Does anyone really want to legalize heroin?

[BobLoblaw]

They’re flirting with death by choice and if they want to survive a poor decision, they will. Threat of arrest may push them in the right direction but those cases are likely the minority. I’m also of the opinion narcan should only be used for accidental exposure. I think decriminalization will cause a lot of deaths quickly but will taper off, resulting in serious issues in certain regions and much better results in others. So, I think it should be decriminalized ONLY IF the funding is used to cut off the incoming supply from other countries.

[TheNewbie]

You can legislate behavior, we do it with all laws. The debate is what behavior should be regulated, and what should not be.

The death of good religion and the increase of government funded welfare are far more destructive to society than drugs. Drugs are a symptom of bad human behavior, not the cause. We first fight the evil within us, and then the evil around us. People should act is if they are going to be judged according to their behavior on earth.One should be proud of being able to provide for themselves, help others, and repay any help they received. The religion part being important can even be believed by an atheist, just ask Douglas Murray.

Legalize drugs or not? Great minds (Sowell is IMO the wisest commentator in America) like Larry Elder, Thomas Sowell, and Walter Williams seem to think it's a good idea.

I would enertain legalization if punishment for crimes such as burglary, theft, assault, etc was increased. If you get a DWI, well it's 90 days in jail the first time, no exception and day for day, and a $5,000.00 fine. Second DWI is a felony. Since that will not happen, I am still debating in my own mind what should be done in regard to legalization.

[YVK]

Alcohol is a drug- it's been called the most harmful drug of all, but it's legal. How many die in car crashes or from alcoholism, but we don't ban it alcohol. How many people utilize alcohol to alter their mood or state of mind?

The difficulty here is that in moderation alcohol is not only not harmful but is even associated with some improved health outcomes. And we do criminalize some of the stuff associated with alcohol abuse.

[Savage Hands]

Living in California that has essentially made Marijuana frowned upon to a month away from legalizing recreational use I’ll post my observations.
People now feel empowered to smoke in public including when driving. So victimless crime you say? Sure, until they crash into your family under the influence since they thought they were fine to drive. DUI’s are increasing according to the various cops I speak to daily.
People growing marijuana at home both legally and illegally making certain areas constantly smell like marijuana, that’s disgusting IMO and I’m sick of it.
Home invasions and robberies related to growers and their neighbor are increasing at an alarming rate. I hope someone doesn’t start growing in your neighborhood.
If people stayed at home while using and nobody else had to breathe it or deal with you that’s fine, IMO Marijuana is Alcohol’s annoying and flamboyant cousin.

Those are a few of my gripes on the legalization of Marijuana, I have more but you can put me on the No column for legalization of heroin or cocaine. Did everyone forget how bad 80’s and early 90’s were due to Crack Cocaine?

[YVK]

DUI’s are increasing according to the various cops I speak to daily.

Should be prosecuted with the same degree of severity as alcohol DIUs, in my opinion.

[OnionsAndDragons]

The issue that I think would remain, even after legalizing small amounts, is that an addict’s crime seldom stops at possessing drugs. They get arrested for thefts, burglaries, robberies, etc., all to feed their habit. That won’t change, legal or not. And in those cases, there are “real victims”, and at that point it’s just not as simple as getting someone in a drug court/rehab program.

I basically agree with this.

In effect, I would like to see very few non-violent (I consider significant property crime a form of violence in this sense) drug offenders in prisons and jails to make room for the guys that we should be keeping in there instead.

Once they start making a habit of acting against others, my sympathy ends.




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[45dotACP]

Lol legalization of heroin is a fucking terrible idea. Even illegal, I've had to bang out compressions on kids ten years younger than me...and I'm a millennial.

Also, I've seen peoples fingers literally falling off their hands due to Purpura Fulminans brought about by septic endocarditis...you guesses it...from injected heroin... pulmonary emboli, respiratory failure, MRSA....

Oh and I've seen parents who sold their childrens bodies to fund their heroin addiction...and who addicted 7year olds so they'd...well I don't fucking know why.

Not to belittle alcoholism...but drug addiction is WAY different from someone who has a drinking problem.

Legalize it? Jesus H. Christ. I've got enough trouble dealing with dudes seizing off their alcohol withdrawal...or better yet, winging punches at my coworkers and I when the benzodiazepines are D-Ting their way out of their system and throwing them into total delirium/agitation. All the legal shit is problematic enough.

And no, this is no way colors my opinion on a constitutional right. Keeping the .gov all laissez-faire with my guns doesn't mean I should want that for drugs.

Off my soapbox now.

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[Sensei]

Malum in se versus malum prohibitum... a thread all its own.

If a key component of an ordered society is participation then dismantling the welfare state should be priority #1 not doubling down on the failed WoD.

The prescription opiates "decriminalization" was a disaster because of crony capitalism and incompetent regulation not a lack of regulation.

Incompetent regulation? People are selling oxy out of their trailer homes. That is the ultimate deregulation.

As long as a nanny state exists, drug addiction will fuel it. The addicted cannot (will not) work, consume disproportionate resources, and produce addicted offspring - the most cruel aspect of this problem.

It is ironic that those who espouse the most stringent reductions in welfare so often favor polices that, when removed from the confines idealism, expand it.

[Kanati]

Lol legalization of heroin is a fucking terrible idea. Even illegal, I've had to bang out compressions on kids ten years younger than me...and I'm a millennial.

Also, I've seen peoples fingers literally falling off their hands due to Purpura Fulminans brought about by septic endocarditis...you guesses it...from injected heroin... pulmonary emboli, respiratory failure, MRSA....

Oh and I've seen parents who sold their childrens bodies to fund their heroin addiction...and who addicted 7year olds so they'd...well I don't fucking know why.

Not to belittle alcoholism...but drug addiction is WAY different from someone who has a drinking problem.

Legalize it? Jesus H. Christ. I've got enough trouble dealing with dudes seizing off their alcohol withdrawal...or better yet, winging punches at my coworkers and I when the benzodiazepines are D-Ting their way out of their system and throwing them into total delirium/agitation. All the legal shit is problematic enough.

And no, this is no way colors my opinion on a constitutional right. Keeping the .gov all laissez-faire with my guns doesn't mean I should want that for drugs.

Off my soapbox now.

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I think that people who are more intimately and longer term involved with addicts tend to have this view. I certinaly do.

I’m a recovering alcoholic, sober for a good while now and do what I need to do in a days time to stay that way. The fellowship that I’m an active member of is getting more drug addicted newcomers than run of the mill drunks. It is a different beast than alcoholism. I’ve sponsored several addicts, none of whom are clean or sober today as far as I’m aware. A couple have died with needles in thier arms.

I can see how a LEO would have a different view, ditto someone who in their day to day comings and goings doesn’t interact with addicts first hand; we’re all creatures of our experiences. From where I sit, I don’t see a single positive that would come from legalizing heroin. It won’t help the current (or future) addicts, and there’s zero benefit to society as a whole of having it available OTC. The tax / big government involvement angle sounds somewhat sexy, but that quickly gets into the kind of thinking that bedevil’s addicts and alcoholics....that it will somehow be different this time despite a long track record showing it won’t.

[fixer]

I have pretty extreme views about this subject.

However I see the current course of policing usage and trafficking of drugs not as a nanny state encroachment (as I once did). I see it more as a utilitarian function that is sadly needed or else our regular everyday society would look similar to the walking dead.

My employer requires a huge amount of my time. I can't sit at home protecting it 24.7 from addicts looking to steal something.