RE: We should listen to this
June 3, 2011 at 8:13 am
(This post was last modified: June 3, 2011 at 8:14 am by Jaysyn.)
(June 3, 2011 at 2:56 am)tackattack Wrote: But how do you go from criminalization to decriminalization with minimal counter swing?
Cold turkey, like Portugal did. And it's working.
Quote: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."
"How is it that a lame man does not annoy us while a lame mind does? Because a lame man recognizes that we are walking straight, while a lame mind says that it is we who are limping." - Pascal
