Drug Legalization
Problems are hard to solve, they are easier to ameliorate. We could do a better job of living with these dangerous substances if we changed the way we think about them - Dan Baum
image by: Richard Branson
HWN Suggests
Legalize It All
Depending on how the issue is framed, legalization of all drugs can appeal to conservatives, who are instinctively suspicious of bloated budgets, excess government authority, and intrusions on individual liberty, as well as to liberals, who are horrified at police overreach, the brutalization of Latin America, and the criminalization of entire generations of black men. It will take some courage to move the conversation beyond marijuana to ending all drug prohibitions, but it will take less, I suspect, than most politicians believe. It’s already politically permissible to criticize mandatory minimums, mass marijuana-possession arrests, police militarization, and other excesses of the drug war...
Resources
Drug Legalization and Decriminalization Beliefs Among Substance-Using and Non-using Individuals
These results suggest that persons who used marijuana strongly support the legalization of both recreational and medical marijuana, whereas persons who primarily have opioid or stimulant misuse have less strongly held beliefs about legalization of substances within those respective categories. By including those who misuse drugs, these data assist in framing discussions of drug legalization and have the potential to inform drug policy considerations.
How New York and California Botched Marijuana Legalization
Steep taxes and heavy regulation are making it hard for licensed pot sellers to operate in some states, driving more producers and buyers to illegal outlets. ‘Our No. 1 competitor is the illicit market.’
How to Legalize Every Drug
Cocaine energy drinks, licensed psychedelics guides, and fair trade heroin could all be part of a safer legal regime.
How will drug legalization affect America's communities of color?
Despite electoral successes, it remains unclear how the new measures will affect those who have been disproportionately targeted in the war on drugs.
I used to support legalizing all drugs. Then the opioid epidemic happened
America’s worst drug crisis shows what can happen when a dangerous, addictive substance is made easily accessible.
Legalize All Drugs? The 'Risks Are Tremendous' Without Defining The Problem
Linda Wertheimer asks Baum about how he began to delve into the topic of America's war on drugs and why he calls attempts at legalization a big risk based on our approach to solving the widespread problem.
Our Country is Addicted to Control: Legalize Drugs
What many people confuse with legalization is that it is promoting drugs – it is simply saying people want to change the laws so conditions can be made safer for users. Legalization takes a big weight off the addict’s shoulders – they’re no longer in it for doing something illegal and if they need help, they’re more likely to go and get it (Baird 2012). Legalization is a great alternative to decriminalization or prohibition.
The Case Against Legalizing Drugs
The quest to liberalize drug laws in Europe is gaining steam. Inspired by the movie "Traffic" -- which portrays America's war on drugs as a Sisyphean struggle at best -- such prominent voices as the Economist magazine have now taken up the cause. According to the magazine's editors, the case for legalization rests, first, on John Stuart Mill's principle that the individual is sovereign "over his own body and mind" and so ought to be able to do with himself as he pleases. The editors also argue the practical benefits that would allegedly accrue from eliminating the black market in drugs and establishing a culture of "sensible drug-taking."
The Moral and Practical Case for Drug Legalization
The risk of legalization is significantly less than the risk of continuing the availability of cigarettes, alcohol ° and cholesterol. Many innocent victims of prohibition-including many drug abstainers-would no longer be sacrificed in the futile attempt to protect self-destructive people from themselves.
The right way to do drugs
The argument for the legalisation of cannabis has been won. Now for the difficult bit.
What a Legal Recreational Drug Market Would Look Like in the UK
We spoke to a load of experts to understand how legalizing weed, psychedelics, cocaine, pills, and ketamine would actually work.
Will Drug Legalization Leave Black People Behind?
Even in states that have legalized or decriminalized marijuana possession, Black people are still more likely to be arrested for it than White people. These organizers are working to change that.
‘Gateway drug’ no more: Study shows legalizing recreational cannabis does not increase substance abuse
Legalizing recreational cannabis at the state level does not increase substance use disorders or use of other illicit drugs among adults and, in fact, may reduce alcohol-related problems, according to new CU Boulder research. The study of more than 4,000 twins from Colorado and Minnesota also found no link between cannabis legalization and increases in cognitive, psychological, social, relationship or financial problems.
Legalize It All
How to win the war on drugs.
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