Is America Ready to Decriminalize Meth and Heroin?

National Review ^ | February 11, 2020 | David Harsanyi

[jmacusa]

So do alcoholics. Do you want to bring back Prohibition?

[Jimmy Valentine]

We have more than enough “Lotus Eaters” on the dole already. We don’t need any more.

[cymbeline]

“I don’t mind idiots destroying their own lives with drugs, but too often they destroy the lives of their children, too.”

Also, as things stand now I help pay their medical and rehabilitation expenses.

Legalizing prostitution, drugs, etc., sends a message that they’re ok. That’s a major reason I don’t want them legalized.

[Jumper]

Alcohol is something that is easily detectable... but the legal framework for alcohol abuse will not work with drugs.

How do you readily detect the drug users and how do you regulate drug users driving vehicles, which is to say what are the timeframe restrictions between usage and driving. That same question then applied to school attendance, or work.

People taking drugs immediately before work or on the job are an endangerment to everyone in the workplace. And what of productivity?

Legalization of drugs is a one-way ticket to Government Health Care.

Read that again - Government Health Care.

[Big Red Badger]

Exactly,
INSANITY!

[MayflowerMadam]

Tulsi is for decriminalizing both. I saw her on Hannity and her constant avoidance of answering that question made it obvious.

[Gen.Blather]

I have seven low end rentals in a rural county. Last year I had to evict two middle income families because the WIFE got involved in drugs (meth I think) and ended up in jail. The houses were a wreck. I spent $15,000 on one and $10,000 on the other. The children in both cases were neglected despite a husband trying his best to take care of the kids and his wife’s habit. In these cases prison was the only chance for these families and the best possible path forward as the husbands were in denial and enabling the behavior to keep their marriages together.

One of these families I really felt sorry for the man as he tried so hard. But I have mortgages to pay and I had to get them out before the wife set the house on fire or overfilled a tub for eight hours. (That happened to another landlord I know.)

In both cases the kids were turned over to relatives who were, I gather, desperate to get the kids away from the situation.

The husband above told my helper, “I am really sorry, “Donna” is f@cking crazy.”

[Kalija]

Sanctuary for pimps hoes and John’s as long as they pay their taxes

[karpov]

Thanks for your story. I wonder if there should be stricter drug laws for parents of minor children. One can argue that a childless person has the right to destroy his or her life, but parents have responsibilities.

[BipolarBob]

Actually a modified form of the "Four Pillars" approach seems like the most likely model to be successful. What the US and most of the world is doing now is not successful (well you can go with the Phillipines method of immediate execution of drug dealers) to decrease drug dependence.
By the government dispensing the drugs (Bernie Sanders FREE!) linked to a rigorous therapy and work requirements, you have provided the incentive to stay in the program and kick the habit, stay productive, provides alternative to drug dealers (hurts their profits) and change the the attitude of users to want to be drug free.
The second part is to not treat users out of the program (for those unfortunates who OD, no Narcan for you). If they die, they die. So those outside of the program are paying more for drugs and taking a chance of ODing and dying.

[zeugma]

I see nothing in my copy of the constitution wherein the federal government is given any authority over what I put in my body, only by implication the authority to punish me if I harm others as a result.

Yup. The only drug mentioned in the Constitution that I have found is alcohol, and that was added and removed through the amendment process. There are still a lot of drug warriors here on FR. It's not a popular position to take here.

The only legitimate action the government should be able to take regarding drugs would be questions regarding purity and truth in labeling, as both could be considered fraud.

[NobleFree]

it takes many rounds of treatment for a small number of people to be cured....and its not really a cure

How many addicts has prison cured?

[Blood of Tyrants]

I’m saying let’s not add to the problem.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Exactly.

[NobleFree]

I don’t mind idiots destroying their own lives with drugs, but too often they destroy the lives of their children, too.

So do alcoholics. Do you want to bring back Prohibition?

I’m saying let’s not add to the problem.

Why, in your view, shouldn't we subtract from the problem by bringing back Prohibition?

[NobleFree]

Also, as things stand now I help pay their medical and rehabilitation expenses.

Ditto for alcohol abusers and overeaters. Should the government therefore ban alcohol and regulate individuals' caloric intake? I say no.

Legalizing prostitution, drugs, etc., sends a message that they’re ok. That’s a major reason I don’t want them legalized.

It's legal for me to tell my wife she's ugly. Does that send a message that it's OK? Should it be made illegal? I say no.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Don’t be a dumbass. Decriminalizing drugs is the same as sending a message that it’s okay.

[NobleFree]

Why, in your view, shouldn't we subtract from the problem by bringing back Prohibition?

Don’t be a dumbass. Decriminalizing drugs is the same as sending a message that it’s okay.

Nonresponsive.

It's legal for me to tell my wife she's ugly. Does that send a message that it's OK? Should it be made illegal? I say no.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Stupid questions do not require a sensible answer.

[NobleFree]

You lose. Take a hankie and a Tucks on your way out the door.