Drug policy 101: Past the hypocrisy. A little piece I wrote this afternoon.
If one area of human existence is blatantly laden with hypocrisy, it is the story of drug policies. In this little piece I will look into this story, and I will show the points of hypocrisy that make it up. Maybe if more people can share this view we will finally demand change.
So lets dive in, please suspend all forms of believe for a little bit. Also, I am only giving information, take it lightly and see if it resonates with you. Don't get caught up in emotions over it.
Hypocrisy, if you ask me this is the modus opperandis of all drug policies. If one takes a step back, and looks upon this matter from a detached point of view, one is met with hypocrisy. So lets have a hypothetical discussion between a mainstream news abuser, and a self educated person.
When we hear the word: drug policy, we might wonder first, what drug?
Well, certain drugs.
These must be substances that science has shown to be of bad nature, right?
Well, research shows there are no good or bad substances, we can only distinguish between good and bad use of substances. I mean, one can drown oneself by drinking too much water. Research actually shows us that the number of deaths related to the use of legal drugs are exponentially higher then those associated with illegal drugs. The number of people dying from using their 'medication' as prescribed is more then ten times higher then that of all numbers of death of ALL illegal drugs put together.
So you are saying that the illegal drugs are less dangerous then the legal ones?
I am not saying that, research shows it to us, it is what we call a fact.
But for sure, the illegal drugs, science must have had something to do with their choice?
Well, no. Every once in a while truly independent research is done, and always do they give the same recommendations. Namely that the classification of drugs as we now know it, is totally off and should be revised immediately. But these sounds are mostly killed before they can be heard. A good example of this can be found by looking into the story of professor David Nutt.
So who decided to create this policy this way then?
Well, history showed us that these policies were mostly called to live with racist intentions. It also shows us clearly how these policies have nothing to do with science. It has all to do with the morality of 'the majority'.
So you are saying the list of drugs that are controlled is randomly made up?
No, not randomly, it had specific minorities as a target. It did not have anything to do with the harmfulness of any of the given substances, it had everything to do with who was seen as using them. Even today, one can clearly see a bias in the number of people incarcerated for drug-related offenses. So even to this day, the drug policy is often used to target minorities.
So okay, maybe the list used is not the best thing and should be up for discussion, but we are protecting our weaker fellows with these laws, no?
Well, depends on what you see as protecting. If locking up people involved in non-violent crimes, which make up for most of the drug related convictions, is seen as helping or protecting someone, yes then they do. But to me, protecting someone is first and foremost done by helping them when they need it. Someone abusing drugs will most often have an underlying issue that triggers this, so incarceration of this person is not going to solve that, it will only add yet another problem. Also if one sees an addiction as a medical, or health issue, then incarceration again is not something that will help or protect. It will actually accomplish the exact opposite.
Okay, so you are saying we need to legalize all drugs?
Yes, if by legalizing you mean that they will be treated like any other product being sold, then yes. But here also things get blurred easily. Because 'legalizing', wen it means government controlled, might be the last thing we really want. I for one cannot see myself using government grown cannabis. I have no faith in the government anymore, and having them involved with the production of the substances I would want to use, no thank you. What I am saying is liberate these things, and let the free market deal with it.
Well, I think you would release a beast upon our children when you do that. How are you going to prevent our children from indulging in these substances on a way to early age?
The hypocrisy shows its ugly head again clearly. The drug war has not diminished the demand nor the supply of drugs. Even more interesting, research clearly shows how prices of drugs have gone down, while at the same time the quality has gone up. Notwithstanding the ever tougher laws that are supposed to eradicate them. Something does not really fit here does it?
Secondly, these laws do not protect our children, on the contrary. Research shows how for most kids nowadays it is a lot easier to get any of the illegal substances then any of the legal ones. For cigarettes and liquor they have to go to a store where they get an ID check, and as such cannot buy them. The illegal drugs are easier to get, I have never seen a dealer of illegal drugs ask for an ID. So by making these substances available in shops where they would ask for an ID we could prevent children from getting their hands on them a lot easier and more efficient then is being done now.
Thirdly, research shows that a more repressive policy leads to more abuse. The numbers of people using, and abusing, certain drugs is more often higher if the policy is more repressive. In Holland, for instance, the percentage of number of young people using cannabis is almost three times lower then the on in the USA.
So if you are really worried about your children, then ask change.
Wauw, that's clear, but what to do now then?
Ask for change, write to your politicians, let them know that you know. The biggest problem with this policy is that we as a society don't get the chance to really learn how to handle these things.
This gives us a very short and straight to the point view on drug policy. The fact that these policies have never worked was fairly long hidden for a long time, but now with ever increasing numbers of Research Chemicals being sold as alternatives to the substances already banned, this incompetence will be ever more visible. Soon we will not be able anymore to hold on to these outdated ineffective laws.
We will look back onto the drug war as another dark age in the human experience.
hop you enjoyed it, feels bit like preaching to the choir a bit ;-p
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