I supported legalizing all drugs, then the opioid epidemic happened

Re:I supported legalizing all drugs, then the opioid epidemi... by dontreact on Thursday April 20, 2017 @11:53AM (#14157783)

The problem is that it has been proven that it is easy for large pharmaceutical companies to deceptively represent these drugs. Oxycontin has been marketed as being effective at managing pain for 12 or sometimes even 24 hours, but this is not the case in many users and this is a big factor in why the drug is so addictive. http://www.latimes.com/projects/oxycontin-part1/

What about the Portugese model described in the article (legal for consumption, illegal to commercialize), with some of the funds spent on controlling drug related violence instead being turned towards treatment centers where addicts can get something like Methadone?

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Re:I supported legalizing all drugs, then the opioid epidemi... by actsasbuffoon on Thursday April 20, 2017 @02:05PM (#14159197)

I strongly agree. I'm as anti-drug as it gets, but locking up non-violent drug users with rapists and murderers doesn't make sense. If our goal is to help drug addicts get clean, prison is a terrible strategy.

There's a kind of despair spiral that kicks in for some addicts. Life isn't going well, so they turn to drugs to ease the pain. Then they get arrested, sent to prison, and get labelled as a felon. Now they can't get a job or have a stable living arrangement and they turn back to drugs to get through the despair.

For these people, we need to break the cycle if we're ever going to help them get clean. Making their lives worse will only further entrap them.

[ Parent | on HN ]