I would write the drug policy based on the principle that harm reduction is focused on recognizing the dignity and humanity of people who use drugs and bringing them into a community of care. This would help reduce negative repercussions and promote optimal health and social inclusion, as opposed to a punitive approach to problematic drug use. In this way, I would suggest stopping persecuting former drug dealers and addicts in recovery. Such sanctions such as denial of public housing and school loans are ineffective; they are solely punitive and serve no purpose. Besides, I assume it would be right to consider offering positive incentives, such as financial payouts, to former addicts who pass a “clean” test. Finally, to prevent heroin overdoses, I think it would be effective to develop such harm reduction programs as needle exchange, supervised injection locations, and the distribution of naloxone kits are being implemented. In addition, funding studies that look into the medical applications of currently illegal drugs like marijuana and heroin can also be effective.
I was very interested in the chapter “Four Proposals to Reform the Drug Laws” and the concepts presented in it. The reason is that I find those concepts important to better understand drug laws and any ways that they can be changed or improved. Thus, I think that the most significant terms are “legalization” and “decriminalization.” The process of legalization entails the removal of all legal restrictions. When the drug would be available for purchase and use at will to the general adult population, analogous to tobacco and alcohol, “Psychoactive medications might be acquired on the open market, off the shelf, by anybody over a particular age under this idea” (Goode, 2015, p. 452). Meanwhile, decriminalization means that anyone could make, grow, or import any quantity of any narcotic and sell it to anyone after it was decriminalized. Aside from obvious toxins, the only factor that should govern the sale of medications should be the operation of a free and open commercial market. Those concepts define an unusual way of changing drug laws. Nevertheless, they are widely discussed, and I think that it is crucial to understand their meanings and differences between each other.
Reference
Goode, Erich. (2015). Drugs in American society (9th ed.). McGraw Hill.