I find it odd that you're accusing me of not watching The Wire. If the show had any single message it was "end the drug war."

> You literally said that punishing people for drug crimes doesn't work.

And it doesn't. All 33 of the gangbangers in the OP article will be replaced by new participants in the drug game within a week. There is no way we will incarcerate our way out of our national drug epidemic.

And you're not arguing against the alternative; you are arguing against the strawman you're building, "make everything legal and do nothing else about the problem". Any viable path to reducing addiction and overdose rates also has to include a myriad of social services. The $50k/yr it costs to lock someone up and throw away the key can be better spent on counseling, education, rehabilitation, and "housing first" programs.

We should be taking our cues from nations whose policy is actually reducing drug use among adolescents (new addicts) and opioid deaths overall.

Have a look at the chart here. Does that indicate to you that America's less liberal national drug policy is more or less effective than that of its OECD peer nations?

You're an addict? That's your expertise here?

You're arguing against a strawman, either intentionally or simply because you haven't bothered to educate yourself on what is happening in places like Portugal. Nobody is suggesting that we simply eliminate enforcement and call it a day.

> I work with addicts and alcoholics.

Doing what? Clearly not treatment, because you have no clue if you still view addiction as solvable through punitive measures.

> Throw the fucking book at anyone...

We're not going to incarcerate our way out of this. So long as there is money to be made, the black market will thrive.

> progressive policies

"You know that new needle exchange program is pretty cool. Maybe I'll try heroin now!"

You think that's how it works, huh?

Safe zones don't work. We need Hamsterdam nationwide, a transformative shift in drug policy at the federal as well as the state level. A single city, state, or front porch, for that matter, is a destination, not a solution.

He didn't, though. Portland is not Portugal. I'm not advocating for half-measures.

Not my idea. Also demonstrably proven to work. But you do you. Keep sticking your head in the sand.

What's your solution, then? Because after 50+ years of the war on drugs, we have more addicts and more drug gang activity than ever before.

Also, last I checked, the entire U.S. population did not turn into alcoholics when the Volstead Act was repealed.

Right. We just gotta keep on incarcerating our way out of this mess. Because that's totally working.

Nothing is easy. But prohibition simply does not work.

If you're referring to something like Portland, that is not the same as a national drug policy. Makes sense that doing it on that scale would turn the city into a "destination". Not a comparison to what is happening in Portugal at all.

Sure it is. You take all that money being wasted on enforcement and incarceration and divert it to health services. You're telling me your "hometown" did this, and it was an abysmal failure? I find that hard to believe.

The problem was that Purdue was marketing their "heroin" as safe. Nobody thinks actual heroin is safe. And nobody is suggesting it shouldn't be regulated. Just not illegal. We shouldn't be locking up addicts, and there shouldn't be a black market ruled by violence.

Seriously, read up on how successful Portugal has been with their drug policy. The results speak for themselves.

First off, the gray market pill mills did not come with the same level of violence associated with the black market drug trade.

Second, the actual root of the issue you're referring to is that Purdue conned medical professionals into believing their product was safe and non-addictive, thus turning millions of straight-laced, law-abiding, unwitting patients into hardcore drug addicts.

Lastly, cutting off their cheap "legal" supply drove all of those new addicts to turn to street heroin.

Purdue being scumbags is an entirely different issue that does nothing to change the fact that prohibition is not an effective policy.

EDIT: Decriminalization works. Addiction needs to be addressed as a health issue, not a criminal issue. Just look at Portugal. They're leading the way in drug policy.

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=portugal+decriminalization+of+drugs&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart

And round and round we go. Enforcement is pointless. We need Hamsterdam. Legalize all of it.

EDIT: To whoever is downvoting this comment, when was the last time you saw a drive-by shooting over bootleg liquor in the news? Prohibition doesn't work. Period. Full stop.

So long as there is a black market ruled by violence, you can give a life sentence to every gang-banger operating today, and there will be a fresh crop of replacements lined up to take their place, ad infinitum.

I've only ever been there for Sunday brunch. As far as brunch buffet goes, it's not bad.