Is it too late to add this to Obama's Health Care Reform?
Showing posts with label heroin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label heroin. Show all posts
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Using Heroin in Switzerland
The International Herald Tribune reports on the new Swiss law which makes their heroin program permanent. Oddly, marijuana decriminalization was denied.
The article explains that 1,300 addicts who have been approved for the program can visit one of the centers twice a day to receive the carefully measured dose of heroin produced by a government-approved laboratory.
Doesn't that defeat the purpose of being an addict? I mean, what addict would be satisfied with a "carefully measured dose?" This makes me seriously doubt the government's claims that crime has diminished as a result of the program. I would expect these 1,300 for the most part to take the government handout and augment it in their usual way, hustling, dealing, committing crimes. What do you think?
At the same time, a law to decriminalize marijuana was denied. To me, the Swiss have got it backwards. The laws to decriminalize really do some good in my opinion.
So how do we figure these Swiss? I'm a little bit baffled. Isn't Switzerland the place where many people are armed? Isn't it there where bearing arms is more than a right; it's a requirement? So why do they have such a crime problem that needs to be addressed with this heroin program? Wouldn't the armed citizenry have long ago put an end to the problem?
What do you think?
The world's most comprehensive legalized heroin program has become permanent, with overwhelming approval from Swiss voters.
The heroin program, started in 1994, is offered in 23 centers across Switzerland. It has helped eliminate scenes of large groups of drug users injecting drugs openly in parks that marred Swiss cities in the 1980s and 1990s and is credited with reducing crime and improving the health and daily lives of addicts.
Sixty-eight percent of the 2.26 million Swiss voters casting ballots Sunday approved making the heroin program permanent.
By contrast, around 63.2 percent of voters voted against the marijuana proposal, which was based on a separate citizens' initiative to decriminalize the consumption of marijuana and growing the plant for personal use.
The article explains that 1,300 addicts who have been approved for the program can visit one of the centers twice a day to receive the carefully measured dose of heroin produced by a government-approved laboratory.
Doesn't that defeat the purpose of being an addict? I mean, what addict would be satisfied with a "carefully measured dose?" This makes me seriously doubt the government's claims that crime has diminished as a result of the program. I would expect these 1,300 for the most part to take the government handout and augment it in their usual way, hustling, dealing, committing crimes. What do you think?
At the same time, a law to decriminalize marijuana was denied. To me, the Swiss have got it backwards. The laws to decriminalize really do some good in my opinion.
So how do we figure these Swiss? I'm a little bit baffled. Isn't Switzerland the place where many people are armed? Isn't it there where bearing arms is more than a right; it's a requirement? So why do they have such a crime problem that needs to be addressed with this heroin program? Wouldn't the armed citizenry have long ago put an end to the problem?
What do you think?
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
The War on Drugs - Mexican Style
CNN reports on the war on drugs in Mexico. President Felipe Calderon is proposing stronger laws.
The plan would better coordinate federal and local police, seek to root out corruption and establish bases "so we are all integrated into a system of national public security," Calderon said.
Calderon is urging the regular citizens to get involved.
"To win the battle against crime, it is fundamental that the society get involved in this fight," he said.
Sounds like the same old blah, blah, blah to me. Stronger laws, citizen involvement, yeah, that should do it.
Lest I be thought of as one of the many who criticize without offering a solution, here is mine. Basically, what I'm saying is legalize drugs. With regards to Mexico, if drugs were legal in the US, those Mexican gangsters, as well as the Colombian ones would be out of business practically overnight.
What's your opinion? Do you think if drugs were legal we'd be giving tacit approval to their use? Whatever problems the legalization program created, don't you think they'd be offset by the tremendous monetary gains? I'm thinking not only of the taxes, but imagine how much stuff is sitting right now in the security lockers of all the police stations. It could be turned in and processed into legal product, a type of recycling.
Your comments are welcome.
The plan would better coordinate federal and local police, seek to root out corruption and establish bases "so we are all integrated into a system of national public security," Calderon said.
Calderon is urging the regular citizens to get involved.
"To win the battle against crime, it is fundamental that the society get involved in this fight," he said.
Sounds like the same old blah, blah, blah to me. Stronger laws, citizen involvement, yeah, that should do it.
Lest I be thought of as one of the many who criticize without offering a solution, here is mine. Basically, what I'm saying is legalize drugs. With regards to Mexico, if drugs were legal in the US, those Mexican gangsters, as well as the Colombian ones would be out of business practically overnight.
What's your opinion? Do you think if drugs were legal we'd be giving tacit approval to their use? Whatever problems the legalization program created, don't you think they'd be offset by the tremendous monetary gains? I'm thinking not only of the taxes, but imagine how much stuff is sitting right now in the security lockers of all the police stations. It could be turned in and processed into legal product, a type of recycling.
Your comments are welcome.
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