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I tried to search and see if this has been discussed here, but didn't find anything. Apologies if it has already been done.
What are your thoughts on the current situation in Maine in regards to the increasingly alarming number of drug addicts and the lack of services to treat them? Should the addicts all just move away? Should there be more or fewer drug clinics? Should the state provide (or not) funding for those that qualify (income-wise) so that they might seek treatment? Should the drug treatment centers be offered by the state or non-profits rather than the for-profit clinics that are popping up?
Discuss.
Originally Posted by DavidoftheNorth
Are you sort of suggesting that we should legalize drugs? Or are you sort of suggesting that we should make alcohol illegal? I think society in general senses that we're "between a rock and a hard place". Nobody can really believe that alcohol consumption is beneficial, but prohibition didn't work, at least not 80 years ago. I think many people are innately afraid to add yet more "fuel to the fire" by softening their resistance against drugs knowing the damage that we already live with with alcohol. (Yes, I drink alcohol.)
Originally posted by Dwatted Wabbit
It costs less to treat an addict outpatient or inpatient than it does to send him to the joint for 2-5. And he's not likely to come out of the joint any less antisocial.
The mental health system, drug treatment, and the first-line treatment for all drug addicts--law enforcement, jails, prisons--is all paid for by the taxpayer. Cops see far more druggies and drunks than the treatment centers do.
I think the "War on Drugs" has been an unmitigated disaster on many levels. It was clear to even the most dense that prohibition didn't work. And drug prohibition isn't working, so I'm of the opinion that putting all currently abused illegal and controlled drugs into the pharmacy system may be the least of the poor choices we have.
Certain medical professionals could prescribe heroin, methadone, oxy, pot, etc. and it could be stored at high security pharmacies. Druggies could be required to register as addicts in order to have access to cheap drugs.
While this might not do much overall for the addiction level--it might increase it for a time--it has the potential to put the major drug gangs and warlords out of business in fairly short order. When their money evaporates, their power follows.
In the big picture, I think or hope this would be a plus regarding the balance of evil in the world today.
maine is one of the highest welfare states now...laden with fraud..
making drugs more readily avaliable would be throwing fuel on the fire.
most of maines workforce is not high tech, ,,,,ask any employer right now,,what the average work ethic is for kids 17-24??????
i have dealt personally with employees,,that come to work, drunk or stoned
its sad,, and destructive..
woman get beat on,,kids get neglected,,,when folks drink alot..not to mention the tragedies of drinking and driving...
to legalize drugs,,,would be a disaster..
Though I do not think that drugs should be legal per se, but I do think that addicts should recieve more help than punishment. I would rather see addicts placed into 2 years of a mandated psych program than put in prison for 5-10 years.
Sorry- In the above, I meant those addicts that are charged only with posession or use of the drugs, not those that commit other crimes (robbery, rape, murder) against other people. People who commit a crime such as those should serve hard time regardless of being an addict. However, I would still like to see even those criminals in a psych program for a year or two at the end of their sentence. I think the return rate would be far less with mandated psych help.
I agree with Beekeeper. I cannot recall how many people I have worked with that fir the description of "We didn't know he was a drunk until we met him sober."
The criminality of illicit drug abuse is created by the reduced capacity for legitimate work of the user and the high cost supported by the prohibition. Rush Limbaugh, for example, was still capable of doing his job and rich enough he did not have to steal to support his habit. So, unlike somebody that cannot even do simple tasks and cannot be employed and, as a result takes to theft or drug distribution to supply his addiction, Limbaugh is able to stay out of jail. The other guy is sent to prison where he probably gets a worse drug habit as well as the training needed to be a more successful criminal.
Drugs should be “Taxed, regulated, and quality controlled.” The legal system should also apply equally to the rich and the poor but that is another topic.
I can just see the pittfall of allowing currently illegal drugs to be legal and taxed. We really put it on to the tobacco smokers, and it seems that a new $1/pack tax is thrown on to cigarettes every time Augusta needs to balance it's books. I disagree so strongly with this message, but that needs to be another whole thread! However, I can see them legalizing the chemicals and then making the access to them pretty much non-existant, especially for the very poor and adddicted, in addition to throwing on more and more taxes as the general public complains about the addicts draining the system, as they say about tobacco users now. In that scenario, I still see people resorting to crime and underhanded dealings in order to live with their addictions and get their stuff.
In most cases, you would also have to change Medicaid/Medicare laws so that people could afford to not only seek treament from a healthcare professional, but buy their (legal) drugs too, as most addicts now do not qualify for any help whatsoever, either with psychologists and doctors, or with meds. (I actually see that as a major factor in drug addiction as it stands now, but again, that a whole 'nother thread!)
Depends on the drug. Lots of drugs are already legal.
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