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Comment by wmeredith | Hacker News Reader

> If and when we end the drug war there will be more junkies, more crack whores, more people who sit around staring at the wall instead of working and raising families, more people in the ERs from overdoses and drug-fueled mental breakdowns.

You're dead wrong. And unless you intend malice you need to stop spreading this BS. Portugal legalized ALL drugs and a decade later they saw abuse fall by 50%. Source: http://www.cato.org/publications/white-paper/drug-decriminal...

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You're spreading BS too. Portugal did not legalize all drugs. They decriminalized personal use. But trafficking drugs is still illegal.

But almost all U.S. DEA prosecution is over trafficking, not possession. So decriminalization wouldn't get rid of it.

I agree with you, but just to be clear, Portugal decriminalized all drugs.

No, I'm not wrong, and you can stop spreading this sort of nonsense any time. Do you honestly think Drugs are illegal in every country in the world because people other than you are stupid?

Please provide your sources.

Please provide yours.

Johann Hari wrote an excellent book [1] about how the bad plants came to be demonized and persecuted. Yes, Cocaine and heroin cause problems for people, but does that justify turning addicts' supply chains over to organized crime? Would it not be better to make sure that people who've decided to use the bad plants at least get what they're paying for?

[1] http://www.chasingthescream.com/

Portugal.

When they decriminalized all drugs of abuse, they saw an initial, mild spike in usage rates, and now consistently see far lower rates of drug abuse, for all drugs than pretty much every other country.

No, not Portugal. In case you missed Rayiner's comment above - they still arrest dealers in Portugal.

This is called "moving the goalpost". First you're talking about "junkies" and "crack whores", and when you get shot down on that, you move to talking about dealers.

Pick a position, and argue it; when you're proven wrong, accept it and learn.

Maybe I should just declare victory and start trying to divide the spoils like you're fond of doing?

The point under discussion is the abolition of the DEA, meaning legalization of drugs. The DEA doesn't spend a lot of time running down drug users - this is about dealers.

Don't assume other people are moving goalposts because you didn't understand where they were to start with.

They also provide plenty of support for drug users.

I'm not sure the same would be true in the US, seeing the piss-poor state of mental health treatment in the US.

I'm not sure why you're being downvoted. That's, to my mind, one of the best aspects of Portugal's system: they treat drug abuse as a medical problem, and offer free treatment.

In the US, offering treatment like that would probably be decried as welfare-state redistributory nonsense.

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