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by xyzzy123 1833 days ago
The reason you can't go to CVS and pick up heroin or crack is:

Inevitably, lots of people would become addicted and there would be many deaths.

Very critical news stories would run. People neglecting their children to use drugs. Testimonies of loved ones and shattered families.

Politicians would be inundated with calls to regulate these dangerous substances.

Politicians who refused to do anything would be mired in conspiracy theories, accusations of conflict of interest and profiting from suffering. They would be voted out and replaced.

Regulation ensues.
2 comments
wolverine876 1832 days ago
> lots of people would become addicted and there would be many deaths

This is the reason. It doesn't require cynically blaming politicians. It's not wrong for politicians to act to prevent death, and to be responsive to their constituents. Those are good things.

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nickthemagicman 1833 days ago
Your entire post is pure speculation and fear mongering

All drugs are decriminalized in Portugal, Uruguay, etc. with less addiction and better addiction outcomes than the U.S.

They treat addiction like a disease like diabetes instead of a crime.

https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/04/18/524380027/...

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buu700 1832 days ago
I didn't get the sense that GP was necessarily agreeing with those positions, more illustrating the high-level political hurdles (right or wrong) that legalization fundamentally faces.

It's similar in my mind to self-driving cars. The first post-large-scale-rollout deaths will likely cause a political backlash, even if statisticians and scientists are able to show that the proposed regulatory response would cause more harm than good.

I don't agree that the successful implementation of such a regulatory response is a foregone conclusion in either case, but we will need to be prepared to deal with the reality of some people dying due to self-driving software issues and/or consumption of non-FDA-approved substances.

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nickthemagicman 1827 days ago
"Inevitably, lots of people would become addicted and there would be many deaths."

Outright wrong, baseless, and fear-mongering.

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