| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Will's question (again) | |
| Posted by: | Colin Potter | |
| Date/Time: | 03/10/13 22:20:00 |
| “If the legalisation of all drugs is such a good idea, why has it not been implemented in any developed country on earth, and why does not one single political party with any level of serious popularity in any developed country advocate it?” I've copied this from wikipedia.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_liberalization Portugal abolished all criminal penalties for personal possession of drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine. When it was passed, critics said it would open the country to drug tourists and make the drug problem worse. However, once the results were released from a report called "Drug Decriminalization in Portugal: Lessons for Creating Fair and Successful Drug Policies"[8] by Glenn Greenwald, released by the Cato Institute, came out, the impact of Portugal's new legislation became obvious.[9] The report found that in the 5 years after drugs were decriminalized, drug use among teens dropped, rates of new HIV infections from sharing dirty needles dropped, and the number of people seeking treatment for addiction more than doubled. Portugal boasted the lowest rate of lifetime marijuana use in people over 15 years of age at 10%. To put that into perspective, America lifetime marijuana use rate in people over 12 is 39.8%. Lifetime use of an illegal drug among 7th to 9th graders fell from 14.1% to 10.6%, drug use in older teens fell, lifetime heroin use in 16-18 year olds fell, new HIV infections in drug users fell 17%, deaths related to hard drugs were cut by more than half, treatment for drug addiction rose, as well as saved money on enforcement while increasing funding for treatment.[10] Portugal’s drug usage rates are now among the lowest in the EU for virtually every substance.[11] |