Federal NDP, Liberals considering decriminalization of all drugs

White_Unifier

White_Unifier

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Feb 21, 2017
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petros said:
Ask yourself "how complex is a casino's security"? Then compare to Shoppers Drug Mart.
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That depends. I'll take three examples.

Ontario. In Ontario, casinos rely on unreliable facial-recognition cameras to keep problem gamblers out. They don't keep problem gamblers out at all. One virtue though is that any person on the list cannot collect his winnings so as to not encourage him. I guess that's better than nothing, but only after he's gambled his money away.

Singapore. Singapore has a national self-exclusion list and no one can enter a casino without scanning his ID. If a person is on the list, he cannot enter.

Pennsylvania. In Pennsylvania, a person who puts himself on a self-exclusion list and then enters a casino can be criminally charged with trespassing. Ninety days in jail and a $300.00 fine. I'm not sure whether or how they must ID themselves at the door though.

The bottom line is that many different systems exist. Some jurisdictions even extend self-exclusion lists to businesses that sell alcohol. Going back to Ontario though, if Ontario can't even establish a reasonably effective self-exclusion list from casinos, then how in the world would Canada protect heroin addicts after we decriminalize the purchase of heroin to feed an addiction? Seriously, do we really trust the government's competence on the matter?
 
petros

petros

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It's not illegal to gamble, just because you ban yourself doesn't place liability on the casino.

Try counting cards in an ON casino and try to get back in after getting caught.

Bon chance mon ami!
 
taxslave

taxslave

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White_Unifier said:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/new...criminalization-of-all-drugs/article38123859/

I'm in two minds about this. If we decriminalize all drugs, then we should at least establish a tough self-exclusion list for addicts trying to stay clean. If Ontario can't even set up a reasonably effective self-exclusion list from casinos, how in the world would it do anything similar for heroin for example?
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You don't. The way to do it is to make drugs available but with manditory treatment programs. Read up on the 4 pillars approach.
 
White_Unifier

White_Unifier

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taxslave said:
You don't. The way to do it is to make drugs available but with manditory treatment programs. Read up on the 4 pillars approach.
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Four Pillars Strategy | Drug Policy Alliance

I'll have to read up on it. I'm just trying to put myself in the mind of a heroin addict. If I were a heroin addict, I'd want the government to make heroin as difficult for me to access as possible. For example, I'd probably want heroin trafficking to be a capital offence. I'd probably want deterrents against myself too. Maybe I'd want to be institutionalized for a year for example (though that could be expensive on the taxpayer). Or maybe there would exist other solutions to make heroin as difficult for me to access but without costing too much to the taxpayer. The last thing I'd want the government to do would be to make heroin as easy for me to access as possible. Even when we look at casinos for example. If I were a gambling addict, I sure as hell wouldn't want to be living in Ontario. A jurisdiction with a much more effective self-exclusion list would be preferable.
 
petros

petros

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Supplying Rxed Hydromorphone to junkies is cheaper on society than dealing with a underground market funded by theft and sex.

Coke, until there is a synthetic or secure supply, good luck.
 
C

Cliffy

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We don't have to reinvent the wheel here. Just look to Portugal and copy their system. It has been successful since they legalized all drugs 10 years ago.
 
Bar Sinister

Bar Sinister

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Interesting idea that has been tried out in several countries. Portugal is the best examples I can think of, but it requires governments to spend money on drug education and drug treatment.
 
White_Unifier

White_Unifier

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Bar Sinister said:
Interesting idea that has been tried out in several countries. Portugal is the best examples I can think of, but it requires governments to spend money on drug education and drug treatment.
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In some respects, the Portuguese model resembles the Swedish model for prostitution. In Sweden (and Canada and a few other countries for a few years now), selling sex is legal but buying is illegal. In Portugal, buying drugs is legal but selling them is a criminal offence. I suppose if we really toughened the laws against selling and maybe even made selling a capital offence, a Canadian version of the Portuguese model might work. In the Swedish prostitution model, the idea is that the seller is abused while the buyer is an abuser. The Portuguese model appears to be based on the premise that the drug seller is exploiting the addiction of the buyer for his own profit.
 
White_Unifier

White_Unifier

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Tecumsehsbones said:
Spoken like a true Mrs. Grundy who wants to criminalize consensual sex between adults.
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Do you support decriminalizing prostitution even? You do realize how much the HIV epidemic costs the economy, no? And that's not to mention mental-health problems resulting from divorce due to infidelity even when no virus is contracted. Divorce affects the children's mental health too.

I'd say we should at the very least make buying sex a criminal offence punishable by a heavy fine. Science would seem to back that with regards to HIV etc.
 
H

Hoid

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Oct 15, 2017
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I think decriminalizing drug possession is probably the right way to go about things.

The user is the victim and should be helped as much as possible.
 
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