March 2010 April 2010 May 2010 June 2010 July 2010
August 2010
September 2010 October 2010
November 2010
December 2010
January 2011
February 2011 March 2011 April 2011 May 2011 June 2011 July 2011 August 2011 September 2011 October 2011 November 2011 December 2011 January 2012 February 2012 March 2012 April 2012 May 2012 June 2012 July 2012 August 2012 September 2012 October 2012 November 2012 December 2012 January 2013 February 2013 March 2013 April 2013 May 2013 June 2013 July 2013 August 2013 September 2013 October 2013 November 2013 December 2013 January 2014 February 2014 March 2014 April 2014 May 2014 June 2014 July 2014 August 2014 September 2014 October 2014 November 2014 December 2014 January 2015 February 2015 March 2015 April 2015 May 2015 June 2015 July 2015 August 2015 September 2015 October 2015 November 2015 December 2015 January 2016 February 2016 March 2016 April 2016 May 2016 June 2016 July 2016 August 2016 September 2016 October 2016 November 2016 December 2016 January 2017 February 2017 March 2017 April 2017 May 2017 June 2017 July 2017 August 2017 September 2017 October 2017 November 2017 December 2017 January 2018 February 2018 March 2018 April 2018 May 2018 June 2018 July 2018 August 2018 September 2018 October 2018 November 2018 December 2018 January 2019 February 2019 March 2019 April 2019 May 2019 June 2019 July 2019 August 2019 September 2019 October 2019 November 2019 December 2019 January 2020 February 2020 March 2020 April 2020 May 2020 June 2020 July 2020 August 2020 September 2020 October 2020 November 2020 December 2020 January 2021 February 2021 March 2021 April 2021 May 2021 June 2021 July 2021 August 2021 September 2021 October 2021 November 2021 December 2021 January 2022 February 2022 March 2022 April 2022 May 2022 June 2022 July 2022 August 2022 September 2022 October 2022 November 2022 December 2022 January 2023 February 2023 March 2023 April 2023 May 2023 June 2023 July 2023 August 2023 September 2023 October 2023 November 2023 December 2023 January 2024 February 2024 March 2024
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30
31
News Every Day |

Opinion: California should legalize drugs — it works elsewhere

Opinion: California should legalize drugs — it works elsewhere

Why not legalize drugs — all drugs? It’s not a new idea but, amid the unending debate over how existing laws should be enforced, it merits renewed consideration in California and beyond.

Joe Rosenheim, who grew up in San Francisco, was an opiate addict for 11 years, has been in recovery for six years and is director of Inscape Recovery, an addiction treatment center near Mexico City. (Photo courtesy of Joe Rosenheim)
Joe Rosenheim, who grew up in San Francisco, was an opiate addict for 11 years, has been in recovery for six years and is director of Inscape Recovery, an addiction treatment center near Mexico City. (Photo courtesy of Joe Rosenheim)

If drugs were legalized, overdoses and property crimes would plummet. The black market for drugs would largely dry up, emergency services would be freed up, police officers could be repurposed, and jails and courtrooms wouldn’t be stuffed with low-level offenders.

Meanwhile, users stabilized on legal drugs could get off the street-hustle hamster wheel that consumes their time. Absent this underground lifestyle, many would get bored and either quit using outright or go to rehab. Not incidentally, the number of homeless would decline.

Even those who continue using would do so in a regulated environment that obviates the need to obtain money criminally and frees time to pursue more constructive ends. As for illegal drug sellers, legalization would make many of them obsolete (not to mention the impact on international organized crime).

Legalization, as opposed to decriminalization, doesn’t just mean not arresting people for possession but actually supplying the drugs through a legally-regulated institution to people who are addicted.

Drug legalization for addicts is not without precedent. In the United States, we practice a form of it by providing methadone and suboxone — although these opiate substitutes are often ineffective and can be even more difficult to kick than heroin.

There are currently several countries — including Switzerland, Germany, The Netherlands and Canada — that in varying degrees allow addicts to obtain prescription heroin. Where legal heroin is easily obtainable, statistics show not just a reduction in crime but significant drops in addiction itself.

In Switzerland, which made legalized heroin available in 1994, the number of new heroin users declined 80 percent by 2010, according to the Stanford Review. Another study by the University of Lausanne in Switzerland found that, among those who joined the program at its inception, there were reductions in property crimes and drug selling of over 50 percent within six months.

Legalization does not appear to encourage drug addiction. If anything, it seems to discourage use overall by removing the enticement (as it is for some) of a free-wheeling life outside the law and replacing it with boring old institutional support.

I would legalize synthesized versions of heroin, cocaine and amphetamines. These drugs are already widely available anyway, both on the street and through the internet.

Besides that, they have long had prescription-legal, pharmaceutical equivalents — opioids (such as Fentanyl and Oxycontin), Adderall, Ritalin and Desoxyn (prescription methamphetamine) among them.

The narcotics could be provided, cheap or free, by clinics or pharmacies to people who are medically registered, just as with suboxone and methadone. To get them, you would have to make a conscious decision to see a doctor or field worker, have an interview, sign paperwork and enter the system as a drug-dependent person.

The same system can then support addicts with services around employment, housing, rehab and therapy — which will work better when addicts have the stability and time to exit the street life.

A 2008 study in Germany found that, among participants who received legal heroin over 24 months, there was a 76% increase in employment, 20% increase in stable housing and 84% drop in crime, according to the journal Addiction.

Why not at least start the conversation around legalized drugs here — or try a ballot measure? Consider that, until a few decades ago, the legalization of marijuana was, to many people, unthinkable.

Legalization is a solution long hidden in plain view among the litany of policy contortions trying to make prohibition workable. Time to end the obsession with fighting drugs — along with the manifold consequences of their illegality — and turn more attention toward other problems.

Joe Rosenheim, who grew up in San Francisco, was an opiate addict for 11 years, has been in recovery for six years and is director of Inscape Recovery, an addiction treatment center near Mexico City.

Москва

Музыкант удивляет публику: Революционный ремикс Бянки и Птахи - Тук Тук

The 10 Intense New Action Movies on Netflix That Left Me on the Edge of My Seat!

Top 10 Emmanuelle Seigner Movies

Top 5 Websites to Watch FREE Movies - TV Shows (No Sign up!)

I was diagnosed with cancer aged 39… you are never too rich, too famous or too young, says Dr Philippa Kaye

Ria.city






Read also

She's Got a Great Ass

Apoel unveil plans for new stadium

MTN appoints Mike Silber as regulatory officer

News, articles, comments, with a minute-by-minute update, now on Today24.pro

News Every Day

I was diagnosed with cancer aged 39… you are never too rich, too famous or too young, says Dr Philippa Kaye

Today24.pro — latest news 24/7. You can add your news instantly now — here


News Every Day

The 10 Intense New Action Movies on Netflix That Left Me on the Edge of My Seat!



Sports today


Новости тенниса
Екатерина Александрова

Александрова впервые войдет в топ-15 мирового рейтинга



Спорт в России и мире
Москва

Мечевой бой состоялся в павильоне «Спорт для каждого»



All sports news today





Sports in Russia today

Москва

Федерация бокса России на ВДНХ


Новости России

Game News

Пробный запуск вампирского градостроя Vampire Legacy: City Builder


Russian.city


Москва

Заказать недорогой ремонт кухонной мебели в районе в Москве и Московской области


Губернаторы России
Динамо

Отставка Кудашова и уход Гусева и Уила: кого «Динамо» рискует потерять после вылета из Кубка Гагарина


Ученые предупредили сердечников об обрушившейся на Землю магнитной буре класса K-index 3

Басманный суд арестовал девятого фигуранта дела о теракте в «Крокусе»

Заказать недорогой ремонт шкафов купе в Москве и Московской области

Європі потрібно звикнути жити з думкою про війну, що насувається, — Туск


В Госдуме заявили, что россияне не примут соболезнования приспособленцев вроде Макаревича*

«Мое сердце у твоих ног»: Сергей Шнуров признался в симпатии одной из участниц «Новой Фабрики звезд»

Эффект Карабаса: Почему Моргенштерн взялся спасать молодых коллег от музыкального лейбла Rhymes Music

Музыкант Устьянцев: Сергей Шнуров — профессионал, а Жуков — «балалаечка»


Теннисистка Касаткина отреагировала на высказывания Винер о россиянах

Рыбакина, наряду со Свёнтек, имеет 70% побед на WTA-1000 против соперниц из топ-10

Азаренко вышла в полуфинал турнира WTA-1000 в Майами

Теннис, Саудовская Аравия, премиальный Супертур: проведение тендера, Большой шлем, Мастерсы, глава ATP Андреа Гауденци



«Радио Зенит» – информационный партнер форума «Мы вместе. Спорт»

Перенос дат II этапа культурного проекта «Классика: история и современность» в Дмитрове

Пассажир рейса Москва — Пермь попал в реанимацию

Архитектурные доминанты округов Москвы


В Москве прошла эковыставка Hydrate The World

Новые цены на жилье утвердили в России

Тема дня: Путин поручил комиссии по НТР представить перечень приоритетных направлений

Топливному компромиссу между Украиной и Азербайджаном пришел конец?


Жителей Подмосковья и ТиНАО подключили к гигабитным интернет-скоростям МегаФона

Март в Expostroy

«Нас интересует, кто заказчик». За терактами на территории России стоят западные спецслужбы?

Президент Польши подписал закон о приостановке действия ДОВСЕ



Путин в России и мире






Персональные новости Russian.city
Моргенштерн

Эффект Карабаса: Почему Моргенштерн взялся спасать молодых коллег от музыкального лейбла Rhymes Music



News Every Day

I was diagnosed with cancer aged 39… you are never too rich, too famous or too young, says Dr Philippa Kaye




Friends of Today24

Музыкальные новости

Персональные новости