US Anti-Drug Laws Aren't Scientific - They're Colonialist and Racist | Big Think
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- čas přidán 6. 05. 2016
- US Anti-Drug Laws Aren't Scientific - They're Colonialist and Racist
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American anti-drug laws need serious reevaluation, both because of how they came to be and because of how they affect drug users. Perhaps there is no better authority on the issue than Maia Szalavitz, a journalist fluent in the most recent neuroscientific research and herself a former drug addict. Understanding scientific research as she does, Szalavitz says American drug laws have little to do with science and everything to do with prevailing social attitudes, which have been at times colonialist and, more recently, institutionally racist.
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MAIA SZALAVITZ:
Maia Szalavitz is widely viewed as one of the premier American journalists covering addiction and drugs. A neuroscience writer for TIME.com and a former cocaine and heroin addict, she understands the science and its personal dimensions in a way that few others can. is the first book-length exposé of the "tough love" business that dominates addiction treatment. Her newest book is Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction.
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TRANSCRIPT:
Maia Szalavitz: Our drug policy has really been traditionally based on racism and moralizing. The reason that the currently illegal drugs are illegal has nothing to do with a scientific evaluation of the relative risks and benefits, otherwise you could never come up with a situation where marijuana is illegal and tobacco is legal. We cannot make a rational argument for that. That comes from racism and colonialism. The drug laws were made in explicitly racist circumstances for explicitly racist reasons. For example, the first anti-cocaine laws were made because cocaine supposedly made black men impervious to bullets and prone to getting involved with white women. This is complete nonsense where there is no science to it whatsoever and yet it was published in the New York Times in the early 1900s. So this is where our laws come from and we have to be honest about that and we have to stop pretending that there is some kind of rational basis for the laws that we currently have.
Then what we need to do is realize that you can't make policy based on I think it's bad for you to have unearned pleasure. You have to make policy based on does this hurt you? Does this hurt other people? And that's where harm reduction comes from. The basic idea of harm reduction is what policy will most reduce the harm related to drugs? And once you start to focus on harm you have to look not only at harm associated with drugs but harm associated with drug policy. And this is why so many harm reduction people rapidly become legalizers because the harm associated with drug prohibition has not produced the results that people would like. It does not stop addiction. It does not prevent kids from using drugs. It makes the kids who use drugs be at higher risk of dying from them. It doesn't save society's productivity by like keeping people from taking substances that will make them not work; it just doesn't work. And when you think about it, if addiction is defined as compulsive behavior despite negative consequences and you're trying to use negative consequences in order to stop it, something is seriously wrong there. So our drug policy has to acknowledge the reality that punishment doesn't fix addiction and that putting drug users in cages does nothing but worsen the problem and it doesn't deter kids. This idea that like oh if we just really stigmatize this and make everybody hate drug users then kids will never use drugs. Kids are going to do stupid risky things. You want to reduce the chances that those things will kill them. The idea that we can prevent adolescents from having sex or prevent adolescents from doing some kind of risky behavior is just absurd. This comes out before humans even evolved.
Again, this is where comes back to racism. Our image of the typical drug user or the typical drug addict is basically the same as our racist stereotype of whichever groups we happen to be targeting, so criminal, lying, manipulative, deceitful, you know, all of these things that we project onto other people and then stigmatize and attack them for we do the same with drug users. Obviously if you make a behavior that someone feels is essential to their survival illegal, they are going to lie to protect that behavior. That doesn't mean that they're fundamentally a dishonest person.
The reason that we continue to have thes...
For the full transcript, check out bigthink.com/videos/maia-szal...
this isn´t just US problem, virtually the whole world has some anti-drug laws
And in other news, water is wet.
As a pro cannabis individual, the current laws especially when trying to find employment is discriminatory.
Employers should not dictate off duty recreational activities.
Hmmm, interesting video. Could someone point me to a few books on this topic? Thanks :)
The unbreakable brain
„Chasing the Scream“, „Drug use for Grown Ups“
It's also an economic reason. Marijuana grows everywhere easily whereas Tabacco needs very specific conditions so it can be more easily monopolised by big industry
yeah. without rehap and mental support people turn out like Donald trump
+dono dony His colloration made me think he may be addicted to carrots.
+melogunner if you call multiple bankruptcies successful and fucking people over multiple successful.
+melogunner he likes uneducated people
+Die Please so do bernie and hillary
***** there all fucked either way
America really needs to grow up and start realizing that science and progress will lead to everybody's happiness not religion, racism, sexism or xenophobia.
Strangely, cigarettes are legal but also easily one of the most socially shamed drugs.
She killed it. Perfection
honesty I think we should dich the whole trying to stop drugs and just teach kids and people in general about the risks and if they want to continue the so be it
On an unrelated note, did anyone notice that she looks a LOT like a female version of Weird Al Yankovic? Including the intense eyes
U.S. -drug- policy has nothing to do with science.
We need a total shut down on anti-drug laws until we can figure out WHAT THE HELL IS GOING!
I winced every time she said 'racism'. What do drugs and racism have in common I don't really follow. I think some people are ill with SJW and some serious BS nowadays.
A major example of the confusion is the harsh penalties for drug crimes, especially crack cocaine. Black legislators and black citizens said "We need help here. Don't forget about us. Please do something, like enact stiff penalties for drug crimes." They helped push for the stronger laws, and then later the laws were called racist. Unfortunately the law enforcement is damned if they do, damned if they don't.
Irish country also have anti-drug laws, and they were oppressed by the British at one point in history. Serbian country also has anti-drug laws, and they were oppressed 3 centuries under Ottoman rule. Various other central European countries that never had any slaves or colonialism were oppressed by Austro-Hungarian empire and they too have anti-drug laws. Now what??
Even Russia did a few centuries under Mongol empire, and they too have anti-drug laws.
There you have it, hypothesis disapproved, you dont need to have racism/colonialism to have anti-drug laws.
It also has a lot to do with money. To me, maybe even more so than racism.
In the Netherlands we have drugs around every corner but it's really safe here. We have VERY detailed sexual education and we barely have teen moms. Also there aren't a lot of drug addicts. Clearly we're doing something right but when we legalised gay marriage all of a sudden idiot homophobes started hating us. The Netherlands is one of the most open minded countries you'll find and very safe at the same time. Yet people believe they can be super closed minded and have a great country
+Verac1ty Better than having none to start with, like you seem to have.
+Verac1ty If having brains means witlessly vilifying human nature and forcing our youth into ignorance by deliberately concealing information from them(such as with no proper sex ed), I'll happily have mine fall out as well. The situatuion Vegan Humor has described is a civilized state where the people collectively design their laws to best promote both the freedom and safety of everyone. They are far more democratic than places like America, which are so outrageously backward that the government rules and the people serve.
+Civil Savant Pragmatism over Dogmatism? Sounds pretty reasonable to me.
+Verac1ty On the contrary, Dutch policy is very evidence based. The quote which you misused relates to those that form opinions in spite of evidence to advance their preconceived notions.
+Verac1ty There's nothing wrong with being open minded, our country clearly is doing better then most countries with more anti-drugs policies. I hope that in the future other countries Will realise that illegalizing drugs Will only make the demand higher and result into more violence. People like the alleged creator of silk road are getting punished while decreasing the drug crimes and saving people from getting killed, while the goverments are wondering why these drug wars keep happening... Maybe the goverment should look outside the box and ask themselves why false arguments decide that drugs is illegal.
"Szalavitz, Racist, Colonialist"
The nose knows...
Emotionally-backed policy pisses off INTP's like me who require people to be logical if we're going to want to deal with them. Thus, I hate government and its supporters.
I Agree With This - This Statement Is a Little More Speculative
I agree with you, but I want to add another viewpoint. The people we are forgetting during all of this are the people who are truly in physical pain that need these medications just so they can function on a daily basis. I'm talking about the people with pain that makes them lay awake at night screaming and suffering. The government has put limits on these medications and will not allow doctors to prescribe what a specific patient needs. They are telling them everyone gets the same amount no matter how sick they are or how bad their pain. They are also only allowing pharmacies a certain amount to sell each month, so when it's gone, it's gone. So when that cancer patient comes in with their script and a pharmacy has sold their monthly amount, they tell them, sorry, the drug dealer/addict before you got our last script. This is not fair to the people who are honestly sick and need these medications. I know of what I speak because I'm that cancer patient that is suffer in pain. 😩
One of the more recent new cruelties is the war on chronic pain patients. They have made it very difficult or even impossible to get relief- as well as humiliating. We are treated as addicts or criminals automatically regardless of evidence or history. This is directly helping fuel the rise in suicides and so called "accidental" overdoses- I promise you many so called accidents- especially by parents/grandparents- are not really accidental.
I have been constantly dismayed at the lack of understanding by so much of the general population-- they look at someone and think oh it's not that bad, they fail to realize it is often CONSTANT 24/7 week after week month after month- it changes you as a person into someone else and makes suicide a very different subject... it can turn it into the only "happy" ending available. No one seems to give a damn- I guess if you are important and rich you have ways to get relief and the rest of us are expendable.
The rational basis for outlawing marijuana as opposed to tobacco is the intoxicating effect - marijuana has an intoxicating effect, whereas tobacco really doesn't. Granted, alcohol, a legal drug, also has intoxicating effects, but that's why we have a legal maximum at which one can operate a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol - we as a society recognize that impairment behind the wheel leads to numerous preventable deaths every year. Such impairment is not easily quantified with marijuana, hence the prohibition. Additionally, you can have a conversation about prohibiting drugs and legalizing marijuana at the same time. At this point, not many people are really lumping marijuana into the same category as heroin, cocaine, meth, etc. This woman is saying that drug laws don't deter drug use in kids, and almost in the same breath says that kids are going to do stupid risky things. Does it not make sense then to attempt to limit a kid's access to addictive substances that have the potential to kill them? Granted you won't prevent all kids from trying drugs, but you will prevent some simply by virtue of the fact that some kids will not have access to the drugs. And even if all those kids do have access to drugs, the stigma attached to drug use will ostensibly lead some of them not to do drugs. And the whole racism argument is a silly red herring. We don't have separate drug laws for different racial groups. Arguments like this detract from the overall conversation by conjuring up this sort of rhetorical trump card, that if argued against, somehow as if by some evil magic, makes one a racist. The war on drugs in not winnable, I agree. As long as there are dirt bags who are willing to profit from peddling poison to their fellow man and as long as there is a demand for said poison we will continue to have a problem. But saying that since kids still do drugs despite the prohibition against drugs that drug laws are useless is completely turning a blind eye to the number of kids who don't try drugs, and never become addicted as a result of drug laws. I understand that this woman is presenting one side to a very large conversation and only had almost eight minutes to do so, but to not acknowledge the other side of this coin in this particular case struck me as disingenuous. This person is not proposing a solution to anything. This is just advocacy, not discourse.
Prohibition increases access to drugs to kids. Drug pushers don‘t check ID.
The law making crack a worse crime then cocaine is wild. So so obvious what their intent with that was.👹
In Switzerland its not legal but we actually solved our Heroin problem 30 years ago by giving out Heroin for free with no strings attached and also helping people who want help with housing, their job and mental health.
It's not racism. no one is asserting themselves as a dominate race. It may be stereotypical but not racist.
@Nuno Losch So If Nixon declared a "war on car thefts", and we found out that it was to unfairly target minorities, do you think we should legalize car theft? Or perhaps we should stop the racism, and still keep the car theft crime illegal. Which do you think makes more sense?
Not sure about the racist part. It seems to affect white drug addicts as well, so it seems to be about pseudo morality and the money involved on putting people in jail.
The people were all crispy critters and the mayor was a space cadet.
reason alcohol/tobacco is legal while marijuana etc. is not has probably much less to do with racism than with the fact that some people are making lots of money from it.
the argument to leagalize is a good one. but adding a racist angle just turns me off. look, stop saying everone is racist, it is annoying.
As a former junkie/salesman (who did 4 years for capitalistically selling meth...), I have to agree and admit that I've believed in legalization for decades. I've always believed that the money saved from enforcement and incarceration could be better spent on voluntary and free treatment for those who want it. As a middle class older white male, I don't agree with your opinion of drug laws being "racist", as I found the meth epidemic quite prevalent in my circle of white associates. Maybe back in the early 1900's, but not in today's world. Thanks for keeping it real.
+Mr Lucky 1970's - www.cnn.com/2016/03/23/politics/john-ehrlichman-richard-nixon-drug-war-blacks-hippie/
Also in the 90's the type of cocaine more commonly smoked by the african american community had a much harsher sentence than the "white" type
today, 4* the number of the african american community is arrested for marijuana despite equal rates of use across demographics
and according to the statistics here: www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Crime#sthash.u5OUl2t2.dpbs
41% of arrests made for methamphetamine were white.
I'm not saying that the drug war is solely motivated by race, but I think it is still an issue, and it definitely started as a way to suppress the black and liberal communities
If the philosophy surrounding and binding the drug market were sane; "harm reduction" would not be a term that was applicable at all : drugs are older than paint.
Actually, you can have a cigar and still keep your social and mental (mathematical) reason. With Marijuana you can not. With wine, it depends how much you intake... Not everything is about race people.
+Ivo Teixeira "With marijuana you can not." Oh please. Maybe you tried it once and your mind was adrift, but many of us every day smokers are fully-functioning members of society. You would never even know we were high if we didn't come out and say it, or happen to have eyes redder than the devil's dick. Secondly, you make the argument that it depends how much alcohol you intake while completely ignoring the fact that that same exact logic applies to cannabis? You think we can't smoke just one hit to take the edge off in the very same way you can with a single glass of wine? Ignorant comment.
May I suggest reading up on the things you think you know before trying to put together an argument? THC metabolites, yeah you heard me METABOLITES of THC, not THC, are stored in your fat cells. These metabolites, 31 of them to be exact, are what drug tests detect. And guess what? Not a single one of them are psychoactive, not one. And you said my comment was ignorant. LMFAO, made my night buddy.
Your move.AwoudeX
But why in the world would a country so economically advanced make drugs real?! It's destroying itself, such retards
how about minding your own affair
Made some good points and I agree. There is a reality missing from this dialogue and that is who is profiting from this. The disturbing truth this country is omitting is that there are people in powerful positions that could do something they simply dont care. The people who have all the money have a voice and a politicians ear. Nothing is what it seems
The correlation shes trying to draw between stereotypes about addicts and racism is a very loose one. Addicts do display these behaviors, all shes saying is 'not all!' Which is patently absurd, but there is a large element of truth to people addicted to hard drugs, lying, stealing and being involved in other illegal shit. Again thats to support their addiction but there is nothing racist in that stereotype.
My dad was involved in meth while the two of us were living out of his truck, I got to know the dealers and users of stockton california. They had houses of shit stolen to buy drugs, two of the users were pedophiles who were paying another user to rape her daughter.
Drugs is a life I want no part of, even if you dont see that side of it, it exists. Everywhere.
The fundamental problem is a lack of consensus on desired outcome. Some people, and few of these would admit this, feel that a person with poor coping strategies deserve to suffer. This idea that if they felt the pain they will change is a real problem. We need to focus on desired out comes, and a clear view. The nature of our governing bodies does not allow for this. Instead, we have a patchwork of ideas and drives. This lack of common goal in these laws allows for exploitation of individuals without consideration of the purpose of the law. In essence, if you want laws to work they have to address the problem in a way that facilitates remedy.
Drug prohibition is bad m'kay.
You gotta love this channel , they aint afraid to keep 100 #Salute
I GET IT NOW!!! Luke Cage is on cocaine!
meanwhile, in big pharma...
+Ohsnapzdawg ..companies need money for complex research that you wouldn't understand anything about
+jodawgsup most big pharmaceutical companies spend more money on advertizing than actually researching drugs. You don't need to understand the process of research to know something is messed up about that
Jabberwock5 Aha, bother to actually name the companies and show where you derived this conclusion from? There are tons of pharmaceutical companies that raise prices to increase their ability to research other drugs, for other important diseases. Pharmaceuticals, just like any business that helps men and women, is driven by money.
1)This website shows that 9 out of 11 of THE pharmaceutical companies in the US spend much more on advertising than research. watch John Oliver's report for a more detailed summary, but this article summarizes it well: www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/02/11/big-pharmaceutical-companies-are-spending-far-more-on-marketing-than-research
more on pharmaceutical habits: I haven't vetted this one as seriously though.
www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/09/pharmaceutical-companies-marketing_n_1760380.html
2) this article explains problems pharmaceutical companies suppressing the free market: www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/features/featurepharma-mergers-big-business-bad-science-4467897/
3)Also you might want to look up some of the price gouging tactics that are currently a hot topic. I'm not your search engine, you gotta do some of the research
I think she's underestimating the power of moral indignation. This stuff may have been influenced by race in the past, but I see it more as being done in the name of morality and the 'public good' now...
This makes a lot of sense!
I could be missing the point here, but I thought drug addiction had more to do with an individual's choices, and not any specific demographic's culture. To say that the drug laws are systemically racist would be to assume that a particular race is more prone to using drugs than the rest of the society that race is in. Why would any drug be made illegal to everyone in the country if the legislators of the prohibition had racist intentions against a narrower demographic? I think it's a bit tricky to try and use a racial lens on this one without saying something racist. I agree that the US anti-drug laws are unscientific and unhelpful to the issue, but why should one bit of racist propaganda from the early 1900's made to fearmonger people into wanting the law in place, mean that the whole law is there purely to keep a particular demographic locked up? I don't think you can use a racial lens here without generalising a race into being more prone to drug use, which is just as ludicrous and unsubstantiated as that propaganda piece that was cited.
Images we should have never had... beautifully put
Racism this racism that blah blah blah
Passing any real solution to reducing drug addiction would require open-mindedness to science and increase education quality, ... more than half of Congress would not be reelected if people were just open minded let alone received quality education.
Ok being prejudice against drug users is not racist. I don't like her taking the racist points from early drug legislation and making an example for all drug users.
Everyone should know this
So much truth in one video.
It is nice when someone talks about drug use in a manner that involves not only intelligence but COMMON FUCKING SENSE! I know better than most that making something illegal will not prevent you from doing it. I don't kill people not because it is illegal, I don't kill people because it is wrong. Using drugs is NOT wrong. What we need is a better society where people do not feel the need to do drugs.
" I dont' look like the stereotype"
.....
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..
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Too many people are blaming corporate greed and don't realize the imperfection and delayed nature of legislation. I'm not saying corporate greed isn't attributing to the situation, but there have always been a delay in what seems like common sense legislation.
Love is the drug I'm thinking of.
Racism racism racism. Racism is the answer to everything.
"Feed babies a drug-cocktail or you are a racist" -this lady
Sure drug-laws are silly, but this lady is just too extreme.
excellent explanation.
But how do you explain the fact that drugs are illegal in all countries and many of them have much harsher punishments than the US?
They can't, this is a lie that libertarians and the far left love to push.
@@rs72098 Now now
Most Western industrial democracies have substantially weaker drug laws and penalties than the United States, however I wouldn't expect the average American to know that, because they tend to know nothing.
As long as we trackin'
my country didnt own colonies or slaves. how is it colonial to ban people from poisoning themselves with drugs?
purikov Lmao...The majority of drugs have been around for thousands of years and they're natural to the earth and people have been using them for that long.Whether it's coke, weed or heroin.Some pale man came along and said it's illegal because they wanted to control the supply.They continued to sell the drugs and make their profit on the side while they passed laws to criminalizing the indigenous people who still used the drugs. Why? They wanted to imprison them and use them as free labor.They killed multiple birds with one stone.They got to control a resource of the indigenous people while making a side profit off selling their resource, and they got to put them into bondage for using things their ancestors did for thousands of years.
What makes it the perfect colonizing plan? They let their own people use the same narcotics and they don't receive the same punishment.They also legalize things they like that are just as deadly whether it's alcohol, tobacco, junk food( hint) etc.
@Robert Jones Thank you for being one of the few smart people commenting on this post.
purikov no I'm poisoned without them you fucking dipshit! At this point I should be prescribed them for life. It's torture you fucking douchebag. I literally cannot control my pain and sickness and I am almost bed-ridden. Working at 10 percent capacity.
I get the irrational reasoning behind weed and some psychedelics, but I think we are doing society good by making drugs like cocaine, meth, and heroin illegal
WTF where is the race war ?? did americand woke up to the fuckery of their system ????
-Canadian
kind of surprised Portugal wasn't mentioned.
the results are in, the argument has been settled.
+wozzers2 Portugal decriminalized all drugs a few years back and as a result drug use went down dramatically. it also destroyed the dangerous illegal drug selling business since everything became legal.
+wozzers2 Portugal decriminalization drugs over 10 years ago. the results were overwhelmingly positive.
take a few minutes to check it out further via Google or youtube.
U.S. crime rates fell during the same time period, and that's even when they classified drug crimes, when Portugal didn't. So U.S. crime rates may have actually fallen faster. Not to mention there's more incentive to sell U.S. drugs because our GDP per capita is much higher than Portugal's, plus we are geographically closer to illegal drug production than Portugal.
Same thing for supervised consumption sites. Giving out Heroin for free is actually a great treatment addition to social services. That‘s how we reversed the Heroin crises in Switzerland.
Also, the sky is blue and the Earth goes around the sun.
Proof of the second one? besides the propaganda you got it from. Truth is no real proof. As the elites of the world who provided are inconsistent and have been proved to cgi many many times you would be mind blown and in real denial at first and either give up and be lazy with research or uncover the truth that is far beyond these dang flat earthers that still mostly think to small. This comment may be to much for you to handle but at least someone will see this and begin to wake up.
The sky isn't always blue. It's black at night, red at dawn, and grey when it gets cloudy. The war on drugs IS NOT RACIST.
But dope is legal in the netherlands and it's raining blood and frogs over there. Also im pretty sure that the 2. world war never ended over there and dinosaurs came back and hitler is riding a t-rex.
So don't forget, dope is bad.
You are making the basic mistake of thinking speaking truth to power changes anything.
Power already knows the truth, and doesn't give a shit.
The no doubt these laws aren't scientific, but I'm not sure racism is the main factor that explain them. Remember that drugs (such as cannabis) are illegal in most of the world, including Africa or Asia, the racism argument doesn't apply there.
how is doing drugs a reasonable and rational way of dealing with one's problems?
If this was a black woman speaking...saying the same thing...you see noting but "stop race baiting, you people need to own up to your mistakes....etc"
The title sounds extremely cringy. Who was the genious to came up with the idea for it? Kim Jong family?
+Alexandru Nan Ernest
Maybe before critiquing the title of a well-reasoned, researched, and substantiated argument (for which the title is relevant to the argument), you should first learn how to spell the word "genius."
It's just the Kim family. Not the Kim Jong family. The grandfather was named Kim Il-sung then Kim Jong-il now Kim Jong-un.
Nathan Klassen Oh dear, what an illiterate I am. I'm so sorry that English isn't my first language. Who knows, maybe you stayed a bit more writing that comment in order to make sure there wouldn't be ironical grammatical or other types of mistakes. But leaving that aside, I was reffering only to the title, which sounds like a North Korean propaganda material at first.
William Alexander I know it's just Kim family or 'dynasty', but adding Jong makes it clearer as long as some might understand it as Kim Kardashian for some reason.
Alexandru Nan Ernest Wait, so not only did you criticize the title of the video for being "cringe-inducing" (although there's still no reason to think that), but your comment claims some authority over an intuition of what SHOULD be cringe-inducing despite the fact that English isn't even your first language? What an asshole! You do realize that being a non-native speaker makes you less of an authority on what is or is not a "cringy" title, right?
That'd be like if I criticized the title of a French article because its translation sounded funny in English. Someone criticizing me would be completely deserved, and saying, "Don't be a dick, I'm not a native French speaker," would be an asinine defense.
wow, very little of this made sense. I got into drug's to a heavy extent and I can tell you that they are indeed VERY harmful and I didn't get into legal issues. Also I am about as white as it gets and not once in my life did I associate drug usage with any particular race. There is no such thing as a typical drug user. You had some points about helping instead of punishing people, but that's about all I got out of it. The approach of..... well just let kid's have sex and do drug's and make it safe just does not work. Calling cocaine as something harmless and not addictive in most cases......... You're trying to have a wide point of view, but in fact it's very narrow.
I love this. So good to see white people addressing racism rather than denying its existence.
+Hobbes Well she is assuming that we all have a biased view of drug users but i can easily see anyone as a drug addict.
***** Most white people I know don't address it at all. Only the poc I know talk about it. And the Republicans straight out deny it.
Char Aznable Because most people do have a biased view of drug users. But its not only about that.
Hobbes fuk em still
its about government power and controlling people.race may be a tactic but not reason for drug laws.people need to mind their own affairs.
If her racist commentary in the beginning turns you off, skip to 05:12. Her point shifts, stating not that the policy is racist, but that the policy of _punishment_ is what needs to change. It's just that racism is what has segregated us, and the problem is the cycle of repeated generations of people in poor neighborhoods where drugs are used to escape the disparity. That disparity is what needs attention.
Weed should be legal across the U.S.
The statistic she gives regarding 10-20% of people who use coke, heroin, pills get addicted to it is pretty surprising to me. I definitely think the illegal use of these drugs should still be illegal, but I do agree that we shouldn’t be incarcerating these addicts or “one-time users” but rather get them the help they need and get them back on their feet and working again. Economy is booming and America needs workers! #Trump2020 #MAGA
The U.S. has more drug treatment centers than any other country in the world. Our justice system bends over backwards trying to use treatment and it doesn't always work. Sometimes tough love is a better solution aka Japan, China, Singapore.
Alcohol has a quite high addictiveness of 15%, weed 9%, Amphetamine 11%, Cocaine 17%, Heroin 23%. But alcohol causes the most harm to the individuals who use it and society at large. So no it doesn‘t make any sense to make drugs illegal.
Portugal has decriminalized all drugs and has among the lowest drug use in Europe.
Well soft drugs should be legal, but cocaine and the likes are definitely harmful. Legalise weed, rather than proscecuting drug takers and lock them up for years, make them go to an institution to get rid of the addiction. Only proscecute the ones illegally creating harddrugs.
the war on drugs is two things:
1. control
2. money
war on drugs has cost Mexico 6000 lives in the past few years
Racist and prejudiced are two different terms. Racism deals with race, being prejudice means you are judgmental of the state. Isn't it amazing how words can corrupt a great speech? I understand 'what' you were saying, but making people who disagree with drug users seem 'racist' is falsely reported here. I am a recovering addict, and I take offense to this because I am prejudice now about drug use, but I am not racist. Be Well. I agree with most everything else. Thank you.
So much WRONG in this video, disliked. QUIT SAYING RACIST! Using the terms "drugs" is too generalized. Every drug is SO much different from one another, whether we're talking about coffee, marijuana, or crystal meth. Talking about "drugs" in general is USELESS!
I do agree marijuana laws are out-dated. Alright, so just talk about marijuana then. Don't name the video "US anti-drug laws"
theres something really wrong with murika
I have been clean off opoids for 4 years AND IT STILL HAS NOT GOTTEN BETTER! I NEED THEM! I'M USELESS WITHOUT THEM! I CAN'T DO ANYTHING! IT'S TORTURE!
Are they sick? Make them over the counter. FREE MARKET MOTHERFUCKERS
The U.S. still has the highest GDP in the world, strongest military, best R&D, most technologically advanced corporations, very high GDP per capita. U.S. crime rares have fallen dramatically since the war on drugs began in the late 70s.
This is one of my favorite big thinks...
MDMA is illegal because the system wouldn't work with it. Everyone would love each other and not material things..
using and selling drugs isn't the problem. the laws surrounding them are the problem. reform drug laws. legalize, regulate, educate.
Should government really get a free hand to control your life in case the decisions you make about your own body might cause you harm?
If you're saying that we shouldn't lock up people who do drugs then I agree.
Illlium Yep. Live and let live. Arguing laws are bad because they don't meet their stated goal of harm reduction is also an argument that in principle a law that does meet such a goal is good. You could well argue that even if a law did meet such a goal, it can still be very bad.
+Illlium Driving while under the influence should still be punished severely. It won't stop all idiots, but it'd sure stop some.
Nick Hill The Marxists and the Libertarians can agree drug laws are bad but for different reasons.
yes.
This is a great video and should be shown in all schools.
She's talking to YOU Fox News...
this is literally hilarious XD
There was some great history channel documentary like 15yrs ago that went over why each drug is illegal, shes right. Although personally, the harder drugs I still think should be controlled somehow. Coke can pop your heart pretty quickly...
It's a lie. 195 countries around the world have similar laws to the U.S., this includes countries that have never been our allies. You simply cannot connect all drug laws with racism. Medical science is a factor.
ah yes the intersectional perspective that forgets historical factors and "everything is racist" trope
Frankly I whole hardily disagree with it stemming from racism/colonialism but I'll scream racism from the rooftops if it takes the boot off the neck of the american people. I would honestly make this woman president if she would change the drug laws. Hint Hint democrat party lol
Very clear thinking here. Nice stuff
well done. :) facts over fascism!
Decriminalization of drugs and destigmatization of drug users is the next social justice cause people should really be fighting for. We've already made great improvement for other causes. This is the real thing we should focus on next. Stop discriminating against drug users.
There's certainly a difference between a user and an abuser or addict. Some opioids though are certainly very hard to 'use' without becoming an addict. In addition, this video does not address the issue of people going about their daily lives and jobs whilst influenced by drugs. I wouldn't want my surgeon to have a few drinks before surgery on me, but we can test for alcohol. Tests for being under the influence of many drugs are hard to develop. Clearly though, criminalisation is no answer, but other consequences like employability are valid.
SHE IS 100% RIGHT..................ITS A SAD STATE WE LIVE IN.... BUT CHANGE IS COMING SLOWLY
10,000 likes
Everything is racist, even this comment.
100 years from new people are going to look back on the war on drugs much the same way we view today segregation laws and anti-sodomy laws.
big think is best for biased opinions, that could almost indefinitely stem from Public relations council. Haha its racist cause the PRC used "Propaganda" to sway the public opinion on a topic that was more socially acceptable at the time? Children trying to interpret the mind of an adult. Unfortunately i have to unsubscribe cause this "Big Think" channel is not thinking of the big picture.
The big think & TedX = Left wing libertarians who want to legalize all drugs and prostitution. Very similar to TYT and Ron Paul. Don't believe their lies people.
214 Million Law's on the Book's Today! Your braking the law with anything you do! I'm thing to much Government!