Drug epidemic?

lfen

Interested in getting peoples thoughts on this subject.

I read an article on social media recently claiming that Ireland has a drug epidemic and that the nation are turning a blind eye to it. It got little to no attention which didn't surprise me.

I personally feel that drugs are the root cause of so many other issues, but that fact is rarely called out.


Seems to me that people are more likely to do drugs now than smoke.


Am I alone?

caff

lfen wrote: »

Interested in getting peoples thoughts on this subject.

I read an article on social media recently claiming that Ireland has a drug epidemic and that the nation are turning a blind eye to it. It got little to no attention which didn't surprise me.

I personally feel that drugs are the root cause of so many other issues, but that fact is rarely called out.


Seems to me that people are more likely to do drugs now than smoke.


Am I alone?

If there is a way to make large amounts of money it attracts people. There is a lot of money in dealing drugs so the gangs will want to push their products.
Take the market away from them and a lot of the issues will dissappear.

El Weirdo

"Drugs".

Any drug or in particular, or just "drugs"?

Walter Bishop

Smoking is doing drugs, tobacco's a drug.

Articles on social media that claim we are being destroyed by drugs, immigrants, whatever, are almost always posted by someone with an agenda.

In the case of drugs, it should be abundantly clear by now that the hard line 'war on drugs' approach doesn't work. Huge amounts of police resources are squandered busting people for petty amounts, usually for personal consumption, and the availability is in no way hampered.

All drugs should be decriminalised, taxed, and regulated, some of the tax revenue can be used to fund education programs, police resources can be better used elsewhere, and the money spent on drugs will no longer be going to criminal gangs but directly to the State.

Arguments like 'oh everyone will become hooked on drugs!!' do not hold up, the proponents of these always seem to be the authoritarian types who seem to think that no-one except them can control themselves.

If you want to see an example of decriminalisation in action, check Portugal since 2001. They decriminalised heroin then, and since then usage has dropped by over 50%.

lfen

Absolutely.

But why no media attention, government intervention etc? That's what I cannot understand.

Boom_Bap

you holding OP?

Walter Bishop

Government intervention consists of the police trying to arrest people.

It gets media attention from time to time (nothing like it used to do in the 80s etc.) but you'll find that the communities that are wrecked by drugs are also ones that have very little engagement with politics.

Government will usually bump drugs programmes, like homeless services, down the list, as junkies and homeless people don't vote.

lfen

@boombap..Sit tight for a reaction while I consult urban dictionary

tuxy

El Weirdo wrote: »

"Drugs".

Any drug or in particular, or just "drugs"?