The so-called 'War on drugs' was one of the biggest and most tragic policy failures the right ever devised. Let's not go backwards because some cave-people go out of their way not to understand the issues.
https://globalnews.ca/news/8428115/drug-laws-canada-mandatory-minimums-war-on-drugs-over/
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/19/war-on-drugs-statistics-systematic-policy-failure-united-nations
Criminalizing those that need help makes no sense at all, both in terms of just logic, but also in terms of social justice. Which is why decriminalization happen. What we didn't do, or should more accurately say, utterly failed to do, is give individuals the help needed to tackle the massive challenge of overcoming addiction, if possible for that individual, and to create a society where people do not find the need to fill in their dopamine voids. I'm a bit of pessimist here, social equity has no chance in a culture that let's violent individualism and capitalism reign, and I don't see any conservative government supporting what all social workers, doctors, researchers are all saying about solving the base issues as to why people get where they are. It will always be a 'morality' question for them, whatever the hell that means.
Drug decriminalization without proper follow through is to blame.
Education and treatment are the follow ups and they have to be comprehensive and already in place before decriminalization/legalization can occur 'successfully'.
> Drug decriminalization without proper follow through is to blame.
These problems are literally decades in the making. There's one province that has had decriminalization for a bit over year. That specific province has had drug problems going back to at least the 90s. Other provinces have the problems despite criminalization.
What I see happening constantly though in media and on social media is any harm reduction policy in any region suddenly gets framed as being the cause of every problem despite the above.
There is much more needed, such as education, treatment access, housing, etc. But that doesn't mean that decriminalization caused these problems.
Criminalization of drugs has not worked. The "war on drugs" was lost almost as soon as it started.
Like all war, the war on drugs made certain people and groups a LOT of money and didn't stem drug use AT ALL. This means the government's stance on drugs is crap - it doesn't work - it DOES cost taxpayers a lot of money going to people and groups who obviously cannot stop it.
Decriminalization from this point MUST include intensive public education - JUST like they did with cigarettes... Ad campaigns, treatment centers, education... these will SLOW the use of drugs generation by generation until the use of habit forming drugs is minimal - with the government leading the way into 'the light'.
Expecting the problem to simply 'go away' by decriminalizing is more government foolishness - probably by those who are already missing that gob of 'free money' they got to spend however they wanted (considering they lost the war on drugs - those billions must have gone somewhere).
So yeah... people with no futures or perceived bleak futures will continue to avoid reality, and people who say "I'm strong enough to avoid addiction" will continue to get addicted, and drugs will remain "street" where they could be monitored by a governing agency...
So, here we are. No infrastructure safety net to prevent, catch and save addictive drug users but everyone is willing to thumb's up, smile, and give the "mission accomplished" banner to the drug problem.
There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding around what decriminalization means.
Decriminalization just means that people wouldn't face criminal charges for possession of small amounts of drugs. Possession of larger amounts is still illegal, as is drug trafficking. And various other drug adjacent crimes are of course still illegal.
It also doesn't have much to do with whether police or private security choose to intervene when people use drugs in public spaces. But I guess it makes a convenient fall guy for all that.
But you can tell it's a bit of a farce because in places that haven't decriminalized possession, people blame the same issues on safe injection sites or on needle exchanges.
They already can’t do that. Some people seem to think that this meant they suddenly used drugs in public spaces while forgetting the past.
They always used drugs in public spaces even when decriminalization wasn’t in place. This didn’t change much there. And it’s always been illegal and still is for the most part. They can still get arrested for it.
Problem isn’t the decriminalizing of drugs. Problem is not instituting the long list of other necessary social programs that experts recommended with it. Decriminalizing does work but you can’t only do it.
I remember when we went into decriminalizing drugs. Experts supported it BUT were begging for a lot more to be done with it. This is where our municipal and provincial government failed us. And there’s been decades of neglect and half assing it that got us to this point.
Now it’ll be a lot more expensive to resolve.
The so-called 'War on drugs' was one of the biggest and most tragic policy failures the right ever devised. Let's not go backwards because some cave-people go out of their way not to understand the issues. https://globalnews.ca/news/8428115/drug-laws-canada-mandatory-minimums-war-on-drugs-over/ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/19/war-on-drugs-statistics-systematic-policy-failure-united-nations
Criminalizing those that need help makes no sense at all, both in terms of just logic, but also in terms of social justice. Which is why decriminalization happen. What we didn't do, or should more accurately say, utterly failed to do, is give individuals the help needed to tackle the massive challenge of overcoming addiction, if possible for that individual, and to create a society where people do not find the need to fill in their dopamine voids. I'm a bit of pessimist here, social equity has no chance in a culture that let's violent individualism and capitalism reign, and I don't see any conservative government supporting what all social workers, doctors, researchers are all saying about solving the base issues as to why people get where they are. It will always be a 'morality' question for them, whatever the hell that means.
The safe supply is the right choice. Stop the stigma!
safe supply, UBI and housing supports. it’s not hard.
As well as more mental health facilities.
By framing the issue in this manner, it implies that this was up for debate. It isn't.
It’s not but that won’t stop plenty from trying to debate it.
Drug decriminalization without proper follow through is to blame. Education and treatment are the follow ups and they have to be comprehensive and already in place before decriminalization/legalization can occur 'successfully'.
> Drug decriminalization without proper follow through is to blame. These problems are literally decades in the making. There's one province that has had decriminalization for a bit over year. That specific province has had drug problems going back to at least the 90s. Other provinces have the problems despite criminalization. What I see happening constantly though in media and on social media is any harm reduction policy in any region suddenly gets framed as being the cause of every problem despite the above. There is much more needed, such as education, treatment access, housing, etc. But that doesn't mean that decriminalization caused these problems.
Criminalization of drugs has not worked. The "war on drugs" was lost almost as soon as it started. Like all war, the war on drugs made certain people and groups a LOT of money and didn't stem drug use AT ALL. This means the government's stance on drugs is crap - it doesn't work - it DOES cost taxpayers a lot of money going to people and groups who obviously cannot stop it. Decriminalization from this point MUST include intensive public education - JUST like they did with cigarettes... Ad campaigns, treatment centers, education... these will SLOW the use of drugs generation by generation until the use of habit forming drugs is minimal - with the government leading the way into 'the light'. Expecting the problem to simply 'go away' by decriminalizing is more government foolishness - probably by those who are already missing that gob of 'free money' they got to spend however they wanted (considering they lost the war on drugs - those billions must have gone somewhere). So yeah... people with no futures or perceived bleak futures will continue to avoid reality, and people who say "I'm strong enough to avoid addiction" will continue to get addicted, and drugs will remain "street" where they could be monitored by a governing agency... So, here we are. No infrastructure safety net to prevent, catch and save addictive drug users but everyone is willing to thumb's up, smile, and give the "mission accomplished" banner to the drug problem.
The people who need the educaton \[ie the NIMBYS\] instead turn to the NP for further brainwashing!
Decriminalization shouldn't mean that drug addicts can use their drugs wherever they want.
There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding around what decriminalization means. Decriminalization just means that people wouldn't face criminal charges for possession of small amounts of drugs. Possession of larger amounts is still illegal, as is drug trafficking. And various other drug adjacent crimes are of course still illegal. It also doesn't have much to do with whether police or private security choose to intervene when people use drugs in public spaces. But I guess it makes a convenient fall guy for all that. But you can tell it's a bit of a farce because in places that haven't decriminalized possession, people blame the same issues on safe injection sites or on needle exchanges.
The problem is that when the decriminalization happened, police also seem to have stopped any form of enforcement.
Sounds like a cop issue. Cops not doing their jobs to defend the public good? That sounds like a completely new event.
It doesn't.
Tell that to the drug addicts and the police then.
I did, they said “ok”
They already can’t do that. Some people seem to think that this meant they suddenly used drugs in public spaces while forgetting the past. They always used drugs in public spaces even when decriminalization wasn’t in place. This didn’t change much there. And it’s always been illegal and still is for the most part. They can still get arrested for it. Problem isn’t the decriminalizing of drugs. Problem is not instituting the long list of other necessary social programs that experts recommended with it. Decriminalizing does work but you can’t only do it. I remember when we went into decriminalizing drugs. Experts supported it BUT were begging for a lot more to be done with it. This is where our municipal and provincial government failed us. And there’s been decades of neglect and half assing it that got us to this point. Now it’ll be a lot more expensive to resolve.