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Comment by henning | Hacker News Reader

What the fuck is making it a crime again going to fix? What is going to suddenly work that isn't working now?

Arresting people and putting them in jail makes them leave the neighbourhood for a while. It doesn't solve the drug addiction problem, but it solves the feeling of unease and safety risks associated with being near drug addicts.

Being the only place in the region where drugs can be abused free from meddling influence can also pull in addicts from surrounding areas, only increasing the problem.

It also forces them to get clean and give them another shot at sobriety.

Yes, and now they have a criminal record AND a drug addiction. So much better and more likely they'll stay sober

Are you under the misapprehension that drugs use is not rampant inside prisons?

Prison is not rehab. Do you want a massive tax increase? We would need one if we were to actually incarcerate drug users for the duration they need to become sober. And we would need to fund those prisons to a level wherein they don't make people more likely to break the law once they get out. And what about re-entry? It would take a lot of money to not dump former addicts back on the exact same street where they first became an addict. Their friends will be waiting!

Besides, most states still jail people for petty drug crimes and they have been for 70 years. It doesn't work.

It's always struck me as sadly hilarious how the same crowd that's always shouting for drug laws is the exact same crowd that argues that stricter gun laws would increase crime and make the streets more dangerous.

The difference is that guns have some good uses.

So do drugs.

Wasn't heroin one of the drugs they decriminalized? What good uses does it have?

Strong opioids are the only option that works for many people with chronic pain. In some countries (but not the US), heroin (technical name: diamorphine) is used for extreme pain, like late stage cancers. It truly is one of the most effective painkillers that exist - and it isn't unimaginably strong like fentanyl, so it's much harder to accidentally OD on when used medically.

What good use does alcohol have?

People doing heroin and meth in public are annoying. They're commonly violent too/. Making those drugs and doing them in public illegal allows society to remove those nuisances, at least temporarily.

Why not criminalize violent acts instead? I don't care if the guy who attacks me is high or not, same as I don't care if the guy who didn't attack or bother me was high or not.

Someone smoking next to you is doing a violent act.

It’s not just violence. They’re also annoying in other ways like taking up the entire sidewalk and shitting on the street.

My comment was slightly tongue in cheek. Most violent acts are already crimes. I haven't looked it up, but I imagine that loitering and defecating in public are as well.

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