Belief Listing Project: Drug Decriminalization

July 25th, 2011
current_beliefs, drugs
The war on drugs has been a failure. Drug use is still common, we've put huge numbers of people (disproportionately black men) in prison, tied up our courts with minor offenses, and made drug production and distribution highly profitable. We should try something else.

In 2001 portugal decriminalized all drugs. Since then, not only have various drug related death rates (overdoses, aids from needle sharing) halved, but the decriminalization law has become even more popular among people there as they've had time to experience its effects (details here).

Massachusetts decriminalized marijuana use in 2008. It seems to be going well. The united states should follow portugal's example, decriminalize, and end the war on drugs.

Comment via: google plus, facebook

Recent posts on blogs I like:

Notes Towards A Sex-Realist Feminism

Happy Mother's Day!

via Thing of Things May 11, 2025

Workshop House case study

Lauren Hoffman interviewed me about Workshop House and wrote this post about a community I’m working on building in DC.

via Home April 30, 2025

Impact, agency, and taste

understand + work backwards from the root goal • don’t rely too much on permission or encouragement • make success inevitable • find your angle • think real hard • reflect on your thinking

via benkuhn.net April 19, 2025

more     (via openring)