What If We Decriminalized Drugs? | Guest: Christina Dent | Ep 1003

Allie, I am a recovering drug addict. I went to pharmacy school. I grew up in Colorado and I’ve seen what legalized marijuana it has done to Colorado. This is so close to my heart. This would be the worst thing possible. It would not work.

I’m not into politics so I can’t give my opinion on that piece of this, but as someone in recovery legalizing drugs is a terrible idea. Getting in trouble was part of what got me into recovery. The rest of it was God’s grace.❤❤

This is toxic empathy. Go to Portland or Vancouver and see what happens when hard drugs get legalised.

Foster and adoptive parent here, and the daughter of a former addict- I could not disagree with her more. JoAnn was in the minority of parents who work hard to get their child back, she is a success story for sure, and should be celebrated but is definitely not the standard. Her perspective is gracious but extremely ignorant. Reality is that drug use goes hand in hand with crime and extreme neglect of children in the foster care system. Deecrimalizing drugs would ultimately put so many more children at risk.

This reminds me of the saying “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” I was raised by an alcoholic. This lady keeps talking about “it’s OK as long as it doesn’t harm someone.”-Are you kidding me? !!!! Addicts hurt everyone around them! You can tell she had the perfect childhood. If she was raised by an addict, she would be singing a different tune. Drugs are destroying our society. If anything, laws should be harsher.

You can see a drug addict as made in the image of God and still not legalize drug use.

I live in New York City. In the year and a half or so that they legalized marijuana here, I have increasingly smelled it in the air. I think when they hear that something has been legalized, just like abortion, peoole think that it must be good. The law is a teacher. If we legalize other illegal drugs, we will not see a decrease in drug addiction, but a tremendous increase! This is very dangerous!

This was so frustrating to listen to. As a Canadian, now living in the US, I can tell you that all you need to do is look at your neighbours to the north. This has been done. Canada has done decriminilization, safe injection sites, safe supply. It has lead to a significant increase in injury and death. Ask the residents who live in the province of BC. They are now begging the Federal government to reverse their decriminalization laws. The idea that this is the way to help people is ludicrous.

I really appreciate her heart and her compassion, but I disagree. I live in Oregon and we legalized small amounts of drugs recently and it has been horrible—-so many more overdoses now that I believe the state is walking back the legalization. Additionally, using drugs is NOT like alcohol, in that you can drink an alcoholic beverage and not be intoxicated, but you can’t use a small amount of drugs and not get high. So we can regulate the use of alcohol in a way we just can’t do for drugs. Plus, we have legalized marijuana here in OR and it has absolutely been 1) a gateway to harder drugs (even a police officer doing a presentation to staff at the elementary school where I work giving us warning signs of drug use told us this is true), and 2) marijuana itself has morphed over the years into an extremely potent drug that is much different than it was back in the 60s/70s. Finally, I keep thinking how much public opinion changed on abortion once it became legal. Could this happen with legalization of drugs too? I tend to think so in our post-Christian society.

This is a great episode, and the guest seems well intentioned, but I can’t get past the fallacy in her logic. I think our system needs to improve, and she makes some good points for sure. But the thing that doesn’t make sense - only have criminal justice if they commit a crime that harms or could harm another person. She compares using alcohol responsibIy to using meth or heroin responsibly. That’s not possible! have a sister who struggles with heroin and have had many close connections with drug addiction and am a counselor. People on hard drugs are not often (if ever) arrested for just simply using the drug in the privacy of their own home. They are arrested for theft or violence or harming our communities. My sister’s arrests were always for theft to get her drugs. Her logic is flawed. You can’t responsibly use a hard drug and avoid crime while doing it. They are unable to maintain employment because of their inability to function on the drug, and they have an expensive addiction so they steal.

SIN. The root cause is SIN. The root cause is sin. Where did her Biblical education go? This is maddening to watch.

My Dad may still be here if he HAD gotten arrested for illegal substances. It doesn't dehumanize people to make substances illegal, and as an adult child of parents who made the choice, I can say it absolutely is a choice. I happened to choose God and my children. I had a lot of trauma going up but I still didn't choose that life. Praise the Lord! Imo it's too easily accessible and the people selling hard-core dr*gs need to be thrown in prison.

As a recovering IV crack/heroin user who has been clean for 6 years and has worked with so many other addicts over the years….this idea is naive and completely short sighted. I am so grateful that drugs were not decriminalized when I was using or I would likely not be typing this because I would be dead. Jail/prison saved my life and then Jesus led me to be born again. Consequences are so important for addicts and when you take them away you are just making it easier for them to kill themselves because very few will stop on their own. Most need to BE STOPPED and the only way to do that humanely is through the legal system. Is the legal system perfect? Absolutely not, but I can tell you this: almost every addict is safer in jail than they are on the street.

This is bad. Think of all the drug addicts who have children. Then you’re going to legalize possession of that? Who is going to stand up for the children being put in these toxic environments? If it’s legal for mommy and daddy to do drugs in their home, how do you regulate that they don’t neglect their kids? YOU CAN’T. Does that situation still occur? Sure. But at least we can criminalize it. This interviewee isn’t truly conservative like she believes herself to be.

All you have to do is look at Portland, Oregon to see that legalization of drugs doesn’t work. Period.

I really truly understand what Christine is saying but as a person who’s father was addicted to drugs and was in and out of jail for drugs and theft until he ultimately took his own life…. I just can’t get behind decriminalizing drugs. I would love to see more processes that focus on rehabilitation but in my experience with Dad and many other family members, there is truly nothing we can do for them until THEY DECIDE to make that change. I think being put in prison, losing your job, and having your children taken away from you can be a good and life saving thing for an addict. I think hitting rock bottom and losing everything is better than continuing on a destructive path that harms everyone around you and ends in suffering and death. I can’t even begin to tell you the harm my Dad and other family members have cause while chasing an addiction.

When it's not a crime, you will get more of it. I have watched it happen in Oregon.

They tried decriminalizing it in Oregon. They are now overturning that because it’s caused horrible outcomes for the state. The core is the loss of God in our country. It’s been a trickle effect for decades.

I see her heart, the reasoning behind her stance, however there is so much that isn't said because she hasn't sat in a room full of drug court girls who just want their AA/NA slips signed so they can get out of drug court. Mississippi, from what I've seen first hand, would only worsen if this was decriminalized. The first time offense is shown mercy compared to the multiple offender. That IS the right way to handle the justice side. We just lost a young mom, who loved her daughter just as much as any mom does, yet she died from an overdose last year, in Mississippi because she kept going to rehabs and coming out for her child too early. Now her child is motherless at 4 years old. Again, I know this woman means well, but until you lived in this struggle, you really cannot fathom the damage this way of thinking is. Her thinking is almost equivalent to the BLM criminals being decriminalized. How has that worked? Joanne is the exception. Speaking from major experience, strength, and hope. Sober date: Dec 7, 2013 I can't even list my credentials on this matter, fully. But I have experience in the child loss, the rooms of recovery, and the SALVATION and redemption - completely changed - by God #5solas

This woman is speaking like the world