so i have heard some banter on here from time to time about legalizing drugs, so i thought that this article might be a little interesting to y'all.
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10080evidently portugal legalized the possession of small amounts of drugs back in 2001. this includes cannabis, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamines. and lo and behold, not only has the apocalypse not set in there, they have seen drug usage drop. prior to that, portugal had some of the highest usage rates of hard drugs in all of europe. now, possession of large amounts will still get you jail time, and those caught with the small amounts are offered rehab (which they can refuse without criminal repercussions). the idea here is that instead of casting the drug users out of mainstream society and stigmatizing them with criminal convictions, they offer them help to reintegrate back into the mainstream. this seems to be an example that the US could really stand to pay attention to. i'm not going to pretend like we could simply lift there scheme and use it word for word in the US. every country has its own set laws, policies, culture, ethnic groups, and sub-cultures that will demand a specifically tailored approach, but it shows that it can be done successfully. this offers me hope. we may even see pot legalized, or at least decriminalized in our lifetimes.
on a tangentially related note, i recently joined LEAP, which is a group of current and former law enforcement professionals which advocate for the legalization of drugs. i also get a really cool t-shirt that reads "Cops Say: Legalize Drugs Now Ask Me Why..." across the back. i am planning on taking it out to flipside. i imagine that will help kick off a few good conversations. and possibly offers of drugs, but i hope the hippies have more sense than that.
