Duterte faced with his own drug problem

[TomSea]

AFP:

Duterte faced with his own drug problem
World | Dec 19, 2016

An admission by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte that he used a powerful painkiller is raising concerns, with lawmakers urging him to undergo an examination and to disclose results.

Duterte said last week he took fentanyl for a spinal injury, but his doctor stopped him using it as he abused the drug by exceeding dosages.

Fentanyl became infamous after pop idol Prince died of an overdose in April. It can be 100 times stronger than morphine.

Duterte is waging a war against suspected users of illegal drugs, costing thousands of lives, and he uses wild language against the United States and others.

Continued: http://www.thestandard.com.hk/section-news.php?id=177635

[geronl]

This is a guy saying he has no problem killing drug users

[TomSea]

This is a guy saying he has no problem killing drug users

Mexico now, is very lawless in parts, so I can see the difficult situation some that is confronting certain countries.

Tijuana had a big crime problem, this one law officer came in, was made chief of police and though some of his tactics were questioned, got that city's crime rate down so much so that the very problematic Cd. Juarez hired that police chief and he had success there too, Juarez now isn't as bad as it was.

These problems have to be approached some how though extrajudicial killings which have always happened in many of these countries, say somewhere like Kenya, shouldn't be the answer.  I don't know what is.

[TomSea]

What is the trade-off? ; Chicago has a big murder problem, what if some iron-fisted leader got in there and the deal was that violent crime would decrease but some human rights might be violated in the process, but the net effect would be positive?

Mexico is becoming a real hellhole; corruption probably fuels what goes on there as much as anything.

[driftdiver]

What is the trade-off? ; Chicago has a big murder problem, what if some iron-fisted leader got in there and the deal was that violent crime would decrease but some human rights might be violated in the process, but the net effect would be positive?

Mexico is becoming a real hellhole; corruption probably fuels what goes on there as much as anything.

So you're ok with the judge dread approach to law enforcement?  If its for a good cause.  Who gets to define whats a good cause?

[TomSea]

So you're ok with the judge dread approach to law enforcement?  If its for a good cause.  Who gets to define whats a good cause?

Not like Duterte; I guess if we sentenced criminals to the harshest penalties, a dent in crime in troubled areas could be reduced. That's probably the problem, lenient judges.  Then, we'd need bigger prisons.

[driftdiver]

Not like Duterte; I guess if we sentenced criminals to the harshest penalties, a dent in crime in troubled areas could be reduced. That's probably the problem, lenient judges.  Then, we'd need bigger prisons.

@TomSea

Thats the approach thats been tried for the last 20 years.   According to Wiki and a number of other sources "2,220,300 adults were incarcerated in US federal and state prisons, and county jails in 2013 – about 0.91% of adults (1 in 110) in the U.S. resident population. Additionally, 4,751,400 adults in 2013 (1 in 51) were on probation or on parole."

Roughly half of those in federal prison are there because of drug related crimes.   Drug use remains rampant and illegal drugs are easy to buy. 

Should we just take each of these people out and shoot them?  Maybe sell their organs?

Or perhaps we could spend some time on the demand side.  Make it socially unacceptable to use drugs instead of cool.

[TomSea]

@TomSea

Thats the approach thats been tried for the last 20 years.   According to Wiki and a number of other sources "2,220,300 adults were incarcerated in US federal and state prisons, and county jails in 2013 – about 0.91% of adults (1 in 110) in the U.S. resident population. Additionally, 4,751,400 adults in 2013 (1 in 51) were on probation or on parole."

Roughly half of those in federal prison are there because of drug related crimes.   Drug use remains rampant and illegal drugs are easy to buy. 

Should we just take each of these people out and shoot them?  Maybe sell their organs?

Or perhaps we could spend some time on the demand side.  Make it socially unacceptable to use drugs instead of cool.

@driftdriver

I basically agree with this.

Should we have a libertarian approach?

Drugs fuel organized crime. Now, we have some states legalizing marijuana; we will see how that works out in the long run.

[driftdiver]

@driftdriver

I basically agree with this.

Should we have a libertarian approach?

Drugs fuel organized crime. Now, we have some states legalizing marijuana; we will see how that works out in the long run.

So far they've seen an increase in crime.

[Fishrrman]

Driftdiver wrote:
"So far they've seen an increase in crime."

The meme regarding drug "legalization" and "de-criminalization" is that the result will be less crime.

Somehow it doesn't seem to be working out as they said.