Comment by propman | Hacker News Reader

Comment by propman | Hacker News Reader

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Legalizing marijuana (btw I’m a huge proponent) was supposed to hurt the cartels and decrease violence but has made cartels much more violent and brutal. Instead of pushing weed across the border, they’ve been heavily pushing Meth, Heroine, and Cocaine instead. Their distribution from the north east to Chicago to LA is insane, they’ve got people hooked on these terrible drugs.

Look at the stats of drug deaths from different drugs over the last 10 years and see the huge spike. I believe double for cocaine, and triple for meth and heroine in just a few years. This is worse than 80s crack epedimic in terms of death. The cartels also didn’t get weaker they became more violent and richer.

I can’t beliebe I was so naive to think about legalizing drugs when I was in college. I am 100% for marijuana, medical marijuana without a doubt should be legal in every state anyone disagreeing has basically no merit. But the rest of them, I’m okay with a mild version of the Reagan crackdowns. We’re a lot less racist and a lot more forgiving from 30 years ago, I think we need to be a lot more forgiving for personal drug use or force the courts the option to send repeat offenders to rehab or prison and 100% they’d choose rehab, prison makes absolutely no sense for heavy hard drug users. We need to be even harsher for heavy drug dealing, gang violence, drug violence, and need far more agents stopping the drug inflows from the southern border and need to beef up our coast guard.

Also need to help the economy of flyover states because a lot of the drug deaths are from there.

> Instead of pushing weed across the border, they’ve been heavily pushing Meth, Heroine, and Cocaine instead.

Citation needed. They've always pushed all of the above across the border, but you seem to be conflating two unrelated things: legalization in a few states with the opioid epidemic. What seems to be a far more likely driver of the opioid epidemic is the availability of cheap synthetic opiates like fentanyl that are highly concentrated, and therefore easier to smuggle.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/cocaine-meth-opioids-all-fuel-r...

First thing I searched up, not the article I originally read but I’ll find it. You tell me how is cocaine related to opiates? Cocaine overdose deaths doubled since 2013...that’s 5 years and it DOUBLED. Cartels are pushing all of these especially meth.

Actually ignore the first link, check out the .gov link here on overdose deaths: https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics/o...

Both links have good visuals. Meth quadrupled in 5 years, FIVE times as many deaths from 1 drug, heroin increased even by a larger magnitude.

If heroin and morphine were legalized, it could revitalize the Midwest farming economy and prevent deaths from adulterated drugs.

Clearly there is a big market for these drugs, so that commerce might as well be part of the local economy instead of the international black market

> If heroin and morphine were legalized

Addiction and abuse rates would skyrocket, though. With an availability similar to alcohol, that would begin a plague that would envelop the country with astonishing speed. The problem with those drugs now is already a big problem, but if you put them within reach of every single adult you could bring a country to its knees.

Yes, legalizing them would be a boon for commercial interests, but that is practically the only people who would benefit from this. Oh, and drug treatment industries! They'd become as ubiquitous as mental health businesses. Big Constipation would replace Big Tobacco.

> prevent deaths from adulterated drugs.

The influx of death and destruction introduced by that legalization would make adulterated drug deaths look quaint.

Whatever the solution to this problem is, it won't be full-scale legalization. These drugs that are almost impossible to use responsibly, and are guaranteed to be highly addictive.

> Addiction and abuse rates would skyrocket, though.

That's quite an assumption. For example, I don't have thoughts like "I wish heroin was legal, because I want to be a junkie!" Somehow, I'm not an alcoholic nor a smoker, despite them being readily available.

I do love my coffee, however :-)

Well you're damn lucky then. This is a case of public policy where the typical upper middle class guy who drinks a glass of red wine every night with dinner is not helpful in understanding the problem. I've seen people's lives ruined by alcohol. It's a damn serious drug and we hardly have any discussion about how dangerous it is to a small but significant minority of people. Opiates are FAR more addictive than alcohol.

Legalize weed? Perfect. Cocaine? Probably no worse than alcohol. Opiates? Absolutely not.

> Well you're damn lucky then.

Why do you discount the role of my making a choice? I see smokers coughing up their lungs, junkies who care for nothing other than their next fix, and drunks lying in their vomit. It's not hard to choose not to take that path.

If they legalized meth and cocaine that would remove the cartel from the market.

Then they’d push heroin, fenatyl, synthetic opiates, etc. they’d push weapons, other illegal stuff and no way should meth be legal in flyover country. Cocaine is mehh no strong feelings either way there

It seems the bigger problem is not specifically what they are trafficking, but their ability to get it north of the border. Much more stringent border controls are definitely a good idea. That would diminish the seemingly unlimited supply of cheap Mexican labor though. Tough call.

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