[–]irondentist [score hidden] an hour ago
We really need to abolish the DEA and the stupid war on drugs. It appears our current president isn't even willing to legalize pot
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[–]goddamnitbrian [score hidden] 48 minutes ago
In fact, I've heard very little from Capitol Hill since last year... What's been happening?
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[–]cords55 [score hidden] 37 minutes ago
Elections! At least that's my guess from my limited political understanding.
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[–]Fauster [score hidden] 12 minutes ago
As of yet, there is no billion dollar level marketing and lobbying effort to decriminalize hard drugs. Despite the fact that actual evidence hints that decriminalizing drugs could result in more than an 80% reduction in the death rate, and save ten of thousands of lives, the public will remain unaware. Not that it matters, as a Princeton study recently indicated that there is no correlation between the opinions of the general public and laws passed in congress.
The corporate elite, on the other hand, is quite happy with the status quo death rate and incarceration rate. The longer term forecast is for laws to remain the same, incarceration rates to rival those of every country in the world, and for the death rate to remain high as addicts are perpetually arrested instead of diverted to treatment.
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[–]NatasEvoli [score hidden] 34 minutes ago
The president cant just legalize weed...
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[–]JemLover [score hidden] 31 minutes ago
Well, he is the cause and solution to all of our problems...depending on what channel you're watching.
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[–]jdscarface [score hidden] 22 minutes ago
See this is the kind of shit I hate. Can't just pass reasonable laws that need to happen, but expanding NSA's authority? Sure, not a problem.
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[–]ProjectTombstone [score hidden] 13 minutes ago
But executive orders for illegal immigrants is fine?
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[–]Cadu1507 [score hidden] 27 minutes ago
Yup. He works for the executive branch, not the legislative. Obama, or any head of state, supporting or being against a bill will usually do more harm than good.
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[–]RWBYdude [score hidden] 10 minutes ago
While you're correct, it is, I believe, within his power to direct the DEA to re-classify cannabis. Currently pot is a Schedule 1 substance, which is partially described as for drugs that have no prescriptive value. If it were re-scheduled, patients with medical cards in the states wouldn't have to worry about the Feds kicking in their doors, and it would also be more easily studied. My suspicion is that he may do it as one of those last-second executive orders on the day Hill.. I mean whoever gets elected as the next POTUS gets sworn in.
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[–]RoachesWinInTheEnd [S] 20 points an hour ago
I definitely see drugs as a health care rather than a criminal issue. I also like the idea of decriminalization instead of legalization because that way corporations can't have the ability to market drugs. People need to be free to make their own mistakes.
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[–]zahrul3 [score hidden] 33 minutes ago
(hard)Drugs decriminalised at personal level, sure. People should still be sentenced for selling or manufacturing them, not only does it endanger people(both health and money wise), it harms themselves once you consider that the clandestine production of hard drugs can be quite dangerous.
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[–]ProfessionalDicker [score hidden] 21 minutes ago
The clandestine and sometimes dangerous nature of narcotic manufacturing and distribution is the result of the current prohibition. If legal, it's no longer valuable to black market entrepreneurs.
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[–]owlcandle [score hidden] 26 minutes ago
I agree with this as well. Deal with the sellers and producers as is but fund and supply organizations and hospitals to provide harm-reduction services like safe injection sites and needle exchanges. Unless somebody's drug use is directly without a doubt impacting somebody else's well-being, what is the point in punishing the user (besides filling some more prisons...)?
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[–]PC_in_real_life [score hidden] 31 minutes ago
Yeah if only out country grows to be as successful as Portugal. Wtf?
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[–]Amos_Quito [score hidden] 42 minutes ago
Everywhere it has been waged, the War on Drugs has been a colossal failure for the citizenry (collapse of privacy, property rights, and other freedoms) and a massive benefit to those pushing centralized authoritarian style government.
If the rest of the world is slow to follow Portugal's example, it is because governments (as opposed to citizenry) benefit from prohibition.
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[–]PainMatrix [score hidden] an hour ago*
Portugal's low death rate can't be attributable solely to decriminalisation. As Dr. Joao Goulao, the architect of the country's decriminalization policy, has said, "it's very difficult to identify a causal link between decriminalisation by itself and the positive tendencies we have seen."
Does anyone know of other data that could potentially lend an answer to this?
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[–]Skeetronic [score hidden] an hour ago
And this was on the front page yesterday but it's still good to get the word out so fuck it have an upvote
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[–]jaccuza [score hidden] 21 minutes ago
How on earth do they ever fill their private prisons or justify home invasions by law enforcement officers? How do they rationalize taking thousands of dollars from citizens that haven't committed any crime?
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[–]crazehoarse [score hidden] 19 minutes ago
Wait? Treating the population as adults and letting self determination prevail makes progress? Who would have guessed!
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[–]badgering_me [score hidden] an hour ago
Tell me more about this utopia that is Portugal...
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[–]Caperrs [score hidden] 22 minutes ago
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[–]protobacco [score hidden] an hour ago
If anyone wants a good read about it here is
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[–]t0b4cc02 [score hidden] an hour ago
There seems to be a huge trend that theres poorer countries on top of this chart.
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[–]PapaLegbaTX [score hidden] 48 minutes ago
wtf is going on in estonia?
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[–]Meeloptu [score hidden] 20 minutes ago
Fentanyl http://www.thejournal.ie/estonia-highest-drug-deaths-in-europe-1494188-Jun2014/
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[–]summitorother [score hidden] 48 minutes ago
Looking at that graph,
what's going on in Estonia? Their death ratio seems massive.
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[–]Meeloptu [score hidden] 21 minutes ago
Fentanyl http://www.thejournal.ie/estonia-highest-drug-deaths-in-europe-1494188-Jun2014/
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[–]Sonris [score hidden] 12 minutes ago
"you want to do heroin?"
"na, shit is legal and lame. I'm going to go jaywalk."
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[–]Bonaparta -5 points an hour ago
And has it lead to a flourishing economy?
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[–]saltysupreme [score hidden] an hour ago
Connecting a flourishing economy with the legalization of drugs is a stretch…
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[–]Bonaparta [score hidden] 55 minutes ago
How about a "Vibrant" economy?
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[–]Meeloptu [score hidden] 23 minutes ago
No, the decriminalization of drugs has not led to an economic boom in Portugal. Possession and use are legal, but drug sales are illegal. And there are no Amsterdam style coffee shops, or Spanish smoking clubs. So they aren't getting taxes, or increased tourism.
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[–]NatasEvoli [score hidden] 10 minutes ago
Decriminalization is not Legalization
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