Portugal drug law show results ten years on, experts say

It works, in my opinion. I'm all for decriminalisation, combined with education and treatment programs. Spend the money that goes on law enforcement for that and the costs to the public would drop considerably, and not just financial costs. A pat on the back to the Portuguese. I've been there before, at least to Lisbon and the area around the city. Loved it!

 

"All research on successful drug policy shows that treatment should be increased and law enforcement decreased while abolishing mandatory minimum sentences."

-System of a Down

 

Wanna fix the violence in Mexico? Here's one way.

But it'll never happen in America where people are only focused on 2 year election cycles.

 

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=206552

 

I thought Rocket River had botched the title, but AFP did.

 

Anything is better than what we have in the States... well almost anything.

 

The drug "war" is going to end soon. The internet is too powerful. People are getting educated. I won't be surprised if it's one of the bigger topics during the 2012 campaign. mar1juana will at least be a major topic if the entire drug war isn't.

 

Do you think that casual use mar1juana reform (not medical) will be on the platform of the Democratic or Republican party in 2012? I see no way it is on the Republican's platform and Obama probably won't have anything like that on his.

 

that's a pipe dream...literally.

 

Interesting results. I don't know much about Portugal but I presume that they have some sort of single payer health care system that can provide treatment for drug users so I am wondering how much of a factor that plays into this. Also if Portugal like Greece and Ireland is forced to have austerity budgets how that might affect this policy.

 

Separate condoning the use of it with legalization, please. They don't run on a platform of drinking alcohol, so they won't run on a platform of casual mar1juana use either. Condoning its use is quite different from wanting it to be legal.

If cocaine was legal, would you suddenly go out and start snorting it up? Is the illegal aspect the only thing keeping you from doing so? I can't speak for you, but it is certainly not what's currently keeping me away from such recreational drugs. Just because it's legal doesn't mean everyone's condoning its use or using it themselves. Just because alcohol is legal, doesn't mean everyone's drinking it heavily and telling everyone else to do so. Just because smoking cigarettes is legal, doesn't mean everyone's chain smoking and telling all their friends to do so.

Ron Paul, for example, wants to legalize it all. His argument to the naysayers is similar to what I've said above. He's not shy about this point, either. He won't get elected, and this is probably a contributing factor, but the fact that he can even be a legitimate candidate with this view shows how the overall view of drug legalization is changing.

It won't change it 2012. It probably won't even change by 2020. "Soon" is probably not the word I would use. But just like gay marriage, slowly but surely the rest of the country will come around.

 

I simply don't think anything to do with mar1juana (unless it is medical) will be on the Republican or Democrat platform in the 2012 presidential election or even a 'big topic' as the poster I responded to wrote.

 

So you would bet that the drug war and/or recreational mar1juana use will be a big topic in the 2012 presidential election?

 

The drug war will never end. The pharmaceutical companies and private prison companies, among others, have too much at stake to lose.

 

exactly. My statement wasn't that weed will never be legalized, but rather that it will be a big (or any) kind of factor in the 2012 election...then again, he was probably high when he read it so I can't get too mad.

 

Good point about the single payer. Years ago I saw fairly normal guys begging the criminal judges to send them for drug tratment and there was just no free place for them to go.

We are not talking about folks just trying to avoid punishment. They were on probation and felt powerless to stop.

Maybe if we had the Drug Tretment Centers of America a Fortune 500 company with lobbyists to lobby Congress we could get sufficient funds for drug treatment. Now we just have the private prison public companies lobbying for more prisoners to make bucks off of.

 

This is an overlooked point. Too many people benefit too much to end the war on drugs. Sad but true.