It works the same way of course. Oregon and California liberalized their drug laws and saw an increase in drug use. Texas hasn't and as a consequence, Texas sees about half the rate of overdose deaths as Oregon or California: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosm ... soning.htmRZehr wrote: ↑Fri Feb 02, 2024 2:33 pmI wonder how this cause and effect applies to drug laws and use, and petty crime in these two cities. And the early days of sexual liberation laws of the past.Ken wrote: ↑Fri Feb 02, 2024 2:29 pm In the end, regulations have consequences and real predictable effects. Take our previous comparison of the big cities of Houston and San Francisco.
Houston has much fewer restrictions on housing and development compared to San Francisco and as a consequence, housing is 4x cheaper in Houston than San Francisco. That isn't random coincidence, it is the consequence of policy choices.
Likewise, Houston (and Texas) have far less restrictive firearms regulations than San Francisco (and California). As a consequence Texas has 3x more guns per capita than California and Houston has double the murder rate and nearly double the violent crime rate as San Francisco.
None of this is random chance. It is the logical consequence of differing policy choices.
The ENORMOUS policy mistake in Oregon was in thinking that if they decriminalize drugs they could divert people into rehab rather than prison. But it hasn't ended up working that way. Because the only leverage the authorities previously had to force people into rehab or getting help was the thread of prison time. Take that away and you take way every last bit of leverage to force addicts to get help. And yes, many do need to be FORCED to get help.
It sounds like there are various initiatives on the ballot to recriminalize hard drugs so it looks like Oregon is going to reverse course. Legislature is considering various recriminalization bills as well. Lessons learned.
Unfortunately we don't yet seem to be learning the same cause and effect lessons when it comes to housing and firearms.