Re:Oregon Decriminalized Hard Drugs
by kazinator on Tuesday August 01, 2023 @08:49PM
(#36965469)
The headline is a lie.
> First, minor drug possession was downgraded from a misdemeanor to a violation, similar to a traffic ticket. Under the new law, users caught with up to 1 gram of heroin or methamphetamine, or up to 40 oxycodone pills, are charged a $100 fine, which can be waived if they call a treatment-referral hotline.
It doesn't sound like decriminalized use to me. They are handing out pretty hefty tickets.
Traffic violations are illegal; it's a crime to run a red light.
> Selling, trafficking, and possessing large amounts of drugs remain criminal offenses in Oregon.
I.e. not decriminalized.
Trafficking and manufacturing cannot be decriminalized. I mean, think about all the prescription drugs out there.
What you have to do is to provide them as cleanly produced pharmaceuticals that can be provided to someone who is addicted, and at a reasonable, low cost.
You cannot just do the following and expect great results:
* the same thugs are selling the same shit;
* nobody knows where the shit came from or what is in it;
* only, the users aren't hard criminals now, only perpetrating a $100 misdemeanor.
> First, minor drug possession was downgraded from a misdemeanor to a violation, similar to a traffic ticket. Under the new law, users caught with up to 1 gram of heroin or methamphetamine, or up to 40 oxycodone pills, are charged a $100 fine, which can be waived if they call a treatment-referral hotline.
It doesn't sound like decriminalized use to me. They are handing out pretty hefty tickets.
Traffic violations are illegal; it's a crime to run a red light.
> Selling, trafficking, and possessing large amounts of drugs remain criminal offenses in Oregon.
I.e. not decriminalized.
Trafficking and manufacturing cannot be decriminalized. I mean, think about all the prescription drugs out there.
What you have to do is to provide them as cleanly produced pharmaceuticals that can be provided to someone who is addicted, and at a reasonable, low cost.
You cannot just do the following and expect great results:
* the same thugs are selling the same shit;
* nobody knows where the shit came from or what is in it;
* only, the users aren't hard criminals now, only perpetrating a $100 misdemeanor.