I watched a documentary about Drug dealers and smugglers operating in Baltimore. They interviewed one dealer who said, ever since Freddie Grays incident and the riots, the city has been busy passing laws that make Crime overall and selling drugs much easier. One of his favorite new laws said that Police couldn't do undercover sting operations anymore. He said the drug business is booming.
Hmm. So would legalization stamp out most of the problems?
If possessing/using drugs weren't a crime, then people would have less to say "I'm already breaking the law, fuck it"
You'd knock out most organized crime cause you cut their money from them.
If the city was willing to sell at cost (seriously, morphine and oxy isn't expensive to make at all), it would also destroy that economy, and potentially free some back in the hands of the people.
And at the bottom, it also looks to me is poverty and suffering, and people using drugs to buy a short while not thinking about it.
> If the city was willing to sell at cost (seriously, morphine and oxy isn't expensive to make at all), it would also destroy that economy, and potentially free some back in the hands of the people.
Legalization not only cuts down crime (from both drug dealers and drug addicts), it prevents overdose deaths and reduces occurrences of medical emergencies and hospitalizations. The city can also collect taxes on the drugs.
I didn't downvote you and I hope that my comment comes across as more similar to a vuln disclosure than a threat.
Your employer is listed in your HN profile. Assuming that you actually work for that company, you should be careful making such comments, even if your intent is completely benign.
When I was a reporter (I'm not anymore) I trawled HN comments for stories. It is not inconceivable that some Gizmodo-esque rag might write "[Redacted] Employee Making Racist Comments on Tech Forum" or whatever.
I didn't realize police prosecute unfairly and was just looking at the stats...a friend shared an article on the targeting/prosecution breakdown and it wasn't favorable for young Blacks in the U.S.
No, illegal drugs are just a small part of the problem. If every drug were legal there tomorrow you'd still have entire communities that have no access to a good education, healthy food, jobs, transportation, or affordable housing. Imagine an impoverished village in a 3rd world country, no natural resources, and constant violent tribal disputes. Whether drugs are legal there or not doesn't make a huge difference.
It was on Netflix. I can't remember the name, maybe "Dope" or something with the word "Drugs" in the title. It was interesting because they showed perspectives from both sides. They interviewed drug dealers on one side, and also interviewed police officers on the other side too.
