Decriminalize drugs and defund the DEA 👍
Abolish the DEA.
Deschedule cannabis & mushrooms.
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The idea that legalization or something similar would lead to more issues is completely unfounded and rests on the idea that the approach we take right now solves anything and stops people from using drugs. You legalize drugs to IMPROVE the situation, not to make it worse. The repressive approach towards drugs has made all drug issues worse, it is not some sort of dam that is holding back the tide of run-away drug problems, we already have that while they are all illegal.
People by and large do not end up with mental health issues because of drug use, they have mental health issues, or medical issues, or financial issues, which leads them towards drug use, which, with our current approach towards them, puts them into a downwards spiral. A more sane approach centered around harm reduction would be a means to help people in those situations, instead of turning people, who often ended up in that situation through nothing more than an accident or medical issue requiring pain relief medication, into criminals.
A more sane approach centered around harm reduction would be a means to help people in those situations
I’m pretty sure they’re saying the same thing. They’re just saying those means to help people need to be in place before you allow dangerously addictive substances to flow freely in the marketplace.
I do not want illegal drugs, but I also want universal healthcare so that people who do get addicted get the treatment they need.
Also, plenty of healthy, sane, rich people become addicts, so I don’t think your claim about what leads people to drug use is necessarily true.
Depression exists regardless of income. It can be caused by genetics, childhood trauma, shitty parents, etc… So that still falls under mental health issues.
Then I guess we should have a robust mental healthcare system in place before we decriminalize heroin and meth…
I’m pretty sure they’re saying the same thing.
Not in my opinion, because the underlying implication is that a mere change in the legality of a substance would lead to a major rise in its use that we need to counter with an improvement of social care. I’m of the opinion that we would be in a far better situation if we had never intercepted a single gram of any illegal substance or put a single person behind bars for their drug use. Of course we need better social care, but a reduction of repressive approaches to counter the drug issues alone would improve the situation and we don’t need to wait for “socialism” to take off in the US.
Portugal decriminalized all drugs. It’s not as clear-cut as you think. I am in favor of decriminalization, but to pretend there will be no major fallout is not in line with what happened there.
A newly released national survey suggests the percent of adults who have used illicit drugs increased to 12.8 percent in 2022, up from 7.8 in 2001, though still below European averages. Portugal’s prevalence of high-risk opioid use is higher than Germany’s, but lower than that of France and Italy. But even proponents of decriminalization here admit that something is going wrong.
Overdose rates have hit 12-year highs and almost doubled in Lisbon from 2019 to 2023. Sewage samples in Lisbon show cocaine and ketamine detection is now among the highest in Europe, with elevated weekend rates suggesting party-heavy usage. In Porto, the collection of drug-related debris from city streets surged 24 percent between 2021 and 2022, with this year on track to far outpace the last. Crime — including robbery in public spaces — spiked 14 percent from 2021 to 2022, a rise police blame partly on increased drug use.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/07/07/portugal-drugs-decriminalization-heroin-crack/
We need to focus and do better on harm reduction before we go full blast so I agree with you 💯
If we’re actually following the scheduling guidelines, can we do psychedelics next?
I mean, they probably will. They’ve got to offer fucking something other than “I’m not a literal fascist who will black bag and torture you like Trump.” It’s not particularly effective to be like “I know your lives are fucking terrible out there, but I’m not gonna do a god damned thing to really improve them, because why should I have to, my opponent is fucking bonkers and I’m going to hold him over your head abusively, dangling him as a threat that you’ll be punished under unless you vote for me.”
Far easier to threaten us with the spectre of fascism than actually fucking do anything to improve things or, you know, stop fascism. However, enough folks in the Democratic party are waking up to the public not actually responding well to this abuse, and see that they’re enabling fascism to be able to lean on it as a danger that only they can thwart. So they gotta start giving something, and drugs are an easy one.
I forgot the exact details but that’s slowly becoming a reality in the states. I think the FDA was re reviewing mushrooms for use fighting against PTSD
Mushrooms are in phase three trials and have been for awhile. That doesn’t help a lot of other plants that were misclassified under Nixon, several of them used in religious contexts such as Ayahuasca (DMT) and Peyote (mescaline).
Essentially, all of these medicines need to be reviewed because scheduling was based on political motivations and not any understanding of their pharmacology. They were being used as medicine by medical doctors (psychiatrists) when Nixon scheduled them. This was a great injustice to anyone with mental health issues and direct violence towards groups already using psychedelics (rather medicinally, spiritually, or recreationally). And this injustice and violence continues to this day.
We all know Nixon was a crook and that the drug war is a crock of shit. Yet, we continue locking people up and denying access to medicine (or spiritual food depending on your outlook) because we don’t like the substances people choose to have a relationship with. We’re complicit in his violence everyday we let it continue as though it’s justice.
Anyway, I hope the DEA reschedules cannabis. It would be a great first step. But we have to recognize that it’s just one step and not the end goal. The drug war needs to end. And we can’t be content with only weed being looked at.
Yeah, and cannabis has numerous well known and well studied medical applications. Has been common knowledge for years. And yet…
It’s already available in Oregon.
DC too but I remember it being some federal level movement
DEA: Ok, it’s reclassified.
Indiana: Cool. We’ll make it 5 years in prison for smoking a joint.
I hate this state.
The states surrounding Indiana:
I go to Illinois to get weed. Most of the cars in the parking lots are from Indiana. I wish I was closer to Michigan. Their weed is super cheap and they don’t have a limit for out-of-state purchase quantities like Illinois.
Let me just say, the Indiana license plate design makes me want to gouge my eyes out. Second, every car I see with an Indiana license plate is a giant pile of shit for some reason.
We used to have an awesome license plate.
That was the license plate of my childhood.
That’s pretty rad. I don’t know why they changed it to the current abomination.
This one wasn’t too bad except we don’t grow much amber-colored grain in Indiana. We mostly grow corn. So it’s stupid.
Corn is a grain
Lol, the enshittification of license plates continues. My state used to have these awesome silhouettes of some of its history on the edges. Now? Just plain fucking two colors, no embellishments at all.
Wisconsin is gonna be the last state to legalize because we’re the Alabama of the fucking north. Your 5th DUI probably has lesser consequences than getting caught holding here.
You’re the Alabama of the north? Have you ever heard the Hoosier accent? And both Dan Quayle and Mike Pence come from Indiana. Also, we once tried to legislate pi. And not to the correct value of pi.
Lol fair points, tho we do have quite an accent up here dontchyaknow? But I guess you have Gary, IN too and all we have is a bunch of serial killers.
Wisconsin is a purple state that’s gerrymandered to hell. Zero movement on any progressive agenda for over a decade. The progressives here have gotten dejected and tend to overexagerate the problem.
Not that it’s all great. It’s just not “Wississippi”.
Whereas Indiana is sometimes rightfully nicknamed ‘The Middle Finger of the South.’
Yall might have something akin to fair elections this year. Maybe.
Your purple state may actually be purple soon.
Meanwhile, yesterday I walked into a store and bought THC vape cartridges legally. There was even an armed cop in there for security. I said hi to him on the way in.
I know “just move” isn’t a real solution, but man I would never live in a state that isn’t solid blue ever again. After growing up in a “purple” area of a red-leaning state, the difference is pretty insane.
It may be finally happening!
The whole scheduling system is ridiculous, Schedule 1 is for drugs with no medicinal usage and high addiction potential, which isn’t true for a lot of them. LSD has therapeutic uses (I’ve used it myself) and Heroin, while addictive, definitely has medicinal usage as a strong pain killer. IIRC Cocaine is Schedule 2.
“It may finally be happening!”
I’ve heard that every election year since 2008, so I won’t expect to see it until several birthdays from now
In how many of those election years had the DHHS finally asked the DEA to reclassify…?
I’ve noticed this vein of irrational cynicism before. Bad things happen, and therefore bad things will keep happening. I told people for years that it was already too late for Disney to extend copyright yet again; it takes too long to get anything through Congress. This Congress can barely elect a Speaker, but people were still arguing there’d be a last minute extension in the final weeks of 2023.
Point is, cynicism shouldn’t replace clear thinking.
That’s valid, I just don’t know any world other than one manipulated for political gain or profit so I’m solidly in the ‘that would be amazing but I doubt it’ camp. I’d love to be wrong though.
Maybe not DHHS, but I remember countless articles about X agency recommending it, and nothing ever changed.
I’m not agreeing with that person, I’m slightly optimistic about this time, but I’m not going to get my hopes up.
Alcohol is unscheduled.
Cannabis is schedule 1.
These should be reversed to reflect the actual truth of things.
Ethanol does have medical uses. It’s the only way to stop poisonings from things like antifreeze, methanol, to name a few
Serious question- with all the alternatives available today, does heroin still have medical uses?
I’m 100% against the moronic drug war, so this is a tangent from the point, I’m just curious.
Nope. I don’t think there’s any reason why heroin should even be manufactured these days. If you’re going to make painkillers from opium, they’ve got a million better options at this point.
That said, unfortunately we have people addicted to it, and I would rather see them getting high safely, on clean drugs, in a safe location than having them get hooked on fentanyl and end up dying of an overdose under a bridge. So it does make sense to continue manufacturing it for that. Otherwise, black markets will fill in the gap.
I don’t disagree with your reasoning at all. I was just curious about whether or not it also had a legitimate medical use.
Don’t they more or less give heroin to people recovering from surgeries?
Oh wow, I guess William Randolph Hearst’s ghost must have finally run out of bribe money.
Hey if this happens does anyone know how this will affect drug testing for work? Employers are private entities obviously but a lot only drug test due to federal regulation or contract compliance.
I assume that companies would still drug test for weed. It’s still a controlled substance with reclassification. They may be less likely to do so, but this wouldn’t stop it from occurring.
This is why it’s also important to ensure doctors can prescribed weed as a medicine. It forces companies to accept weed as a medical accommodation for most positions.
Even so, but for most non critical jobs, it really shouldn’t be a problem if an employee smokes off the clock or not. They don’t say shit when every office worker is sloshed from 5:30 onward.
I expect reclassification to happen just before the election.
Yeah and right after they send the $2000 for electing Warnock
You would have had Herschel Walker? That drooling imbecile?
Seems like good advertising to me.
Criminalization is a multi-million dollar industry and greed is more powerful than our laws.
US health officials ask DEA to jeopardize their own jobs
The DEA has basically ignored cannabis for years now. Opioids will keep them employed, don’t worry.
Abolish the DEA, legalize all drugs, and put education/treatment programs in place to help people. Repair lives instead of destroying them. That should always be the goal.
So why do they have to ask? Ok these are health officials, couldn’t Congress tell them to?
