain, leave people alone as much as possible, without un-necessary constraints, and they DO make the right decisions.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

9. Do The Anti-Legalization Hand-Wringers Realize That We've Done This Before?

And they lost on that one too?

Years ago, alcohol shared the same status as drugs do right now. And what did you see going on? Money was being spent left and right to bust speakeasies, stop the importation and manufacture of alcohol, and prosecute "criminal" alcohol users. This was also the heyday of Al Capone and the Chicago gangs, who gained unbelievable power simply by controlling (read, "cornering") the market for alcohol. And guess what? People STILL drank.

Then alcohol was legalized. And what happened? How much money does the government spend regulating alcohol? Less than none (they actually MAKE money by taxing alcohol sales). Where are the Chicago gangs these days? Organized crime has abandoned the alcohol market and moved on to...........say it with me, now.............drugs. Is alcohol use rampant today? Maybe moreso than it was a century ago. But is anyone out there decrying the "epidemic" of alcohol use in America right now?

So why would legalizing drugs be ANY different? Take the billions spent on fighting the "War on Drugs," take a PORTION of it, and dump it into education and treatment programs (and I say a PORTION of it because you'd never need to use ALL of that money for that purpose AND because once the drugs are taxed, the government will be making money hand over fist).

I'm sorry, but for every person who can tell you a "drugs ruined so-and-so-a-person's life" story, you'll find TEN people with a "I like to get high in the privacy of my own home, on my own time, watch TV, eat a pizza, and fall asleep" story.

[kath]

10. Yes, but decriminalizing/legalizing would drastically cut into the profits of the Prison Industrial

Complex.
And we CERTAINLY can't have that.

[jeff47]

19. OTOH, it would massively increase the profits of big Pharma

I'm actually kinda surprised they aren't lobbying for an end to the war on drugs.

[Uncle Joe]

11. Kicked and recommended, if we were smart our nation could learn from Portugal.

But we're too focused on either fear, greed or pride.

Kudos to Portugal for their vision, respect for freedom and empathy for their citizens.:thumbsup:

Thanks for the thread, 99th Monkey.

[duhneece]

12. For me there's no greater injustice right now than the war on drugs

On second thought, the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan are just as unjust.

[Rageneau]

14. The War on Drugs is a GREATER injustice than Iraq or Afghanistan.

The War on Drugs is actually a war against our own principles as a free, self-determined people. It is a war to enslave the entire population -- to authoritatively dictate to them what is 'thinkable' and what isn't. The very fact that we can conduct and continue the illogical, anti-freedom, wrongheaded, cruel War on Drugs is what makes it so easy (too easy) to get involved with equally stupid, poorly thought-through "wars" in other places. Our government is deliberately lying to its people. No good will ever come from that.

[RegieRocker]

13. This is bullshit!

1. These statistics are wrong.
2. Portugal isn't America.
3. I have personally witnessed what drugs do to people.
4. No way could legalizing drugs be good for the country.
5. My kids would start doing drugs.
6. Crime would increase.
7. I would become fearful of people I come in contact with .
8. It's morally wrong.
9. Productivity and workplace safety would drastically decrease.
10. Our country would fall into the crapper.

:sarcasm:

[Rageneau]

15. You forgot "It would make Jesus cry."

[RegieRocker]

16. Damn!

[99th_Monkey]

17. You had me going for a minute ... then I saw the sarcasm smiley. whew!

But you also forgot that old standard=bearer ...
"Pot is a well known 'gateway' drug to heroine, meth and cocaine."

How could you have forgotten that one, pray tell?

[toddwv]

18. The War on Drugs is an abysmal failure.

My speculation as to why drug abuse declined at such a spectacular rate:

1) Public education accompanying the legalization
2) Legalization allows people to seek help for their drug problem w/o the fear of arrest.
3) Hard core use becomes "recreational" use as the drug users don't try to finish off their stash in fear of getting caught.

Pure speculation and number 3 is shaky at best. :)