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 It is becoming increasingly clear that our system of dealing with drug users is outdated and unfair.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.
Sunday, November 24, 2013
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.
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I agree Preston, the war on drugs has not been a total failure. I think it is really interesting you bring up Portugal, and their choice to decriminalize illegal drugs. It is obvious that the Governments decision has had a positive impact on Portugal's society. I would like to add on to your second point, however, and say the majority of people being charged and prosecuted for small drug charges are minorities. Our police force must stop racial profiling if we want drugs to be decriminalized, otherwise there will be an endless feud between minority vs. the law. It's sickening, but ever since the beginning of America we have always been harsher on immigrants and minorities, compared to caucasians. And until we end the war on drugs, the stigma of police officers being racist will always be prevalent.
ReplyDeleteI agree Jack, it's very clear that the police use drugs as a way of strengthening the "prison industrial complex," which is another reason why we need to update our drug regulations. This also has a lot to do with corruption in the police force and favoring people racially. In my scenario, if the person were white, he may not have been even searched, while a black teenager could have had his possessions taken, or he could have been detained.
DeleteI think you bring up a very interesting perspective. I definitely agree with the idea of treating drug users rather than incarcerating them. But what about the people producing/moving the drugs? I would be interested to know what your opinion is on people moving large quantities of drugs/producing them though. In my opinion, the government should still incarcerate people moving/producing large quantities of drugs (other than marijuana). Otherwise the availability would increase and the price would drop making it easier to get drugs. Maybe I'm wrong though. You seem to know a lot about this issue and I'd like to know what you think.
ReplyDeleteErik, I totally agree. The people moving large quantities of drugs are benefiting from the sickness of others which is, to me, disgusting. Small dealers, on the other hand, I believe are often victims of a vicious system. Much like the case we saw in "The House I Live In," in many communities, drug dealing is one of the only ways of making a living. What really interested me about your response though, was how you said we should incarcerate people moving drugs, except for marijuana. I don't disagree with you, but I was curious as to why that drug was the exception.
DeletePreston, Good job blogging this term (even if your overall totals are a little low). This post works well. I like the conviction with which you write and the way in which you offer a link to a Time article with convincing stats. Can you offer something more visual here? A chart, a pic, font variation as well? You might also relate this discussion to a larger one -- as you nicely do in the back and forth within the comments section.
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