|
Jim Rubens on Drugs
|
|
War on drugs is a flagrant $1 trillion policy failure
The global 50-year, $1 trillion war on drugs is a flagrant policy failure in urgent need of a thorough, evidence-based rethink. Here is what I've learned from the research and from my time as President of Headrest, a Lebanon-based drug and alcohol abuse
and suicide prevention and counseling center.- Supply interdiction drives up violence and drug supplier profits.
- Global illegal drug demand is now $320 billion annually.
- Since 2006, drug trade violence stemming largely from
U.S. demand has killed over 100,000 people in Mexico alone.
- Most drug overdose deaths in New Hampshire now involve fentanyl illegally manufactured in Mexico.
- U.S. taxpayers spent $7.5 billion in 2014 attempting to eradicate production of opium
(the raw material for heroin) in Afghanistan, yet cultivation there has reached record levels, supplying 3/4 of global demand and occupying a cultivated land area the size of Rhode Island, and providing a major source of funding for the Taliban.
Source: 2016 New Hampshire Senate campaign website JimRubens.com
, Apr 1, 2016
Legalize marijuana; drug-assisted treatment for opioids
For heroin, fentanyl and the opioids, we can learn from the eight European nations and Canada which operate "drug assisted treatment" programs, providing opioid receptor blocking drugs like Suboxone to addicts, administered in healthcare facilities or
clinics in combination with drug tests and counseling. The measured outcomes include sharp reductions in illegal drug use, drug crimes, disease, & overdose deaths.For marijuana, Congress should grant states the power to legalize and regulate as they
see fit like alcohol. I would then suggest (not mandate) that states require child-proof packaging and labels disclosing potency and health effects, including the fact that MJ use involves performance and brain developmental effects (though far less in
the aggregate than tobacco or alcohol). I would also suggest banning advertising & public use, licensing in-state wholesale producers, allowing personal production in limited quantities, and extending DUI laws to cover marijuana metabolite blood levels.
Source: 2016 New Hampshire Senate campaign website JimRubens.com
, Apr 1, 2016
Study marijuana harmfulness; then let states regulate it
Q: Do you support the statement, "Never legalize marijuana"?A: Congress should commission the National Academy of Sciences to determine whether marijuana is significantly less harmful than alcohol and tobacco.
If this is the case, I would support changing federal law so that the states are permitted to regulate marijuana use by adults and to tax sales as each state sees fit.
Source: E-mail interview for 2014 Senate race with OnTheIssues.org
, Nov 14, 2013
Page last updated: Aug 28, 2017