If…
If I was in charge of drug policy, first I’d acknowledge that our current criminalized drug scheduling system is based on nothing but ignorance and bigotry and issue an apology for all the harms caused by the policies of prohibition and criminalization.
I’d get rid of the drug schedule system entirely. I’d immediately end all laws against personal possession of any drug. I’d get some smart people together to figure out best rules for sales & safe use. I’d want regulations that encourage people towards using milder forms. I’d allow psilocybe mushrooms, LSD, DMT and similar substances to be sold to adults with proper labeling and safe usage guides. I’d allow coca leaf to be treated more like coffee beans. I’d put in an age limit for sales of both coca teas and caffeine-based drinks. With opiates I’d allow opium lounges which serve opium tea of known regulated potencies and smoking opium as well. I’d allow stronger products like morphine and heroin to be sold to adults, but I’d make them more restricted. In every case I’d promote regulations and education to encourage mild forms and responsible use. There would be “serving it right” equivalent programs for workers in establishments selling these kinds of substances. Then I’d watch and learn and tweak the rules and regulations over time as we see what works and what doesn’t. The policy goal would be to minimize harms and maximize benefits of these various drugs and substances. Of course there would still be issues and problems around some people’s use of some substances. But our current policy of blanket criminalization is the worst of all possible options. It maximizes harm and causes many ancillary problems in society. Other rules might include a complete or partial ban on advertising. Rules around where and when various substances can be used. Rules on labelling, potency, warnings, etc. Right now cannabis is sold covered in warnings, while liquor has no warning label. That is not logical. It’s not really that hard to come up with a basic set of rules around “legal drugs.” People naturally tend towards the safer, milder forms of any psychoactive substance. The rules should be made to encourage responsible use. Prohibition does the exact opposite. During alcohol prohibition, many people died from drinking methyl alcohol. We didn’t need to criminalize the drinking of methyl alcohol to stop those deaths. We just needed to ensure safe legal access to the much safer option of ethyl alcohol. Anyone can easily and legally buy pure caffeine powder. Anyone can legally snort all the caffeine they want to, and get a very strong effect. Yet 99.999% of caffeine users prefer to take it in a beverage. The same would hold true for cocaine in a legal, regulated system. That’s the basics of how I would try to create reasonable regulations to replace our current nonsensical & inconsistent laws. Would legalization be perfect? No, nothing is, because humans aren’t perfect. But permanent global drug war is the worst of all possible options.
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If… Dana Larsen
Artwork Fair Use: bswise
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