Criminals or Patients?

For residents of the US, drugs are a taboo topic. Our government wages a war on them, our citizens don't want to talk about them, and the people that use them are thrown in jail. The U.S.'s (draconian) stance on drugs is very clear. But now, let's observe a different country, Portugal. The government's stance there was very similar; 12 years ago. Today, you can go to Portugal and carry up to 1 gram of heroin, 2 grams of cocaine, 25 grams of marijuana, and limited amounts of other substances, without fear of being criminally prosecuted. In 2001, Portugal made the choice to decriminalize illegal drugs, and it's been working. According to this article in Time magazine, HIV from sharing needles has been halved, while people seeking help for drug addiction has doubled. The percent of Portuguese who use marijuana over the age of 15 is 10%; in the U.S. it's close to 40%. Lifetime drug use in Portugal has fallen from 14% to 10%. The idea behind this initiative is to treat drug addicts as patients, not criminals. It costs more to incarcerate someone than to provide therapy and rehabilitation, after all. After reading these staggering statistics, it's hard to be sympathetic towards U.S. drug laws. And why should we be? The government has had 12 years to change them.

 To put the difference in policy between these two nations into more familiar terms, let's look at an example. A teenager is caught by police with two grams of marijuana. In Portugal, he is given 72 hours to report to a drug policy center. Once there, he speaks to a social worker and lawyer. The social worker examines the kid to make sure he is not at risk of further drug abuse and the lawyer explains that this will be kept private, and will not go on his record, unless he commits further offences or is found to possess drugs a second time. In the U.S., regardless of the age, mental state, or criminal history of the teenager, he receives a fine and community service, along with two court dates, costing hundreds (perhaps thousands) of taxpayer dollars. It is becoming increasingly clear that our system of dealing with drug users is outdated and unfair. The path to less crime and less punishment in relation to drugs is clear: just look at Portugal.

Will New Trier Make Me Happy?

Most kids at New Trier are good students. They try their best, they do their homework, they get A's in honors and "high honors" classes, and they don't ask questions. The majority of my peers will graduate from a four year college, live in the city for 2-5 years, marry at around 30, have 2.5 children and a dog, settle down in their suburban homes for the remainder of their lives, and die. And to many that seems like a good life plan. The question I pose may seem obvious but it never even occurs to many: am I, and will I be, happy? I've thought about this a lot in the past but it has really been at the forefront of my brain this year so far, along with thoughts of homework, junior theme, college acceptance, and so on and so forth. A question I've begun asking myself when I sit down every night to tirelessly complete my homework is, will doing this extra hour of french homework make me any happier? The answer I've been repeatedly coming to is no. Completing my homework will not make me happy. Yes, I would rather have an extra hour every night to practice music and read rather than get an A instead of a B in science. No, learning that "cos^2(x)=1-sin^2(x)" will not benefit me whatsoever. Yes, I would rather have another 20 minutes to eat lunch than meet with my adviser about college applications. And, perhaps most importantly, no, becoming an engineer and making upwards of 100k every year will not make me automatically happy. What makes me happy is playing and listening to music, travelling, laughing with my friends, informing myself of the events of the world. When do we learn about those in school? Are we being armed with tools with which to lead a pleasurable life, or a successful one, and is there a difference?