I love traveling in Korea (and Japan), but have a hard time convincing myself to go back to a place with such fundamentally unethical policies in place.

[–] library_napper@monyet.cc -3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

What are you, Portuguese?

[–] Rediphile@lemmy.ca 7 points 10 months ago (2 children)

The only drug specifically mentioned in the article is cannabis lol. As such, no not Portuguese, but I am from somewhere much more progressive than Portugal when it comes to cannabis regulations. Can a random tourist even go buy a joint legally from a store in Portugal yet? If any adult can't go buy it from a store legally without any further justification, then it isn't actually legal.

[–] library_napper@monyet.cc 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Only two options: Canada or Uruguay

Edit: probably should have checked the instance lol

[–] 5in1k@lemm.ee 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I’m in Michigan in the US. We are not under prohibition anymore

[–] library_napper@monyet.cc 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Unfortunately the only countries who have ended prohibition are Canada and Uruguay.

In Michigan you can legally get tortured (solitary confinement) by the (federal) government for merely possessing small amounts of cannabis.

[–] 5in1k@lemm.ee 1 points 10 months ago

Sure but they aren’t.

[–] library_napper@monyet.cc 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Selling isn't legal in Portugal but all (nondistribution) drug use has been decriminalized

Decriminalization has serious issues for safe medicines like cannabis, but I prefer it to legalization for opiates personally

[–] Rediphile@lemmy.ca 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I also prefer the actual legalization of all drugs. Decriminalization is barely better than prohibition with inconsistent purity and implicit support of organized crime.

Edit: Oh sorry, I misread. I'm curious as to why you support decriminalization but not legalization. Also, aren't many forms of opiates already legal when sourced correctly? Like for medical applications and stuff?

[+] CliveRosfield@lemmy.world -136 points 10 months ago (6 children)

I can see why they vilify it. Drugs straight deteriorate some societies to the point it’s irrecoverable for centuries (see China and opium). Sucks about the loss of human life over it either way.

[–] otter@lemmy.ca 51 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

The alternative isn't to embrace it... We all understand the negative consequences from substance abuse. Their comment was about the method being used to deal with it, some methods are better than others

[–] WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world 24 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Police questioned him for 19 fucking hours over his personal recreational drug use. It sounds like this whole ordeal is a career death sentence in Korea, too. As far as I'm concerned atm — Korean culture, the state, and the police, killed this man through bullying and harassment. His drug use is irrelevant.

[–] FiniteLooper@lemm.ee 1 points 10 months ago

Horrible. I would think a steep fine for something like that would be enough of a deterrent for most people, and it most certainly would have changed the outcome here.

[–] test113@lemmy.world 48 points 10 months ago (1 children)

oh yeah for sure could be a reaction to the opium wars

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/hong-kong-and-the-opium-wars/ -

It's never the drugs that make a society erode; it's a symptom. If you have a big drug problem in a country, most likely it's related to much bigger issues at the core. Like in the Opium Wars, it was the British Empire that basically drugged China as a means to get what they want. It's not like they discovered drugs and then just stopped doing anything else; we humans had drugs and used drugs since we know about them.

Some argue this tactic is still very much in use today, hence the fentanyl crisis, which seems to be fueled by China. It's a destabilizing tactic. That's also part of why China and other Asian countries are so strict because they know firsthand the effectiveness of literally drugging your foe to gain an advantage. This does not mean China and co do not have their own drug market; they have a pretty vivid drug scene.

Also, as an example, Japan or China, yeah, sure, you can't buy weed; they will basically curb-stop you legally. But you can drink as much alcohol as you want, smoke as much tobacco as you want, and drink as many caffeine drinks as you want. These are all recreational drugs with a much higher impact on society than weed, yet they are totally legal and accepted by everyone or are even traditional.

[–] highenergyphysics@lemmy.world 12 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Yes, I agree. In fact you can see this in the US today. Pharmaceutical oligarchs pushed their opium so hard, showing ads on TV, literally bribing doctors to sell it, small town pharmacies prescribing over 300 pills per resident per year.

Vast swathes of rural USA are zombie wastelands full of people just decaying because of conservative policy.

This is what winning looks like. Nobody wants to be the first one busting out the forks and spoons.

[–] NoIWontPickaName@kbin.social -2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

300 pills a year doesn’t seem too bad.

That is less than 1 a day.

Don’t get me wrong I agree with you in general, I just think the numbers are weird

[–] kaosof@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I do believe it's something like 300 per resident of the US per year, not specific residents with prescriptions. Just illustrating quantities, in other words.

Actually, I believe it might be worse than that, but I'm not looking it up, just tried to clarify.

[–] NoIWontPickaName@kbin.social 2 points 10 months ago

Yeah… that is a little different. lol

[–] Hegar@kbin.social 7 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

deteriorate some societies to the point it’s irrecoverable for centuries (see China and opium)

Large imports of opium to China only started in 1822, and while the 'century of humiliation' would begin ~20 years later, society was in no way 'irrecoverable', it wasn't centuries, and it wasn't because of opium.

Opium was yet another weight around the neck of Qing, but it was only a serious issue because the dominant naval power on the globe forced them to accept opium at cannon point and killed them when they refused.

Unless US aircraft carriers start bombing Korea into accepting industrial quantities of heroin, the situation isn't really comparable.

[–] Dudewitbow@lemmy.zip 5 points 10 months ago

it's also related to how societies are fast tracked into productivity (Caffine is a drug)

[–] AnimalSalad@lemmy.nz 14 points 10 months ago

Its insane. What a waste man

[–] 5in1k@lemm.ee 6 points 10 months ago

Over weed? Korean culture is fucked.

[–] scytale@lemm.ee 1 points 10 months ago

The way the authorities went ham on “investigating” his case and leaking stuff to the media means someone powerful is trying to cover up something from public scrutiny and diverting public attention.