Neocons oppose drug rehab centres

[nicky10013]

.....and that includes drug trafficking, associated violence / murder, possession, etc....not just personal use. Canada has far more drug offences per capita than the USA according to this source:

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_dru_off-crime-drug-offences

I'm not surprised. Clearly our situation isn't working either. The point is new solutions are needed and throwing people in prison isn't one of them.

[eyeball]

According to the same source our friends to the south are also the...

world's largest consumer of cocaine (shipped from Colombia through Mexico and the Caribbean), Colombian heroin, and Mexican heroin and marijuana; major consumer of ecstasy and Mexican methamphetamine; minor consumer of high-quality Southeast Asian heroin; illicit producer of cannabis, marijuana, depressants, stimulants, hallucinogens, and methamphetamine; money-laundering center

I'd have to say the drug offence stats probably say more about the crappy quality of their law enforcement than anything else. Either that or them good ol boys down at the 'money laundering center' really know how to take care of business.

No doubt these guys oppose drug rehab too. Are you nuts?

[bush_cheney2004]

I'd have to say the drug offence stats probably say more about the crappy quality of their law enforcement than anything else. Either that or them good ol boys down at the 'money laundering center' really know how to take care of business.

The drug offence metrics from NationMaster are suspect based on other Canadian studies, but clearly the love affair with illegal drugs burns just as hot as anything "down south".

http://www.parl.gc.ca/37/1/parlbus/commbus/senate/com-e/ille-e/library-e/collin-e.htm#1.%20%20Canadian%20data

No doubt these guys oppose drug rehab too. Are you nuts?

Nuts and drug free....I like to get high on reality.

Edited January 19, 2010 by bush_cheney2004

[eyeball]

The entirety of the Netherlands has the same drug policy as Amsterdam. Furthermore, the Netherlands and Amsterdam as a whole has a per capita addiction rate lower than any other western country. They're easy on users and strict with distributers. You can't treat users like common criminals and throw them into prison and force them into treatment. I wonder how well rehab goes with an unwilling participant.

I definitely recall there was a time when the 'magnet' phenomenon was a problem for Amsterdam, it's probably why the Netherlands had to make their policy universal. The reasons why so many people suffering mental disease flee to the anonymity of places like Vancouver's Lower East Side is certainly well understood and given how many of these wind up self medicating themselves to the point of addiction, the numbers of the truly desperate addicts in these same areas become easier to explain. Our policies towards drug use and mental health both need to be made universal for mutually inclusive reasons. The fact is if we had more mental health facilities throughout the land we'd have less need for places like Insite.

Insite is both a symptom and a 'cure' or a least a possible path to one.

In the end, drug addiction is a medical problem, not a criminal problem. The act of distribution is another matter entirely. Our drug policies have to be pragmatic and not empassioned or ideological. We have to look at what works best in reducing crime in drug infested areas, decreases the amount of disease and increases the percentage of people getting into rehab as well as strong support systems for people who get out so they don't slip and when they do have a place to go to in order to ensure they don't completely fall back into the grips of addiction. Throwing people in prison just doesn't work. Look at our friends down south. 85% of all people in the US penal system are there due to drugs.

True enough and all else aside it would probably also do a world of good to recognize that not everyone who does drugs is an addict. This confusion almost seems deliberate if not malicious - it's obviously part and parcel of an entrenched process of social/legal stigmatization and demonization. The reason I say this is, the people I know who fought against mental health facilities here are also the spear-point of the local front on the war against drugs.

I wonder how many so-called neo-cons would oppose the prohibition of booze? The folks I speak of clearly have booze in their sights, it says so right in their mission statement to drive drugs and booze out of the community. Mind you, since they expressed that, at least three new bars and a liquor store have opened up in town, any of which could have been halted at the drop of a by-law.

[eyeball]

Nuts and drug free....I like to get high on reality.

By hyperventilating?

Its just a good thing its not illegal to get high or more to the point, alter your mind recreationally. Who knows what might happen if the real bugaboo that seems to be up the moral butt of society was brought out of the shadows? We might have to start scolding children who think it's fun to make themselves dizzy by spinning if the really crazy neo-cons had their way.

[bush_cheney2004]

By hyperventilating?

Yes.....dopers have reduced lung capacity.

Its just a good thing its not illegal to get high or more to the point, alter your mind recreationally....

It is illegal if done with a scheduled substance (possession).

Sorry, there goes reality intruding on your fantasy world again.

Edited January 19, 2010 by bush_cheney2004

[nicky10013]

Yes.....dopers have reduced lung capacity.

It is illegal if done with a scheduled substance (possession).

Sorry, there goes reality intruding on your fantasy world again.

When it comes to reality as defined by law, well, the law can be changed. The problem is that people take laws as not just something designed to prevent the injury against others or property but almost as if a moral commandment. Laws should be designed to reduce crime, not inflict a punishment from the old testament. We need smarter laws, not what we've got.