The Royal Society for Public Health Vision, Voice and Practice supported by the Faculty of Public Health released a new report: Taking a New Line on Drugs
The report essentially recommends the Portugal approach:
Decriminalizing personal use and possession of all illegal drugs, and diverting those whose use is problematic into appropriate support and treatment services instead, recognising that criminalising users most often only opens up the risk of further harm to health and wellbeing.
The Times of London not only supported the report in their editorial today, but suggested it as just a beginning:
“think of decriminalisation not as an end in itself but as a first step towards legalising and regulating drugs as it already regulates alcohol and tobacco”
Decriminalization. Good idea. Meanwhile, the legislators in California still can’t get their act together on the concept. Example, cannabis extract facilities are under assault by the DEA in Sonoma County, California:
Observational role, yeah, right. The DEA busts, but it can’t hide.
California state laws in this category need to have been designed to take effect immediately. Representative government botched it again because they’re addicted to prohibition.
My dispensary sells Chronic Essentials in a syringe applicator with 65% thc hash oil, but says its CO2 extracted cannabis, not butane. I use it dripped onto a small bowl of bud. So far I haven’t heard of any raids on the central coast.
Sonoma County bust turns into a bust. Disgruntled employee blamed for police raid on hash oil extraction facility, which appears well connected politically.
http://blog.sfgate.com/smellthetruth/2016/06/20/california-marijuana-company-beats-police-raid/
Out of state ID can now buy an ounce in Colorado:
http://www.thecannabist.co/2016/06/15/tourists-colorado-buy-weed/56244/
A step forward.
Decriminalization for personal use — and who gets to decide what amount constitutes “personal use”? Some petty bureaucrat who has never used the drug in question and probably doesn’t approve of other people using it? Meanwhile, sales remain illegal, which does nothing to protect consumers from the very real danger inherent in using street drugs, does nothing to stop violent drug raids, does nothing to stop the egregious violations of privacy that are a given in the enforcement of drug laws or to change the fact of Mexico literally bleeding to death under the US-supported reign of terror in Mexico. And unless you completely legalize the purchase and possession of paraphernalia, you won’t stop the rampant spread of needle-borne HIV and Hep C, either.
Decriminalization may well be a “first step” to somewhere, but I don’t see how it’s anyplace Americans should want to go.