In conjencture with assisted suicide laws, this should greatly reduce Canada's mental health budget. Feeling sad? Take some drugs. Stuck in a downward spiral of drug use? Kill yourself.

Studies show decriminalisation along with offering treatment to be the most effective way to deal with drug problems. Posturing about being tough on drugs has been a complete waste of money and police time for nothing more than a virtue signal.

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Or we can try making them more illegal. You know since that’s worked out so well for us.

As an alcoholic, and since drugs are illegal here, I’d like to move to canada to replace alcohol because it’s giving me stomach pain.

I don't know, plenty of countries have successful strict drug laws. Drugs just seem to be part of North American culture. A lot of popular NA music is about drugs, they find kids hopped up on drugs after a vist to the dentist to be funny, etc. It's not enough to have intermittent efforts to stump out drug use, which is what you're referring to, there needs to be a sustained effort, which politicians and law enforcement are not capable of carrying because they don't see drug use as a big deal, because it's part of the culture.

It's like trying to fight littering ina developing country, it's difficult because people have a high level of tolerance to garbage in the street. They only care once garbage start stacking up high blocking streets and sidewalks and things start to smell really bad, just like how North Amricans only care about hard drug use when people start dying in droves.

As a caveat, those studies are:

• Are about outcomes for the addicted, less so the quality of life for others in the community

• Not as effective as you'd hope. You can find metrics that improve, so you can technically say it's more effective, but not in dramatic ways

>Posturing about being tough on drugs has been a complete waste of money

Have to define posturing, it's one thing for someone to shoot up or rock a pipe in their own home , it's another for kids to get on the bus or train and learn meth smells like cat pee.

This is wrong. In 2016, over 45% of US federal prisoners were convicted of a drug offence. The US has the highest incarceration rate in the world.

When Nixon started the 'War on Drugs' in the 70s', the US incarceration rate was approx. 160 per 100,000 people. In the following thirty years it ballooned to 700 per 100,000, yet people still used and distributed drugs.

There hasn't been an intermittent effort to stamp out drug use. It has been a relentless march that has gone nowhere. The winner of the war on drugs is drugs.

The government of Canada has rightly switched to harm reduction strategies with hard drugs, and decriminalized less harmful drugs like marijuana.

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Please tell me about these successful countries that have strict drug policies. Russia? Any of the middle eastern hell holes with human rights abuses? China ? With concentration camps of Muslims? Thailand ? Where execution is a punishment ?

It wasn't just virtue signaling... it put hundreds of thousands of people into the American slave industry.

Pretty much any functional state outside North America. Even Latin American countries that produce hard drugs, have use under contol better than Canada and the US.

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The vast majority of addicts are functional members of society, not homeless and toothless. This allows people to seek services and maintain their lives without having to hide from police all the time. It's a health problem, not a criminal problem.

Lest we start arresting people for having too much cholesterol, smoking tobacco, consuming too much sugar, or not exercising enough

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Latin American countries with narco terrorists driving mass migration? That’s successful? How ignorant do young be to be to call a country with cartels successful

It’s not just drugs you guys are animals in America anyways. If it wasn’t for drugs it would be for violent offences.

Any european and especially east european country. Singapore. Australia. Don’t kid yourself, the problem is also the people in the us not just the laws.

Singapore has the death penalty for drug trafficking. That’s successful to you? European Union countries have relaxed drug laws. Australia ? Lol clown

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Cannabis is your friend. Commonly available nearly everywhere. Bonus - no hangover.

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Iunno. Many more people are willing to smoke a joint than kill someone.

But the issue is more that our prisons are:

1. Allowed to be ran for profit and receive money for every prison incarcerated.

2. Are allowed to use the incarcerated as slave labor.

So the elite rig the system to incarcerate as many as possible so private, for profit prisons can print blood money.

Sure because we live in a black/white world without nuance.

It takes quite a while to get an assisted suicide.

I can't speak for this decriminalization measure, but typically they're aimed to provide more care for drug users, ensuring what they're doing is safe and clean, and that there are resources for those that have issues with drugs.

It's a lot easier to seek out help for an addiction if you know they won't imprison you for it.

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This looks like a good step, but no one ever mentions the underlying cause of drug use. The simple fact is that happy people don't use drugs. The vast majority of users are doing so because they have experienced trauma or have other issues.

We need to figure out how to give people the support they need so they don't have to turn to drugs. The best way to end widespread drug use is to stop creating more users.

Switch to weed

Happy people also use drugs. Drug use permeates every strata of society. Some people use drugs to escape life. Some people use drugs to enrich their lives.

"Prohibition-Era politicians continue experimenting with prohibition."

I mean, it seems like a failed experiment for the last century but by all means keep trying!

"Come on down to MethLab Larry's we promise you're gonna like the way you smile"

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Might decrease the homeless population in the US. And increase it in Canada.

Not a complete waste from the perspective of oppressing minorities and the poor. Then it's a resounding success.

Yeah not entirely true my friend. I definitely have weed hangovers in the form of extreme grogginess the morning after lol

Happy people who got injured and took the massively over prescribed medicines they were given became junkies. In most cases of opiate addiction these days started with a doctor.

Do you smoke right before sleeping? If you do it probably fucks with your sleep. I never smoke 3 hours before bed time.

I smoke to help me sleep lol. I’m well aware of the “not getting REM sleep” theory so I’m not getting as good of sleep but honestly it’s better than me tossing and turning until 3am every night

I don't know...

Decriminalising with out real and truthful education is just asking for disaster.

When I started smoking weed I pretty much quit drinking all together.

British Columbia also recently legalized marijuana, interesting to see how this plays out.

Even if it's not as effective as promised, pretty much anything at this point is better than the sick societal self harm that is drug prohibition.

The data isn't fully conclusive that decriminalization makes everything better, but it is conclusive that the war on drugs does more harm than good.