A Bill to be Entitled: Decriminalization of Drugs Article I:Decriminalization is the expulsion of criminal punishments for drug law infringement. Several nations and a few U.S. cities have taken steps forward towards this solution to the war on drugs. Decriminalizing drugs and investing in treatment centers would result in lower overall drug misuse, and provide safety and health. Decriminalization is not legalization, its intent is to make drug use a civil violation, not criminal. Article II: Portugal implemented a similar law in which . In 1999 Portugal had the highest induced AIDS rates in Europe, followed by having the second highest HIV diagnosis among drug users. To add further, Portugal had a briskly rising death rate of drug overdoses. Despite the implementation of the new law, there is a limit on the amount one can have in possession. This is to ensure the dealing of drugs is still responded to heavily. If a person was in possession of less than the limit they were asked to attend a hearing where the next steps of rehabilitation. This piece of legislation resulted in higher casual experimentation in drugs, but a harmful drug misuse has fallen tremendously. Deaths by overdose have fallen by 80 percent. The diagnosis of HIV among drug abusers fell from 56%, to 6%. There was also a 40% drop in drug related prison sentences. Article III: A 2 cent per milligram tax on opiods and some tax dollars will be needed to provide the U.S with enough money for treatment and beds. Money should not be an obstacle for the wellbeing of Americans. There is also the trillion dollar coin idea to raise the federal cap, where the president orders the production of just 1 trillion dollar coin, and deposits it into the federal reserve, the government would then have a trillion dollars to pay off any debt. Of course the trillion dollar coin is just an idea and would likely cause hyperinflation. Either way we would be saving money by reducing prison and jail costs with the shrinkage of the prison population. We could also free up alot of law enforcement resources by not arresting every drug addict. Article IV:After implementation of this law, we should see a drop in incarceration rate for drug related crimes. As well as a steep drop in overdose death across the board. This has been proven with Portugal over the last 20 years since their new legislation has been in place. Article V:This law shall be implemented sometime in early 2023, starting in late 2022. It would take a few months for the house and senate to vote on it. Then it has 10 days for the president to sign off on it. With the Senate and the House being run by democrats, I don't see a problem with it being approved by them. After that it is then sent off to President Biden, who depending on how he's feeling that week, might approve it. Or who knows it might get pigeon holded. Article VI:The decriminalization of drugs would result in lower rates of drug crime, counseling and better health among all americans. By decriminalizing all drugs we turn what would be jail time, into much needed rehabilitation for addicts, safer consumption to prevent the spread of deadly diseases such as AIDS. The war on drugs has been going on since the seventies and it's obvious what we are doing now has not been working. It's time to try something new, and see if it works. We need to prioritize health and safety over punishment, and reduce the stigma that addiction is due to a moral break of character, and make it known that it is a medical problem. I've known people who go to jail over these things, and they didnt get better until they got into an actual rehab. People are scared that if they seek help because they fear there will be criminal repercussions. Works Cited: https://transformdrugs.org/blog/drug-decriminalisation-in-portugal-setting-the-record-straight https://transformdrugs.org/blog/drug-decriminalisation-in-portugal-setting-the-record-straight https://time.com/longform/portugal-drug-use-decriminalization/ https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/dec/05/portugals-radical-drugs-policy-is-working-whyhasnt-the-world-copied-it https://www.drugwise.org.uk/harm-reduction-2/ https://drugabuse.com/blog/the-20-countries-with-the-harshest-drug-laws-in-the-world/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/597788/problem-drug-use-prevalence-europe-by-country/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYVctc-87b8
