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I think we also need to keep another extremely important point in mind -- the street drugs we have today are nothing like the street drugs we have even just 10 - 15 years ago.
They are:
1) significantly more potent
2) significantly more toxic
3) cheaper
4) some of the street drugs makes you not hungry, and keeps you awake, so you kind of solved the problem of hunger and the need for shelter
#4 is definitely related to the poverty problem, but #3 makes it accessible, and #1 and #2 gets them killed.
The ridiculous (but totally sensible) thing is -- even when the police hits the supply side, it has the akward effect of leading to more ODs and deaths in the immediate short term future because addicts would find alternative sources of drugs, and using new / unfamiliar drugs / different suppliers actually makes it more likely for them to mis-judge the dosage and potency.
So it's almost like you can't hit the suppliers (without causing more immediate term deaths). You can't solve the poverty issue easily. What else can you do?
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