Legalize All Drugs?
The War on Drugs has failed. Prohibition does not work. But why? What is the alternative? Should we support drug decriminalization or drug legalization? If so, should all drugs be legal and regulated by the state? Would this be a good idea under capitalism? In this episode of the 1Dime Radio Podcast, I am joined by Mark Edwards from the excellent UltraViolet podcast. Mark is passionate about the topic of harm reduction and drug policy, and has lots of first hand experience with the issue of drug addition through working as a paramedic and as a former user. You can find Mark's Ultraviolet podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/c/UltraVioletPod In the first half of the podcast, Mark and I discuss why prohibition does not work and why it makes things significantly worse. I bring the political economic analysis while Mark brings the first hand personal experience. In the second half of the podcast, we discuss which policy solutions are best for harm reduction such as Drug Decriminalization (as is done in countries like Portugal) and Drug Legalization with government regulation (as is partially done in the Netherlands and with cannabis in countries like Canada and in some US states such as California, Oregon, and Colorado). Lastly, we discuss the potential risks of turning drugs into legal commodities in a capitalist society as well as the problematic psychological appeal of wanting to ban drugs and why Marxist-Leninists tend to be conservative on this debate. We do not condone the use of any illicit substances in this podcast. Part 2 is an exclusive Patreon podcast for patrons only which can be found at https://www.patreon.com/OneDime Be sure to give 1Dime Radio a 5 Star Rating on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts!