About the "war on drugs"

[BUTCH1]

Alcohol, as a drug, is far worse than much of what is illegal. It is physically and mentally addictive, harmful to the body, and very intoxicating. Using alcohol as a measuring stick, it is bonkers that most of what is illegal, is in fact illegal.

When they tried to make alcohol illegal it spawned the greatest black market known to man, we're seeing much the same with illegal drugs, just make it legal and somewhat regulated so no one is getting heroin laced with 50% fentanyl
and treat anyone who wants treatment.

 

[Stokely]

There's lots of winners of the perpetual War on Drugs. Cartels, government agencies getting lots of funds, the private prison industry, I'm sure there are others. One thing is for sure, if there is a demand there will be a supply...so it's just a question of who gets paid.

 

[darkswordsman17]

When they tried to make alcohol illegal it spawned the greatest black market known to man, we're seeing much the same with illegal drugs, just make it legal and somewhat regulated so no one is getting heroin laced with 50% fentanyl
and treat anyone who wants treatment.

I don't fully agree, as the biggest drug crisis we're dealing with (synthetic opioids causing opiate addiction) was enabled by a lot of fully legal behavior. Don't get me wrong, I'm for legalizing drugs, but when we see how even that is fundamentally broken in the US, people thinking it'll fix the issue are deluded.

Simple fact is things are far more complex than that. America is sick, mentally. Always has been. And we refuse to do a goddamn thing about it, instead we view everything through the sights of a gun and wage "war" on every issue, even when we know and can clearly see the actual problems. We refuse to fix them and instead keep resorting to dumb methods that we know don't work.

 

[DaaQ]

About 10 years ago I got really curious about "hard drugs" and did a bunch of reading on them. I don't remember much about meth, but I believe cocaine and heroin are not much worse than alcohol as far as toxicity and addiction go. Heroin does have a reputation of being much more addictive, but I don't know if that's been proven in research or is just a broad perception, alcohol addiction is probably much more prevalent than people realize since the addicts can feed their addictions much more easily.

Even if you don't want to fully legalize the "hard drugs" I think completely decriminalizing them and getting rid of drug interdiction funding would do a lot of good.

Cocaine is psychologically addictive, it can kill you during use.
Heroin is physically addictive, and will make you feel like you are dying when detoxing, but the detox will not kill you. Excessive use will kill you.
Alcohol is physically and psychologically addictive, but depending on how bad you are addicted it will kill you during detox.
Heroin can be psychologically addictive as well because it is to keep from being sick, it's also a ritualistic addiction as well.

The addiction rate of heroin, cocaine and some others are higher than alcohol. Alcholol is more dangerous because of the number of people who become intoxicated and as it's legal it's not hidden and people will drink to excess and engage in risky behavior. No one gets Hep C from his bourbon but his liver might not love it in the long run. Meth and related drugs? A fucking nightmare that can screw your brain up forever. Decriminalization and treatment should be the standard of care.

Heroin rates exploded because of the pharmaceuticals that originally addicted them to opiates. Heroin became the cheaper alternative.
Alcohol will also screw your brain forever. Any of the above mentioned will take many many years of sobriety to ALMOST return your brain chemical levels to normal.
Hep C is really not related because not everyone shares needles/straws, but whatever.

Heroin addicts generally won't be on the road cruising around, unless looking for the fix. Alcohol on the other hand they will be.

You are correct, treatment should be the answer, but treatment costs ALOT of money as well, most likely more than the drug use itself under current circumstances, policies.


I did want to add, to a post that was after yours so not directed at you, but the mental health of society was wiped away and tossed into the shitter during Reagan years. IIRC.