We are putting addicts in jail, and that is not helping.  We are expecting the need or desire to obey the law to be able to overcome a physical, chemical addiction, and that is not helping.  We need to do something else.  What else?  Look to Portugal–they’ve had amazing results.

Other than the legal issue, our society views drug/alcohol use as without negatives… it’s just “recreational.” Depending on amount, substance type and duration of use, serious health issues come in to play that just aren’t part of our cultural portrayal of drug use, which is why the stigma component is sadly so necessary.

Goodwin and Masumoto were among numerous state, federal and local officials who provided updates on efforts to fight prescription drug abuse at meetings in Huntington and Charleston.
…Other speakers urged expanding training for health professionals and creating long-term care facilities with thousands of beds for drug addicts. They also urged continued federal funding for the cleanup of illegal methamphetamine operations, expanding access to the powerful drug naloxone that can stop the effects of drug overdoses, and using cost-effective treatments for drug-addicted infants.

Reading something in the article I don’t think was there.

Indiana prosecutor says she’s duty bound to prosecute grandma who bought cold medicine

While I would be the first to agree that incarceration of addicts is not the solution…

Yes. Most (virtually all) here would agree.

…from the article is sounds like the police are taking the appropriate action, prosecuting pill dealers, not users.

Not so. WV has the fastest growing prison population (per capita) in the US, despite the fact that there is very little violent crime there. They’re busting lots of users.

I think what offends people most is that — as you say — drug addiction can be a serious problem, but that makes it even more important to try to deal with it with effective strategies. Incarceration isn’t such a strategy. It even says so right in the article; they’re incarcerating more and more people, yet use continues to rise.

I can’t speak for all Boingers, but my own perspective is less that “all drugs are good”, and more that prohibition and incarceration do more harm than good.

The article is pointing out that overdoses and deaths are increasing as people move from prescription medication to traditional drugs like heroin. While I would be the first to agree that incarceration of addicts is not the solution, from the article is sounds like the police are taking the appropriate action, prosecuting pill dealers, not users. I have no problem with prosecuting people who exploit other’s illness for personal gain. It sounds like others are pushing for more medical care and treatment for actual users and addicts. With 8% addicted this is clearly a health epidemic, more treatment is needed, AND public education that leads to  stigmatizing illicit narcotic use. 

Too many boingboing’ers seem to want to clump all drug use as being harmless, there is a huge difference between alcohol and marijuana use and the other ‘harder’ drugs like heroin and prescription medication. Go to a treatment facility or try and heal a family member and you will drop that ignorance in a heartbeat… 

–cops

Even Bali.  I read an article yesterday saying it’s a transit point for coke into Australia.  Lots of money to be made, so to hell with the death penalty.

I’ve been to Bali a couple of times.  Getting a decent cold can of Coke isn’t easy.

I have a few of them in my garden in Canada too, as do tens of thousands of gardeners.  In springtime, every hardware store, garden shop, and grocery store has packets of opium poppy seeds in their seed racks.  Come summer, any walk of more than ten minutes from my house will take me past several houses with opium poppies in the flower beds.

And yet, for the crime of growing them, the penalty is a maximum of life imprisonment, and a minimum of two years (three if you live in a rented home – don’t ask).  There are absolutely no exceptions in Canadian law for having no intention of producing opium – the plant itself is illegal, just like coca and cannabis.

Goodwin said an entire unit within his office is devoted almost exclusively to fighting prescription drug abuse. He said over the past two years, his office prosecuted more than 200 pill dealers.

…are you having a hard time understanding?