[mc32]

How is making it safer to do drugs manage addiction?

Ok, so I don’t get adulterated drugs, that still doesn’t do anything for the addiction.

Are we then going to actively discourage people from doing drugs? If so how? What effective form does that take?

[elmomle]

Legalization is one key part; destigmatization is the other.

Those who understand addiction, either first-hand or through research, understand that the root problem is not the drug/habit; the drug/habit tends to be the addict's best known way to sooth immense psychological pain. Shame drives addiction in deeper. So to actually help addicts, one needs to destigmatize the conversation, allow people to say "Hey, I'm in a bad place and I need help" with minimal fear of being judged (the addict tends to already hate their self pretty profoundly). And given how human nature works, destigmatization depends on legality.

Stopping addiction isn't about judging addicts; it's about understanding the root cause of their problem (which tends to be intense emotional trauma) and giving them empathic help to start building healthy relationships.

[mc32]

I’m not saying we punish the user, but rather find a way to minimize availability.

Also, trauma is not always a cause for addiction. Lots of people suffer trauma and don’t get addicted, conversely we also have people with little trauma who get addicted.

[nickik]

> I’m not saying we punish the user, but rather find a way to minimize availability.

In 200 years history of drug suppression literally everything has been tried.

And yet, even in a high security prison, drugs are highly available.

If it can't be done in a max-security prison, how do you think it can work for a whole society?

What method of restricting supply has not been tried. The US has literally invaded other country to try to destroy supply bases. The military as whole division, billions spent on intercepting submarines.

Absurd high cost have been put on a dealer that is captured.

What is your solution to actually restrict supply in a meaningful way?

[drran]

Webcams reduced regular crime a lot. Artificial nose can do same for drug addicts.

[elmomle]

https://silvermistrecovery.com/blog/2018/09/2019-guide-the-l...

It isn't a 1:1 causal link--virtually nothing is. But there's very strong evidence that unprocessed trauma is one of the core drivers of addiction.

It's constructive to think of drugs and addictive behaviors as emotional crutches. You don't help people with problems walking by making crutches illegal; you do so by focusing on treating the root cause, which may include taking the crutch away in a properly supportive therapeutic environment.

I'd also point you to the experiments dubbed "Rat Park" (https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/what-does-rat-park-tea...). Addiction is ultimately a social/emotional disease; the drug/habit is the symptom.

[mc32]

I’m sympathetic to your POV.

However, sometimes there is no root cause other than “Hyacinth had me try sniffing some glue and I got hooked”.

Sure, some kids can say “no”, but many give in to peer pressure and after a few times there is no going back.

I do agree with a good therapeutic environment, but relapses are common, so it takes vigilance and follow up and so on.

[el_nahual]

Again, drugs exist and are available now. So you shouldn't think of the options as "drugs are legal and available vs drugs are illegal and unavailable". They are available in either case!

Making drugs legal means that one can control the points and conditions of distribution. So one could require licensing, education, or even controlled application. Sure, you can take good, cheap, heroin, but you have to take it here.

Of course, the more onerous the path the get legal drugs, the more appealing illegal drugs become, so there's a safety -maximizing point somewhere along that integral.

[tremon]

To draw a parallel with filesharing:

"Of course, the more onerous the path the get legal movies, the more appealing illegal downloads become, so there's a profit-maximizing point somewhere along that integral."

We've all witnessed the war-on-piracy that the powers-that-be have been pursuing a few decades ago, and we've all seen it fail spectacularly. Similar to the drugs story, by going after the Napster-type filesharing systems, they created a much more lucrative black market where criminals made millions by being the first to crack protection schemes.

What reduced the problem to a manageable level? Apple Music/Spotify/Netflix. By making it legal to do entertainment in the confines of their own home, the harm to society at large was much reduced. And even better, because everything is legal now, production companies have much better insights into their market, and can better produce content that their users actually want.

[mc32]

If we look at entertainment we see that ease of access has increased viewership (consumption). In terms of drugs we want to wean people off of addiction. Of course making drug use less dangerous is better than not, but it does nothing to mitigate the issue of having a population addicted to harmful substances.

[tremon]

it does nothing to mitigate the issue of having a population addicted to harmful substances.

The experiences of Portugal and The Netherlands show otherwise:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2011/07/05/ten-years-a...

https://drugpolicy.org/blog/america-take-note-three-lessons-...

[drran]

Why we should care about drug addicts? They care about their drug only instead of our society.

[baq]

or maybe the addiction is so strong that they can't not care even if they try. some of them are quite unhappy that they can't quit, because withdrawal is so strong they need to be high to not suffer greatly, or in case of alcohol, even die.

yes, addiction is bad. fix the root cause of drug use instead of pretending you can fix the world with inefficient laws.

[drran]

The root cause of drug addiction is hard to find. It looks like the root cause is the DNA of our bodies and our own brain. How to fix that?

[ch4s3]

Decriminalization and legalization brings peoples addiction out of the kind of hiding that prohibition requires. This makes it easier and safer for people to seek addiction services, and easier for their loved ones to spot their problematic use earlier. Portugal is testament to this.

Also consider places like the Netherlands or various states in the US where cannabis is legally available. What you see there is that other drug use shifts to cannabis which is relatively safer than alcohol or opioids. You also see declining rates of use among teenagers as it become less mysterious and dangerous but rather common and uncool.

[btilly]

Do you have any evidence that using law enforcement is reducing drug use? I sure don't!

As for actively discouraging people, we are actively discouraging people from using tobacco. And it seems to be working pretty well.

I recommend watching https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8yYJ_oV6xk to challenge your assumptions on this. (Retired police captain arguing against the drug war.)

[thisisbrians]

Better educating the masses about dosing and risks prevents some of the worst outcomes (like overdoses). Fostering a culture where the risks are discussed openly in society might help folks make better decisions and avoid addiction in the first place. Additionally, having the option for medically supervised detox (and the drugs required to do that safely) without fear of prosecution is a complete game-changer. Really, I think this represents a shift in mindset from punishing individuals for their addictions to handling it as a societal issue that needs a comprehensive solution.

Here's a good read on how Portugal has handled things (to quite some success): https://time.com/longform/portugal-drug-use-decriminalizatio...

[tonyedgecombe]

Cigarettes are legal yet many Western countries have been successful at driving down their use.

[mc32]

Do you think if we made them illegal use would go up or go down?

[tonyedgecombe]

Did people stop drinking alcohol during prohibition?

[mc32]

That wasn’t the question, but rather, did consumption go down? I believe the answer was yes, it did go down but alcohol is so ingrained in society for so many millennia that prohibiting it will not shut off consumption.

[luckylion]

> How is making it safer to do drugs manage addiction?

It's easier for a 15-yo to buy weed than to buy alcohol (where weed is illegal, I should add).