Libertarians and Harm Reduction

Subject: Libertarians and Harm Reduction Wed Mar 27, 2019 6:03 am

Last week we held a day-long conference at the Cato Institute devoted to exploring the strategy known as “harm reduction” to address the rising rate of drug overdose deaths and the spread of infectious diseases, such as hepatitis and HIV.

In my remarks at the beginning and at the conclusion of the conference, I pointed out that the harms afflicting the drug-using community and their intimate contacts are the direct result of drug prohibition. Cato’s Jeffrey Miron emphasized that point in a key presentation and discussed the success Portugal has had in reducing overdose deaths, HIV, hepatitis, and the heroin addiction rate after it decriminalized all drugs in 2001.

While I stated that the ultimate act of harm reduction would be to end the War on Drugs, I argued that, as a start, the goal of drug policy must shift from one that is focused on prohibiting and punishing the consumption of certain unapproved substances to one that is focused on reducing the disease transmission and deaths that come from drug prohibition. Rather than continue to pour huge amounts of resources into putting people in cages for buying, selling, or placing certain unapproved substances into their bodies, those resources would be put to better use reducing the harms our current policies inflict on people. Harm reduction is realistic. It recognizes there will never be a drug-free society and therefore seeks to make nonmedical use of licit and illicit drugs in the black market less dangerous.

More: https://www.cato.org/blog/libertarians-harm-reduction

Libertarians and Harm Reduction

Libertarians and Harm Reduction

Anarcho-Capitalist Categorical Imperatives

Inside AnCaps, Philosophy, Libertarians & Ancapdemia's Ebony Basement