Drug Addiction Policies

People don't want to be drug addicts and live a poor existence to feed a habit. They have problems, they use the drugs to medicate or fit in, the problems compound with drug use, so they use more to deal with the problems more. They are also ostracized by communities which nobody likes as we are social creatures. The level of that social exclusion probably depends a lot on their current level of wealth. People like having shelter and their physical needs met and while they might not necessa

What's wrong with de-stigmatizing current drug addictions?

People don't necessarily choose their life circumstances. A drug addict is a disabled person, their brains soaked in chemicals inhibiting from any logical reasoning. Sometimes they may experience monetary lapses of consciousness where they can feel both physical and emotional pain. Many of them have parents, siblings and children, and may have decided to stay away from their love ones because of shame. So obviously this social experiment was absurd, you are facilitating the trade of drugs w

You should read “In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts” - might change your perspective. It would be far more beneficial for society to learn and understand how addiction and the brain work and develop policies around that - more penalties are not going to curb drug addiction.

Drug addiction and mental illness are endemic aspects of the problem, but not definitive. Often enough, the problem is just badly designed society. Drug addiction treatment, mental illness treatment, unemployment help, general medical help are all needed both to get people able to maintain, and to keep others from falling out of place. Mental illness and addiction are not moral failings. Treating them as such has been reliably demonstrated to make things worse. Treating them as illnesses has lik

Yes it does, I have a comment on that very thing and how it relates to the drug epidemic [here](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16449876) you might be interested in.

Addiction is not a crime, it's a symptom of a mental health issue or a social problem. Treat it as such to fix it.> many people in this community and similar are tired of people throwing their life away and expecting a safety net.That's a really disgusting approach to treating human life. These people aren't "throwing their life away", they're broken and in need of help. Why is it unreasonable to expect a society to look out for its weak and vulnerable?

Why not?They can get help if they want to get over the addiction and otherwise they can get a job so they can get a place to do drugs legally.They are a part of society and their actions have negative consequences for others. We regulate that.

How that idea is going to get through to someone who is somatically and / or psychologically addicted to drugs is a little difficult to comprehend. In the same vein of people will fix themselves of drug addiction is a mostly useless statement. People get into this situation either involuntarily or voluntarily, but few get out just by platitudes or sheer will power. Most people who put drug addiction behind them need a cast of people and tools to help, there is no quick fix. To be effective for a

It sounds like you’ve never had to deal with an addict in your close personal circle. I’m glad for you.When addicts cannot find a supply of their chosen drug, they’ll steal from anyone, even those closest to them, to fund their addiction. If they go homeless, you can’t give them money because you can’t trust that they won’t just use it to buy more drugs. This is to ignore the fact that buying most hard drugs directly funds the Mexican drug cartels and the atrocities they commit in many countr