Hawaii Could Become First U.S State To Decriminalize All Drugs

Discussion in 'Politics Discussion' started by Rainman, Mar 27, 2016.

  1. Rainman

    Rainman Senior Investor

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    Because the war against drugs is impossible to win, Hawaii might like Portugal, decriminalize all drugs including cocaine and heroine.

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-03-26/hawaii-may-become-first-state-us-decriminalize-all-drugs
    Interesting . . .
     
  2. erook7878

    erook7878 Well-Known Member

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    I'm definitely in favor of it. A state by state solution is excellent for drugs decriminalization/legalization. The sky isn't falling in Colorado and Washington after full marijuana legalization. Other states will see that and follow.
     
  3. Alex

    Alex Senior Investor

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    Won't that just attract the wrong types then to flock there and trade, or those who are addicts to live there and use freely? I have several friends who are addicts and it's not a pretty sight, and if they were allowed to use it openly, then they would. Is that a good example for kids? I think not or for tourism.
     
  4. petesede

    petesede Guest

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    The portugal experiment has basically shown that the taxes raised from legalization, and from the saving of prison costs can be use to create really good addiction treatment programs. You also have more regulation and guidance. A drug dealer is not looking out for your best interest, but at least in Portugal, there are systems in place to get people help early in the process. As far as kids, yeah.. but the same is true of smoking and drinking.
     
  5. djordjem87

    djordjem87 Well-Known Member

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    If you ask me that is the best solution. I will explain. All grown ups are responsible for their action and if somebody wants to commit a suicide you should try to help him but if he had really made a decision it would probably too late and futile. On the other hand we have drug dealers who are distributing illegally the misery and death. Nothing will stop this to happen better than decriminalization. It will not stop them to sell but at least they will have to open legal firms and pay taxes. It sounds so strange but if you think about it there is no real reason to fight drug dealers. We should try to help people realize drugs are bad but if I decide to take it should not be a crime. Of course if I do something under the influence and I would surely do then it is a problem but people do stupid stuff under the influence of alcohol too and alcohol is legal. For me, guns, other weapons and cars are the biggest issue here. Maybe if drug addicts have no need to hide and have a place to fix themselves they would stay cleaner and less dangerous.
     
  6. rz3300

    rz3300 Guest

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    Well that will certainly be an interesting social experiment to see where that ends up going. I am not exactly sure what to make of some news like this. I understand that the way on drugs is not working, and it has been that way for a while now, but I am not sure that decriminalizing everything is the answer. I will definitely keep tabs on this story though.
     
  7. crimsonghost747

    crimsonghost747 Senior Investor

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    Okay let's just correct a MAJOR misunderstanding here.

    DECRIMINALIZATION DOES NOT EQUAL LEGALIZATION.

    Drugs are NOT legal in Portugal. What they did about 16 years ago is that changed the law in a way that they significantly reduced the penalty for using drugs. If you get caught with a small amount on you (personal use) you will be sent to have a talk with some social workers etc. And possibly/probably a small fine (~ parking ticket), along with the confiscation of the drugs of course. It is still very much illegal to possess or use drugs in Portugal, but you won't be looking at the huge problems of legal fees, possible jail time, criminal record, losing your job etc.
     
  8. 3rdparty

    3rdparty Member

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    this is still a measure in which to draw admiration as the prison industrial complex seen in america/n territories thrives off of small drug charges that result in jailtime to fill private prisons thus making investors happy. if everyone running around with drugs and whatnot were simply ticketed, there would be far more opportunities for people to seek help and to re-establish their lives as opposed to being thrown in and out of prison and denied life changing services.

    in fact, if we spent less money on prisons, we would have more money for rehabilitating addicts and translating them into our horrible capitalist society and through that would have less of an issue. also decriminalization discourages drug trafficking: half of the fun of trafficking drugs is sneaking it around because it's illegal. "war on drugs" propaganda only inflames the issue and lands countless of innocent (see: victim-less crimes) heads in prison.

    decriminalizing drugs and putting that effort towards protecting victims of drug trafficking discourages half of the phenomenon of drug trafficking on it's own.
     
  9. ScooterBrandon

    ScooterBrandon Senior Investor

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    What addict will have the money to travel to Hawaii??
    If you took the time to read the entire article, you would know they are not going to let people do dope out in the open streets.
    But instead of pushing the addicts though the criminal justice system, they will go into the medical system where they belong.
    Perhaps your addicted friends could actually benefit from this.

    Could you imagine if we treated other medical issues the way we treat addiction?
    How absurd would it be if we sent diabetics to prison because they were in possession of cake? All the while having people clamoring how it was their own fault they got type 2 because they made bad dietary choices.
    Addiction is a medical issues and we need to stop being stupid about it and treat it as such.
     
  10. Corzhens

    Corzhens Senior Investor

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    There are always 2 sides of a coin that's why this issue of drugs is deep-seated. First, the ill effects are already known such as crimes committed by drug-crazed users. Second, what do we get from the illegal drugs? That question cannot be answered straight by any user or even drug dealers. That means then that they know those drugs have no positive effect all like heroin and cocaine. Now, if drugs become legal, what would happen to the youth? It's just like buying cigarette in the street corner. The next generation might be doomed.
     

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