U.S. Police Have Shot Dead 385 People In Five Months: REPORT

[F4lconF16]

42. Decriminalize everything.

Criminalization only serves to make profits for drug cartels, pharmaceutical giants, the prison industry, and the military-industrial complex. It fixes a societal problem by attacking the most vulnerable members of our society. Criminalization results in millions of people in and out of jail their entire live, if not shot and killed outright (not to mention the other victims of wars in the surrounding communities). If you must, target only the major suppliers and manufacturers, and leave the low level people alone completely.

Take all the money currently funding drug prohibitions and place it into state-run addiction programs, community structures and support (like needle exchanges, etc.), and economic initiatives designed to invest in the poor. I would even go so far as to suggest the state provide clean drugs to addicts while their dosage is slowly stepped down. If I remember correctly, it is the most effective way we have found so far, over 50% (though don't quote me on that). Invest in education in poor areas, begin state-provided early life child care and support programs, provide medical treatment and health care to all. Do that, and I'd bet you'd see addiction rates plunge.

I would also submit that full decriminalization of things like cannabis and the various psychedelics would actually have an enormously positive effect on the country's health. Cannabis treats huge numbers of ailments, and decriminalization and rescheduling drugs would allow for research that is just now beginning to appreciate the real medical potential of these substances.

The problem with all of this is that these issues are interwoven with huge numbers of other issues in our society. Fixing one requires fixing most, if not almost all, of the others. To fix these problems, we need to radically change our society to one that puts the health of people first.