DerbyX DerbyX:
OnTheIce OnTheIce:
Any stats to back up that prohibition of narcotics has done nothing to curb use?
I find that hard to believe, mainly because you need a prescription to get most of these drugs and you can't get them from some guys garage like you could get the booze back in the day. It's not easy to get narcotics.
Those stats are hard to come by but what about drug use in countries that decriminalize it?
http://www.time.com/time/health/article ... 46,00.html$1:
The paper, published by Cato in April, 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.
"Judging by every metric, decriminalization in Portugal has been a resounding success," says Glenn Greenwald, an attorney, author and fluent Portuguese speaker, who conducted the research. "It has enabled the Portuguese government to manage and control the drug problem far better than virtually every other Western country does."
Compared to the European Union and the U.S., Portugal's drug use numbers are impressive. 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.
Of course if you want to look at a more North American model then all you have to do is look at the drug problems/rates of Canada, the USA, and Mexico. The harsher the drug law enforcement response the worse the situation.
Naturally, that doesn't take into account further education and awareness following the decriminalization of the drugs that probably had a effect on usage, rehab, etc. No doubt, however, that decriminalization has worked to some degree.
I also think we cannot lump all drugs into one category because they are
drugs. Alcohol is not the same as cocaine and marijuana isn't the same as heroin. Some drugs are very, very addictive. I've been addicted to prescription drugs accidentally after dental surgery and it's really, really brutal.
I think the Portugal example is actually a farce when you look at it. It's not "decriminalized" as people are still being arrested for possession and they can opt for treatment or incarceration.
So the only difference I can see is that people have the option to have treatment for their problem. Keep in mind, they still note that drug use is a problem and not just something you take a hands off approach to and let people do whatever the hell they want.
CKA Uber 
