Thanks for this, Kate. I had no idea that the UN was so antiquated and unscientific in its views on drugs. It'll be interesting to see how the US' drug policies play into any push for liberalisation. From what I've seen, law-makers there tend to be conservative on the subject while those who vote for change through referenda are more open. I imagine that the US, like many other countries, is far too invested in seeing drug use as an issue of law and order and "morality" rather than one of public health, thus insuring that it is indeed in the realm of global criminality.
I think that's right. In the US using drugs tends to be seen as a crime and moral failure, rather than a public health issue. Or, even that some people just like to get high sometimes and can safely manage their drug use - which is more how it's seen in the Netherlands.
Indeed most mainstream American politicians want to be "tough on crime." This is shifting with weed worldwide of course. My understanding is that most drug violence has to do with cocaine, and regulating or decriminalizing (or doing anything other than what we're doing) that drug is a long way off.
Yes, exactly so. Here in Rotterdam, the drug crime (including firebombing premises with those horrible "Cobras") seems largely related to turf wars in the cocaine trade.
In Australia (where I am originally from), in some cities there are safe injecting rooms for heroin, where people can shoot up using clean needles, and knowing that if they OD, they'll get immediate medical attention. They've saved many lives (including by decreasing transmission of HIV), but of course, that doesn't stop the moralistic opposition who presumably think that injecting drug users simply deserve to die.
Thanks for this, Kate. I had no idea that the UN was so antiquated and unscientific in its views on drugs. It'll be interesting to see how the US' drug policies play into any push for liberalisation. From what I've seen, law-makers there tend to be conservative on the subject while those who vote for change through referenda are more open. I imagine that the US, like many other countries, is far too invested in seeing drug use as an issue of law and order and "morality" rather than one of public health, thus insuring that it is indeed in the realm of global criminality.
I think that's right. In the US using drugs tends to be seen as a crime and moral failure, rather than a public health issue. Or, even that some people just like to get high sometimes and can safely manage their drug use - which is more how it's seen in the Netherlands.
Indeed most mainstream American politicians want to be "tough on crime." This is shifting with weed worldwide of course. My understanding is that most drug violence has to do with cocaine, and regulating or decriminalizing (or doing anything other than what we're doing) that drug is a long way off.
Yes, exactly so. Here in Rotterdam, the drug crime (including firebombing premises with those horrible "Cobras") seems largely related to turf wars in the cocaine trade.
In Australia (where I am originally from), in some cities there are safe injecting rooms for heroin, where people can shoot up using clean needles, and knowing that if they OD, they'll get immediate medical attention. They've saved many lives (including by decreasing transmission of HIV), but of course, that doesn't stop the moralistic opposition who presumably think that injecting drug users simply deserve to die.