Dodger Logic: #41: Pass the Coke

I've already talked about my stance on pot, but I haven't touched on the harder drugs, which is pretty much every other drug out there. I definitely don't think we should all go around doing a bunch of hard drugs, so don't get me wrong when you're reading this. I used to go back and forth about thinking if hard drugs should be legal or not. They definitely should have some kind of control. That I've always believed. But I was thinking about it the wrong way before. I was thinking, ok, either we just legalize everything and put forth some age control/license control type stuff and hope drug problems get better, or we leave things the way they are. WRONG. Portugal has the right idea. The president of Portugal cut the number of his drug addicts in HALF by decriminalizing all drugs. Instead of treating it like it's a crime, the country of Portugal treats drug addiction as a public health issue (which it essentially is, since doing something to your own body, while no one else is being harmed in the process, should never be a crime.) Now I think that's really interesting.

Not only would that cut back on the number of drug addicts we have here, but it would open up tons of jail space for real criminals. I heard one time that murderers can get out of jail way before their time is up, simply because there's no space for them in jail, and more space is needed for new convicts. I've also heard that drugs are the #1 reason why so many people are in jail. That's to say, most people who are in jail are in there because of drugs. Well, look how much space we'd open up for some real criminals if we decriminalized drugs!

If a murderer can get out of jail and be sent to a clinic instead for claiming "insanity," then druggies should certainly go to a clinic, instead of jail. We are already funding both jail and clinics, so it's not like it would cost anymore in taxes. Anyway, this is just an idea, and it seemed to work for Portugal.