If all I had to drink was this, I'd do drugs, too...............
Posted on 09/27/2010 1:21:01 PM PDT by La Lydia
...Portugal, which in 2001 became the first European country to officially abolish all criminal penalties for personal possession of drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. At the recommendation of a national commission charged with addressing Portugal's drug problem, jail time was replaced with the offer of therapy. The argument was that the fear of prison drives addicts underground and that incarceration is more expensive than treatment — so why not give drug addicts health services instead? .....At the time, critics in the poor, largely Catholic nation said decriminalizing drug possession would open the country to "drug tourists" and exacerbate Portugal's drug problem; the country had some of the highest levels of hard-drug use in Europe. But the recently released results of a report commissioned by the Cato Institute suggest otherwise.
The paper...found that in the five years after personal possession was decriminalized, illegal drug use among teens in Portugal declined and rates of new HIV infections caused by sharing of dirty needles dropped, while the number of people seeking treatment for drug addiction more than doubled.
...Following decriminalization, Portugal had the lowest rate of lifetime marijuana use in people over 15 in the E.U.: 10%. The most comparable figure in America is in people over 12: 39.8%. Proportionally, more Americans have used cocaine than Portuguese have used marijuana. The Cato paper reports that between 2001 and 2006 in Portugal, rates of lifetime use of any illegal drug among seventh through ninth graders fell from 14.1% to 10.6%; drug use in older teens also declined. Lifetime heroin use among 16-to-18-year-olds fell ...
...the data shows that decriminalization does not result in increased drug use. Since that is what concerns the public and policymakers most about decriminalization, he says, "that is the central concession that will transform the debate."
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
If all I had to drink was this, I'd do drugs, too...............
We cannot as a country allow people to choose to do things that are destructive to themselves. It is un-American to allow freedom...</sarcasm>
Governmental schemes by politicians are always the best idea for the power hungry.
You choose.
Recall for about 150+ years in the United States one could walk down to the drug store and buy any drug that you wanted. We were OK then. Think Coca Cola.
The study references “lifetime use” rates dropping but so far all we have is 9 years of history. And that is for people who were using at 15/16.
Like anything ... the statistics are meaningless without details of the analysis method and sample population characteristics.
Perhaps, in view of the facts indicated, it’s time here in the United States to decriminalize the use of tobacco!
Dear La Lydia — in all respect, the U.S.A. is not Portugal. Furthermore, Portugal is not located next-door to a rapidly declining narco-state (Mexico).
I’ve posted many times why it won’t work here but basically for the same reasons opium nearly destroyed China. It is too easy to stay stoned and let the other work and pay taxes.
Bring on the Octomoms.
I am FOR decrimialization, espeically for pot.
I USED TO smoke it when I was young and so i know what I am talking about- it is WAY less harmful than alcohol.
I have not smoked it for years, because my jobs usually depend on random drug testing. If it was made legal, I would probably OCCASIONALLY enjoy it.
It makes you mellow, stop nausea, makes you creative, and stops your hair loss.
I rarely drink and that is legal
So...
I will say it CAN BE ABUSED- just like too much alcohol is a problem, too much pot is a problem- it makes you VERY paranoid to the point of being unable to think clearly or function, and causes memory loss in large quantities. Just like anything else, too much is a bad thing
why?
Think Laudanum.................
The “war Against Drugs” is the genesis of the SWATs that plague us and of many killings and much destruction at “wrong addresses.” It is the source of the militarization of our police forces from local level to federal and the source of the policemen’s attitude that they are the guardians of civilization against the enemies who are all the rest of the us, the whole population. It has nearly destroyed Mexico and is beginning to infect our own country with the same disease.
“...the data shows that decriminalization does not result in increased drug use. Since that is what concerns the public and policymakers most about decriminalization, he says”
will they ever end trying to make that old argument
peoplw don’t want to be subjected to living with and around druggies
How did you get that picture of me in my jammies?
I guess you don’t know what the Cato Institute is, do you?
If you study long enough, they’ll all OD and the problem goes away.................
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