Re:Portugal’s radical drugs policy is working (2017)
by luckylion on Sunday July 14, 2019 @11:29AM
(#20433929)
That may be a big part of the reason in the US, but Germany for example isn't big on decriminalization either, and we don't have anything similar to the US prison complex. I think a large part over here is that people think it's wrong and they don't believe in the individual's right to make a choice they consider wrong. Worldwide it's probably a mix of the two: powerful interests profiteering from the status quo and politicians and parts of the voting population not valuing individual freedom that much.
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Re:Portugal’s radical drugs policy is working (2017)
by dalore on Sunday July 14, 2019 @11:57AM
(#20434100)
This is what the article touched on. The culture has to shift to viewing drug addicts not as "druggies" but as someone with a problem who needs help. They changed the language they used to call them. Once this shift happened it's led the path to actually helping them instead of vilifying them.
Re:Portugal’s radical drugs policy is working (2017)
by luckylion on Sunday July 14, 2019 @12:19PM
(#20434249)
That's certainly part of it, yeah. But even that is a view that removes drug-use as a valid choice. I certainly agree that those suffering from addiction need help, and we should provide it generously, but not everyone that uses drugs needs help. Similar to alcohol, which a lot (most?) people are able to enjoy responsibly. It seems that there's still the idea that you'd try mdma (or lots of other drugs) and will immediately find yourself in a downward spiral, completely out of control.
Re:Portugal’s radical drugs policy is working (2017)
by ben-schaaf on Sunday July 14, 2019 @11:42AM
(#20434004)
From some quick googling it looks to me like Germany isn't big on decriminalisation because they're already most of the way there:
> In 1994, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that drug addiction and the possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use were not crimes.