Drug policies vary worldwide, from strict prohibition to complete disregard. Governments aim to manipulate supply and demand, with penalties for users and sellers. Prohibition reduces demand and supply, but creates a black market. Legalization advocates regulation and taxation, but critics fear accessibility. Decriminalization eliminates penalties for possession and treats addiction as a medical issue. Governments also use measures like needle exchange programs to mitigate drug use effects.
Every nation around the world has its own drug policy, from those who take a tough stand to punish buyers and sellers to those who completely ignore the cultivation of illicit substances. Drug policy is generally designed to manipulate the supply and demand for illicit drugs within a country. Governments institute criminal penalties for users who reduce demand and take steps to prevent substances getting into the hands of sellers to reduce supply. Typical examples of drug policy are prohibition, decriminalization and legalization.
Prohibition is a popular drug policy in developed nations that imposes criminal penalties on users, sellers, or both. These criminal penalties are intended to reduce demand through potential users’ growing fear of arrest for drug possession. It can also have the intended effect of reducing supply by instituting harsh criminal penalties for sellers, making the sale of illicit substances a less attractive occupation. People who support the prohibition drug policy feel that it sends a message from the government that the use of illicit substances should not be condoned in society. However, critics point out that the practical effect is to create a black market for the substances, resulting in more violence than would otherwise occur.
On the other side of the fence of drug prohibition is legalization. Proponents of full legalization of illicit drugs argue that criminal penalties do little to reduce the demand for or supply of drugs and do nothing more than make the sale of illicit drugs through organized crime profitable. The argument for legalization as a drug policy is that the government can regulate the purchase of such drugs and tax them in the same way that alcohol and nicotine are regulated in developed nations. Critics of this approach argue that it would make substances more accessible to vulnerable people such as children.
Between these extremes, there are various drug policy measures that governments can take to control the supply and demand for drugs. The concept of decriminalization, which would eliminate criminal penalties for drug possession and remain illegal, is very popular in many circles. Coupled with the concept of decriminalization is often the idea of treating drug problems pretty much like a medical problem and working with addicts to help them kick their habit rather than putting them in jail. Governments often employ many other measures designed to mitigate the effects of drug use, such as the needle exchange program, which provides clean needles to addicts and reduces the spread of drug-related diseases.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
