Portugal's Experiment With Drugs

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I think this discussion is more interesting than the article.

In post 17 I demonstrated how the number of Portuguese who tried cocaine could have increased from 103,000 to 200,000 and still be correctly reported as 0.9% to 1.9%. Epidemiological studies often have these computational mirages.

The stat that the media should focus on is how many more Portuguese have diminished quality of life due to decriminalization. I suspect that number has a negative sign in front of it!

 

[Mora Fiend]

^ I 100% agree with you ellipsis (I am going to call you ellipsis since ... is confusing), the quality of live for everyone is improving for sure. On one side of the law you have the drug users who no longer have to worry about getting caught with small ammounts of drugs, and on the other side of the law you have the officers who can spend more time and numbers on people commiting real and violent crimes, thus improving the life of every citizen.

 

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^ I 100% agree with you ellipsis (I am going to call you ellipsis since ... is confusing), the quality of live for everyone is improving for sure. On one side of the law you have the drug users who no longer have to worry about getting caught with small ammounts of drugs, and on the other side of the law you have the officers who can spend more time and numbers on people commiting real and violent crimes, thus improving the life of every citizen.

I think it would make for awesome television if this were investigated. American television viewers have never seen such a thing, so the prospect of a rational drug policy in the US is distant. How can an idea take root if nobody seeds it?

I am currently very angry at the news media because of their stupidity. Fukushima Daiichi still has 4 reactors experiencing meltdown but the media is fixated on Lybia. This morning reactors 2 and 3 were actually producing smoke! I want to know if there is corium subliming into the atmosphere or if instead sodium chloride is being burnt. This is infinitely more relevant than a police action in northern Africa.