Quote:
Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden
I wasn't trying to suggest that we would reduce opiate abuse by enforcing harsher penalties. What I was suggesting is we are seeing ( in he literal sense) more because there is less policing. I could have been more clear, policing opiate addiction makes it a private problem, rather than a public one. I think that the number of non functioning addicts is relatively stable over time.
Either way, folks will be ####ing themselves up with Opiates no matter what the law says. The question at hand is how much burden would like like to put on firefighters, nurses, EMS, and people who like to use public transit.
Like I said earlier, the worst thing about addicts is they think they're only hurting themselves.
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The problem is how can you criminalize behaviour that is almost always comorbid with things like homelessness, PTSD, mood disorders, etc., when we don't have the infrastructure in place to treat those issues?
There have been suggestions from Cliff and others that people should be forced into treatment, which just demonstrates complete ignorance of how barren the infrastructure and support is in that sector due to decades of cuts and deregulation.
The chickens from late-stage capitalism, neoliberalism, and austerity politics are coming home to roost, and this is what it looks like.