The truth is that there is not enough evidence to know whether or not it is a gateway drug. And I want much more before legalizing it nationwide. I think legal and regulated access is probably the best environment for a range of drugs, but I think it will depend a lot on the substance itself and factors related to supply and demand issues, where and how it is produced. Without a regulated system, we are in a situation where the very, very large and lucrative drug trade that exists, whether there is a regulated industry or not, is completely co-opted by clandestine actors with different levels of ethics and morality. And I think this whole discussion about lawful access also needs to look at the inclusion of all substances in illicit markets, and then the effects of those behaviors – and has looked at them historically. My mother`s family is Colombian and left Colombia in the 1980s due to the massive increase in cocaine-related violence and cartel use. And it continued underground. The commitment hasn`t really stopped – not just with cocaine, but with a number of other drugs as well. And even Colombia now has a very serious conversation at the government level about what legal regulation of cocaine would look like because, despite pressure from the U.S.
and others, they realized that some kind of legal system could actually be the way to reduce violence in the country. So even though I think legalizing drugs, which sounds so scary to a lot of people, really means subjecting them to increased regulatory scrutiny. It is difficult, I think, to really think about what an effective strategy to respond to drug addiction at the social level would be when we are in an environment of prohibition because prohibition exacerbates some of these side effects of drugs, such as independence in addiction. Opioids are particularly dangerous in terms of overdose risk, but what makes them less problematic because we have pharmacological therapies for them, methadone is the original and most famous – perhaps buprenorphine. We have nothing like this in terms of drug therapies for the usual stimulants. And that makes a difference, because if you legalize — especially legalize the offer, allow for-profit companies to promote its use, you`ll get more benefits. You will get more dependence. And that`s another matter entirely. If you opt for policies that encourage addiction to something that, unlike opioids, there is no really effective treatment, it is not that opioids are mild, but at least we have treatment. Jonathan, you made a really intriguing argument in an article called “The Drug Policy Roulette,” and I want you to explain more about it, because it was actually counterintuitive to me, which was my view, that legalizing drugs would do what the end of prohibition did to alcohol. that is, when you can`t drink legally.
You can drink all the time. But with the end of prohibition and with a regulated alcohol market, you have places — you have counties that are dry. They have a liquor store that can only be opened from that point on. There are prohibitions on drunk driving and social prohibitions on when you can – like drinking in the morning, drinking alone, it`s despised. And I think social prohibitions play a role in how we think about drugs and alcohol. But in the case of drugs, you pointed out in that article that one of the unexpected problems is that prohibition makes drugs expensive and that drugs like heroin and cocaine would actually be quite cheap if they were legalized, because part of what makes them expensive is what makes up for the wage gaps. It is really difficult to import cocaine into the United States. They are paying the cost of the difficulty of importing cocaine into the United States. But with that drop in prices, the taxes that would be required to make sure you don`t have cheap cocaine everywhere would be incredibly high, which would then contribute to the kind of gray market smuggling that we see in cigarette smuggling in the U.S. and other countries. This is a financial problem I had never thought of.
899 likes, 8 comments. TikTok video by @Алексей (@alex_eg_): “#jdm #cars #supra #mazdarx7 #рекомендации #Токийскийдрифт #ilegal #JDM #звук на всю🤯🔥 sound for the whole✊😍🤯”. оригинальный звук. Is it time today on “The Argument” to legalize all drugs? Attitudes towards drugs have changed considerably over the years. But whether all drugs should be legalized remains controversial. To what extent have attitudes towards illicit drugs changed? And why? Yes, stimulants are a broad category. And some of them are tougher than others. I mean, on some level, caffeine is a stimulant, but it`s not a very strong stimulant to talk about informally, whereas methamphetamine certainly is. Adderall is more at the caffeine end of the spectrum, thankfully, although there`s actually a distraction from Adderall.
But it`s a different feeling. It`s like someone having access to Adderall selling it or giving it to their friend in college to help them learn because they think it`s going to be a smart performance-enhancing drug. But overall – Ismail, you think that ultimately the goal would be to legalize all drugs. What for? Adderall is worth talking about here for a minute because it illustrates the phenomenon that – the trick to providing generously to some people is partly that they can make money by redirecting it to other people – making money or favors for friends. Prescription opioids have gotten out of control for a host of reasons, many reasons. But one of them was the fact that this value already existed on the illegal market. And you can also look for a prescription based on symptoms that could not be objectively evaluated by the doctor. And that combination was a problem.
You could introduce yourself and say, oh, my back hurts a lot. Give me these things for the cost of a co-payment, and I can turn around and sell them for a lot of money. We will always be vulnerable if you provide medically subsidized access to whatever demand is in the illegal market. And Adderall has that character. Fortunately, it`s not as bad for you or the risk of overdose as opioids. Well, that`s what for-profit companies want to offer when we legalize. Yes, that`s a good question. And the short answer is that in any place that legalizes and allows the profit industry, you will see lower prices. And because these things are so easy to smuggle in, it would put pressure on other countries that are commercially tied to the country that legalized. And in a connected world, that`s a lot of places. You`re already seeing some of that, even without legalization, of switching to plastics, which can be produced anywhere and are easier to produce secretly than with plant-based products.
And legalization would be a bit like the fentanyl innovation that comes to market. This would significantly reduce production costs. And over time, that puts pressure on prices. I think that answers the question – we don`t necessarily exist in the ideal regulatory and cultural market for legalized psychedelics or legalized drugs in general. And I`m curious to know how you think about it, yes, it would be fantastic if these drugs were used in these safe contexts, in these – whether it`s secular or religious ceremonies or with the right groups of people. But they won`t be. And I`m curious to hear what you think. Hi Blake. Well, I have a lot of thoughts about cryptocurrency, but I think the question is not a fad, or is it something that will stay forever, because the answer to both may be yes.
I don`t think cryptocurrency will save the world. I also think it will take a long time. And that`s something I`d like to know more about. But I feel that both sides tend to overestimate the importance or lack of importance of cryptocurrency. That seems to be the case. President Biden may not be ready for the legalization of recreational marijuana, but many states are way ahead of him. Connecticut just became the 18th state to legalize recreational marijuana. And it`s not just grass. Several cities have recently decriminalized magic mushrooms, and Oregon has just decriminalized possession of all drugs, including heroin, methamphetamines and cocaine.
It seems that the war on drugs is over and drugs have won big. I`m Jane Coaston, and there seems to be a growing consensus that locking our path out of America`s addiction crisis isn`t working. But even hardline drug reformers have very different views on how to get drugs to a better place than our guests today. Ismail Ali is Director of Policy and Advocacy at the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies and Jonathan P. Caulkins is Professor of Operations, Research and Public Policy at H. Guyford Stever University at Heinz College Carnegie Mellon University and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. I started by asking Ismail to define the difference between decriminalization and legalization of drugs. So when people think about decriminalization, they usually think about reducing or eliminating criminal, sometimes civil, penalties.