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32 sats \ 8 replies \ @fm 9 Jun \ on: Does legalising/decriminalising drugs work? AskSN
Boots on the ground here,
I was there when it started. It was good.. It was kind of amazing. Before decriminalization there was a huge number of junkies. Heroin took a hugel toll on portuguese consumers. Zombies everywhere, needles, robberies, shooting on the street.. Living hell.
All this almost disappeared once they started to open safe spaces and giving free methadone.
Safer spaces, lot less horror on the streets. ( its weird because despite being horrendous, it made me very scared of opioid addiction and kept me far from them).
Reality is, people self medicate. Anyone thinking opioid addiction is a choice, is because they dont understand how addiction works.
The way to go is not offering free drugs just because. You have to find a somewhat middle ground to treat these people and contain them in safe spaces for themselves and the rest of the people. And by containing i mean a facility more close to a mental hospice rather than a prision.
Most of this addicts would have a somewhat normal existence if they had access to cheap and safe drugs. How do we finance this is a another discussion, but treating them as people who need treatment is a much more correct approach of treat them as criminals.
This doesnt mean free drugs and skidrow alike campings.. There is a middle ground to be explored. Other countries like switzerland have also interesting models.
proibition wont stop drugs, education and family will
i love this about SN that we have people all over the place that can comment on things like this.
sounds like more places need to kind of emulate how it was done in Portugal. reminds me of the Wire episode where a police commander, secretly sets up several tolerated drug zones in vacant areas of West Baltimore.
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it was the “Hamsterdam” storyline from Episode 4 through Episode 8.
man the Wire was a great show
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100% add it, The Wire is probably one of my top 3 tv shows ever created (cant deicde on sopranos or Breaking bad for the top spot)
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The point ppl in Canada make is that Portugal was successful because it pairs decriminalization with treatment. Here, we just decriminalized, started prescribing opioids (via pharmacies) to people to give them a safe supply -- but didn't do much by way of treatment centres and helping people overcome their addition.
The result was that people take the safe supply (not laced with fentanyl) sell it to high-school kids, take the money any buy the very very cheap fentanyl product that China/Mexican cartels are dumping in Vancouver.
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Yeah, the last documentaries i saw about Canada and fentanyl, instantly draw me back to the horror show in portugal in mid 90s before got better.
Its true Portugal makes you see the therapist if you are not a lost case. And there is some sort of treatment. A lot of free methadone, not heroin or any other opioid.
Addicts, since methadone doesn’t give you the high will still chase it, but they are lot less violent and rob lot less.
I mean, the problem is not eliminated but its better than before.
I have to recognize fentanyl was not present until the last 5 years and its still residual i think. Its been years i dont see the lab results so i might be wrong 😅
I hope it stays low. We have more of a coke problem nowadays. I wonder if that is laced..
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