Drug laws: We should follow Portugal's lead

[Sky Dancer]

Money spent on drug rehab is well worth it.

 

[syrenn]

Money spent on drug rehab is well worth it.

I agree, so long as its not MY money.

 

[hjmick]

Money spent on drug rehab is well worth it.

Probably. I don't know. I do know that money spent in the "War on Drugs" is wasted and better spent elsewhere...

 

[Luissa]

Five years later, the number of deaths from street drug overdoses dropped from around 400 to 290 annually, and the number of new HIV cases caused by using dirty needles to inject heroin, cocaine and other illegal substances plummeted from nearly 1,400 in 2000 to about 400 in 2006, according to a report released recently by the Cato Institute, a Washington, D.C, libertarian think tank.

"Now instead of being put into prison, addicts are going to treatment centers and they're learning how to control their drug usage or getting off drugs entirely," report author Glenn Greenwald, a former New York State constitutional litigator, said during a press briefing at Cato last week.

Under the Portuguese plan, penalties for people caught dealing and trafficking drugs are unchanged; dealers are still jailed and subjected to fines depending on the crime. But people caught using or possessing small amounts—defined as the amount needed for 10 days of personal use—are brought before what's known as a "Dissuasion Commission," an administrative body created by the 2001 law.

5 Years After: Portugal's Drug Decriminalization Policy Shows Positive Results: Scientific American

sounds like Utopia, doesn't it.. Legal drugs to get addicted to,, free treatment centers instead of jail.. ahhh shang ri la.. but oh my.. Portugal is going broke, then what will you have? a bunch of drug addicts with no drugs, no money, and no treament centers..this liberalism stuff is good til you run out of other people's money innit?

You are hilarious!
Of course your answer is to pass more laws that don't work, wasting money on prisons, along with legal costs, and having more people die. Good idea Willow, because that works so well here.
Why don't you compare the drug problem in Mexico to the US. FYI Mexico is doing the same thing as Portugal.

 

[Luissa]

Money spent on drug rehab is well worth it.

I agree, so long as its not MY money.

Would you rather spend your money paying for a long prison sentence? I guess we don't mind paying for people to live in prison for a years, but god forbid we spend money for the to live in rehab for a few months. How about people who are caught with drugs like marijuana, who are probably sent to out treatment? We don't even to pay for their room and board, but of course that is bad idea too. Let's just keep paying for people to live in prison.

 

[Sky Dancer]

It makes more sense to fund rehab then clog up the courts and prisons.

 

[WillowTree]

Five years later, the number of deaths from street drug overdoses dropped from around 400 to 290 annually, and the number of new HIV cases caused by using dirty needles to inject heroin, cocaine and other illegal substances plummeted from nearly 1,400 in 2000 to about 400 in 2006, according to a report released recently by the Cato Institute, a Washington, D.C, libertarian think tank.

"Now instead of being put into prison, addicts are going to treatment centers and they're learning how to control their drug usage or getting off drugs entirely," report author Glenn Greenwald, a former New York State constitutional litigator, said during a press briefing at Cato last week.

Under the Portuguese plan, penalties for people caught dealing and trafficking drugs are unchanged; dealers are still jailed and subjected to fines depending on the crime. But people caught using or possessing small amounts—defined as the amount needed for 10 days of personal use—are brought before what's known as a "Dissuasion Commission," an administrative body created by the 2001 law.

5 Years After: Portugal's Drug Decriminalization Policy Shows Positive Results: Scientific American

sounds like Utopia, doesn't it.. Legal drugs to get addicted to,, free treatment centers instead of jail.. ahhh shang ri la.. but oh my.. Portugal is going broke, then what will you have? a bunch of drug addicts with no drugs, no money, and no treament centers..this liberalism stuff is good til you run out of other people's money innit?

You are hilarious!
Of course your answer is to pass more laws that don't work, wasting money on prisons, along with legal costs, and having more people die. Good idea Willow, because that works so well here.
Why don't you compare the drug problem in Mexico to the US. FYI Mexico is doing the same thing as Portugal.

would you agree if I agree to legalize drugs as long as I don't have to pay for your treatment?? I'll meet you halfway.. You okay with that scenario??

 

[WillowTree]

It makes more sense to fund rehab then clog up the courts and prisons.

why in the world would you legalize a harmful substance and then force those who don't use drugs to fund your treatment centers? If you want to committ suicide have at it. JUst don't make me pay to watch.

 

[California Girl]

Money spent on drug rehab is well worth it.

Yes, it is. But, since I don't do drugs, I have no need of rehab. Fund your own treatment. Because, food is also money well spent... do you want me to pay for your shopping? Clothes are vital... perhaps I should pay for those too? How about a roof over your head? Yep, need one of those... so, clearly I should be paying your rent too.

Alternatively, you could do like I do.... MAKE BETTER CHOICES and STOP expecting someone else to bail you out.

 

[California Girl]

Money spent on drug rehab is well worth it.

I agree, so long as its not MY money.

Would you rather spend your money paying for a long prison sentence? I guess we don't mind paying for people to live in prison for a years, but god forbid we spend money for the to live in rehab for a few months. How about people who are caught with drugs like marijuana, who are probably sent to out treatment? We don't even to pay for their room and board, but of course that is bad idea too. Let's just keep paying for people to live in prison.

From my perspective, I would prefer that people don't use drugs.... then there would be no dealers and I wouldn't have to pay for their prison time and the user's treatment.

 

[syrenn]

Money spent on drug rehab is well worth it.

I agree, so long as its not MY money.

Would you rather spend your money paying for a long prison sentence? I guess we don't mind paying for people to live in prison for a years, but god forbid we spend money for the to live in rehab for a few months. How about people who are caught with drugs like marijuana, who are probably sent to out treatment? We don't even to pay for their room and board, but of course that is bad idea too. Let's just keep paying for people to live in prison.

I mind paying for anyone's anything that they DO to themselves. Please feel free to drink, smoke, shoot up or what ever it is that you like to do, so long as you keep it to your self and don't involve others.

That means you dont drink or use and drive killing others. It means your not robbing people for money to pay for your drug habbit. It means that if its killing you so sorry please die quietly.

Get it? If people want rehab then they can damn well pay for it themselves. However putting them in jail will do just about the same thing as rehab. You dry out. Its just not so cushy and plush as a rehab. Jail is something to avoid unlike rehab.

 

[Luissa]

sounds like Utopia, doesn't it.. Legal drugs to get addicted to,, free treatment centers instead of jail.. ahhh shang ri la.. but oh my.. Portugal is going broke, then what will you have? a bunch of drug addicts with no drugs, no money, and no treament centers..this liberalism stuff is good til you run out of other people's money innit?

You are hilarious!
Of course your answer is to pass more laws that don't work, wasting money on prisons, along with legal costs, and having more people die. Good idea Willow, because that works so well here.
Why don't you compare the drug problem in Mexico to the US. FYI Mexico is doing the same thing as Portugal.

would you agree if I agree to legalize drugs as long as I don't have to pay for your treatment?? I'll meet you halfway.. You okay with that scenario??

Well for one you would never have to pay for my treatment. And when I got a DUI I paid for my own out treatmen classes.
And I am sure you have no problem funding prisons now.

 

[Luissa]

I agree, so long as its not MY money.

Would you rather spend your money paying for a long prison sentence? I guess we don't mind paying for people to live in prison for a years, but god forbid we spend money for the to live in rehab for a few months. How about people who are caught with drugs like marijuana, who are probably sent to out treatment? We don't even to pay for their room and board, but of course that is bad idea too. Let's just keep paying for people to live in prison.

I mind paying for anyone's anything that they DO to themselves. Please feel free to drink, smoke, shoot up or what ever it is that you like to do, so long as you keep it to your self and don't involve others.

That means you dont drink or use and drive killing others. It means your not robbing people for money to pay for your drug habbit. It means that if its killing you so sorry please die quietly.

Get it? If people want rehab then they can damn well pay for it themselves. However putting them in jail will do just about the same thing as rehab. You dry out. Its just not so cushy and plush as a rehab. Jail is something to avoid unlike rehab.

So you don't mind paying for someone to live in prison?

 

[Luissa]

It makes more sense to fund rehab then clog up the courts and prisons.

why in the world would you legalize a harmful substance and then force those who don't use drugs to fund your treatment centers? If you want to committ suicide have at it. JUst don't make me pay to watch.

YOu do realize how much money would be saved if we ended the War on Drugs, and just paid for rehab instead of prison right?
Plus we would probably save billions on sending marijuana users to rehab, because the most of the time they only go because the court makes them.
And FYI, you already pay for people to go to rehab, along with paying for people to be in jail and prison.

 

[California Girl]

It makes more sense to fund rehab then clog up the courts and prisons.

why in the world would you legalize a harmful substance and then force those who don't use drugs to fund your treatment centers? If you want to committ suicide have at it. JUst don't make me pay to watch.

YOu do realize how much money would be saved if we ended the War on Drugs, and just paid for rehab instead of prison right?
Plus we would probably save billions on sending marijuana users to rehab, because the most of the time they only go because the court makes them.
And FYI, you already pay for people to go to rehab, along with paying for people to be in jail and prison.

Why should I pay for any of it? You want it legalized, fine. Personally, my view is that we only have dealers because we have users.... and users make choices.... so, users should fund their own damned rehab.... and, they should fund the prison places for the dealers. I should not have to pay for the stupidity of others. Make your life choices and accept the consequences.

 

[syrenn]

Would you rather spend your money paying for a long prison sentence? I guess we don't mind paying for people to live in prison for a years, but god forbid we spend money for the to live in rehab for a few months. How about people who are caught with drugs like marijuana, who are probably sent to out treatment? We don't even to pay for their room and board, but of course that is bad idea too. Let's just keep paying for people to live in prison.

I mind paying for anyone's anything that they DO to themselves. Please feel free to drink, smoke, shoot up or what ever it is that you like to do, so long as you keep it to your self and don't involve others.

That means you dont drink or use and drive killing others. It means your not robbing people for money to pay for your drug habbit. It means that if its killing you so sorry please die quietly.

Get it? If people want rehab then they can damn well pay for it themselves. However putting them in jail will do just about the same thing as rehab. You dry out. Its just not so cushy and plush as a rehab. Jail is something to avoid unlike rehab.

So you don't mind paying for someone to live in prison?

If they committed a crime I wand them in jail forever. That being said I dont want to spend 49,000 a year on them. I mind very much that my money is being used to keep prisoners in comfort. I think prisoners need to PAY for their own incarnation.

 

[syrenn]

And FYI, you already pay for people to go to rehab, along with paying for people to be in jail and prison.

FYI , I know. I also know that California is broke. FYI, I also know that the insurance system is broke.

Could it be because we are spending money one bullshit?

 

[Luissa]

why in the world would you legalize a harmful substance and then force those who don't use drugs to fund your treatment centers? If you want to committ suicide have at it. JUst don't make me pay to watch.

YOu do realize how much money would be saved if we ended the War on Drugs, and just paid for rehab instead of prison right?
Plus we would probably save billions on sending marijuana users to rehab, because the most of the time they only go because the court makes them.
And FYI, you already pay for people to go to rehab, along with paying for people to be in jail and prison.

Why should I pay for any of it? You want it legalized, fine. Personally, my view is that we only have dealers because we have users.... and users make choices.... so, users should fund their own damned rehab.... and, they should fund the prison places for the dealers. I should not have to pay for the stupidity of others. Make your life choices and accept the consequences.

If you legalized marijuana for example, we wouldn't have dealers.
You can sell it at the store, put an age limit on it, and use the tax dollars to pay for rehab.

 

[Luissa]

And FYI, you already pay for people to go to rehab, along with paying for people to be in jail and prison.

FYI , I know. I also know that California is broke. FYI, I also know that the insurance system is broke.

Could it be because we are spending money one bullshit?

Just imagine if California didn't have spend so much money prosecuting people who smoke pot? How about paying for them to be in jail, or for their public defender, and their rehab?

My friend got caught with $5 worth of pot, he recieved a public defender, went to court, and they ended up dropping the chargers. How much money do you think was wasted on $5 worth of pot that was grown in our state?

 

[WillowTree]

It makes more sense to fund rehab then clog up the courts and prisons.

why in the world would you legalize a harmful substance and then force those who don't use drugs to fund your treatment centers? If you want to committ suicide have at it. JUst don't make me pay to watch.

YOu do realize how much money would be saved if we ended the War on Drugs, and just paid for rehab instead of prison right?
Plus we would probably save billions on sending marijuana users to rehab, because the most of the time they only go because the court makes them.
And FYI, you already pay for people to go to rehab, along with paying for people to be in jail and prison.

Luissa,, with all due respect.. "this we can't do it cause it's too expensive" argument is getting old.. That didn't stop you guys from ramming health care down our throats, now you use it to legalize drugs?? I don't buy it. I will never be in favor of legalizing harmful drugs and then opting to pay for rehab. That is just plain stupid. We can't send illegals home cause it would cost too much, we can't build a wall cause it would cost too much.. and on and on and on. I don't want drug pushers pushing drugs on my kids or my grandkids.. you need to take a good long look at your little boy and ask yourself if you want his brain fried on drugs.. you should come up with a resounding NO.
this country is messed up when we make cigarette smokers socially unacceptable, then turn around and make marijuana and cocaine legal,, you gonna let the marijuana smokers smoke in your presence??