Drug Decriminalization - Has It's Time For Discussion Arrived?

Two articles, one from AOL News and the other by the conservative think tank, the CATO Institute, have studied Portugal's approach to decriminalize all drugs and found that it is working.

When you look at the approach we have taken here in the US, it is obvious that it is not working. Our jails are bursting at the seams with drug related offenders, our borders and cities are being overrun by the drug cartels, drug gangs roam the streets terrorizing our citizens, crime stopping measures are straining the budgets of local governments, and still we have one of the highest rates of addiction in the world.

Thousands of Mexican citizens are being slaughtered in the war on drugs to our south and the poppy trade in Afghanistan is funding the Taliban fight against our sons and daughters fighting there. Much of the market for these drugs is right here in the good ole USA.

Maybe Albert Einstein's definition of "insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results" is appropriate here and maybe it is time to change direction.

Read the following two articles and see if you agree.

Is Portugal's Liberal Drug Policy a Model for US?

Drug Decriminalization in Portugal:
Lessons for Creating Fair and Successful Drug Policies