Quote:
Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger
I literally said I think it is controllable. By making high quality cocaine readily available and by normalizing its use, I am confident more people I know would use it. I have had this discussion with friends. They’re curious but access and fear prevent them from trying it. Remove those barriers and they’re doing it for sure. Many won’t become addicts but some will. There will be a downside to making it safer and that will undoubtedly be more widespread use.
We don’t want to have less cocaine users and addicts? That’s news to me.
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I concur that there's a catch-22.
Ultimately though?
I think reducing the black market would be a valid first step. Those barriers you mentioned may have some degree of effectiveness in deterrence for usage, but they empower organized crime.
Look at tobacco. To my un-verified, lazy knowledge, usage is down today in 2021 versus 1971 or 1981, even with the popular advent of vaping. There will always be users, but education will help curb any
exponential rise in widespread use. Legality is only one factor.
I'm not an expert on the topic by any means, so maybe I shouldn't even be commenting. I just come here for hockey stuff. I'm not even sure I'm fully educated on the topic of drugs. But if the Portuguese decriminalization model works, I don't see why going a step further wouldn't have value either, especially in the fentanyl-laced world of today.