Image: Steve Heap/Shutterstock.comAssigning Blame in the Opioid Crisis
State's attorney Brad Beckworth speaks during closing statements during the opioid trial at the Cleveland County Courthouse in Norman, Okla. on Monday, July 15, 2019. The proceeding are the first public trial to emerge from roughly 2,000 U.S. lawsuits aimed at holding drug companies accountable for the nation's opioid crisis. (Chris Landsberger/The Oklahoman via AP, Pool)Opioids in America: Signs and Symptoms of Malfeasance
(shutterstock.com)Myths About Marijuana: Intoxicating But Untrue
(image: Mitch M / shutterstock.com)Straight Dope on the Opioid Crisis
Oxycodone. Steve Heap/Shutterstock.comThe Opioid Epidemic and Drug Legalization: Robert VerBruggen Replies to His Critics
In response to: What the Opioid Crisis Can Teach Us about the War on Drugs
My Liberty Forum essay contended that America’s experiment with easily available opioid painkillers was an indication of what might happen if we legalized drugs completely: a shocking and intolerable increase in overdose deaths. I suggested that, instead, we might push to A) focus the punitive aspects of the War on Drugs on dealers rather than users, as we already do to a large extent; and B) work to expand access to treatment, especially medications that satisfy users’ cravings.
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Psychoactive drugs collectively nonetheless belong to a small class of products that merit a carve-out from libertarian principles.
Prohibition makes opioids more dangerous because it forces the market underground, which inhibits normal quality control.
The problems, then, go much deeper than the use and abuse of this particular class of drug.
Confronting a litany of harms from the use of a dangerous substance, he finds the fault not in ourselves, nor the substance, but rather in our laws.
Don’t Make Anti-Opioid Laws the Villain Here
In response to: What the Opioid Crisis Can Teach Us about the War on Drugs
More Responses
Psychoactive drugs collectively nonetheless belong to a small class of products that merit a carve-out from libertarian principles.
Prohibition makes opioids more dangerous because it forces the market underground, which inhibits normal quality control.
The problems, then, go much deeper than the use and abuse of this particular class of drug.
Being mugged by reality is never fun, especially regarding so grave a topic as drug addiction.
Contra Criminalization
In response to: What the Opioid Crisis Can Teach Us about the War on Drugs
More Responses
Psychoactive drugs collectively nonetheless belong to a small class of products that merit a carve-out from libertarian principles.
Prohibition makes opioids more dangerous because it forces the market underground, which inhibits normal quality control.
Confronting a litany of harms from the use of a dangerous substance, he finds the fault not in ourselves, nor the substance, but rather in our laws.
Being mugged by reality is never fun, especially regarding so grave a topic as drug addiction.
Legalizing Opioids Would Dramatically Reduce Overdoses
In response to: What the Opioid Crisis Can Teach Us about the War on Drugs
More Responses
Psychoactive drugs collectively nonetheless belong to a small class of products that merit a carve-out from libertarian principles.
The problems, then, go much deeper than the use and abuse of this particular class of drug.
Confronting a litany of harms from the use of a dangerous substance, he finds the fault not in ourselves, nor the substance, but rather in our laws.
Being mugged by reality is never fun, especially regarding so grave a topic as drug addiction.
Psychoactive Drugs in Light of Libertarian Principles
In response to: What the Opioid Crisis Can Teach Us about the War on Drugs
More Responses
Prohibition makes opioids more dangerous because it forces the market underground, which inhibits normal quality control.
The problems, then, go much deeper than the use and abuse of this particular class of drug.
Confronting a litany of harms from the use of a dangerous substance, he finds the fault not in ourselves, nor the substance, but rather in our laws.
Being mugged by reality is never fun, especially regarding so grave a topic as drug addiction.
