Kristof How To Win A War On Drugs Summary
Critical Review of How to Win a War on Drugs
Drug abuse, especially in the United States, is a huge issue that affects many people and their families. In the article How to Win a War on Drugs, the author Nicholas Kristof explores the idea of how the United States should adopt the decriminalization of all drugs, like Portugal. Currently in the US having possession of, or distribution of illegal drugs is considered a crime under federal laws which can result in criminal prosecution. However, in Portugal possession of all drugs under a ten day supply is decriminalized, meaning there are no legal repercussions for possession. Kristof goes on to say Portugal “unleashed a major public health campaign to tackle addiction”. Kristof explains …show more content…
The Health Ministry targets the areas in Portugal where the use of illegal drugs is more abundant, and supplies clean needles to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. They also go around talking to people, and encouraging treatment. Kristof acknowledges that the Portuguese model is not perfect. In both the United States and Portugal methadone is offered as a safer, and more controlled alternative to heroin and other harmful drugs. “The Portuguese model isn’t as effective as we might hope - but it occured to me that is America Mario might well be dead.” Mario is living in Portugal that the author met. He has been using heroin since age 14. He was not open to the idea of using methadone as an alternative to heroin, even though it was readily available to him. This goes on to show that even if drugs in the US were decriminalized it may not be all to effective which Kristof points out in his article. Also Kristof explains how addiction should be treated as what it is, a chronic disease, and require medical care rather than punishment. “After all, we don’t just tell diabetics get over it.” In saying that, he could open a lot of eyes to others, and broaden people’s opinions on drug addiction. This in time could lead to better, more effective drug policies in the United
Drug abuse, especially in the United States, is a huge issue that affects many people and their families. In the article How to Win a War on Drugs, the author Nicholas Kristof explores the idea of how the United States should adopt the decriminalization of all drugs, like Portugal. Currently in the US having possession of, or distribution of illegal drugs is considered a crime under federal laws which can result in criminal prosecution. However, in Portugal possession of all drugs under a ten day supply is decriminalized, meaning there are no legal repercussions for possession. Kristof goes on to say Portugal “unleashed a major public health campaign to tackle addiction”. Kristof explains …show more content…
The Health Ministry targets the areas in Portugal where the use of illegal drugs is more abundant, and supplies clean needles to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. They also go around talking to people, and encouraging treatment. Kristof acknowledges that the Portuguese model is not perfect. In both the United States and Portugal methadone is offered as a safer, and more controlled alternative to heroin and other harmful drugs. “The Portuguese model isn’t as effective as we might hope - but it occured to me that is America Mario might well be dead.” Mario is living in Portugal that the author met. He has been using heroin since age 14. He was not open to the idea of using methadone as an alternative to heroin, even though it was readily available to him. This goes on to show that even if drugs in the US were decriminalized it may not be all to effective which Kristof points out in his article. Also Kristof explains how addiction should be treated as what it is, a chronic disease, and require medical care rather than punishment. “After all, we don’t just tell diabetics get over it.” In saying that, he could open a lot of eyes to others, and broaden people’s opinions on drug addiction. This in time could lead to better, more effective drug policies in the United