TED演讲 第18期:为什么我们应该终止禁毒战争(4)

 People tend to think of prohibition¹ as the ultimate form of regulation  人们倾向于认为：禁止就是最终极的管制方案。

when in fact it represents the abdication² of regulation with criminals filling the void.  而事实上，它代表的是放弃管制，并由罪犯去填补这个空缺。

Which is why putting criminal laws and police front and center in trying to control  这就是为什么要把刑法和警察放在最前线和最核心的位置来试图控制,

a dynamic global commodities market is a recipe for disaster.  一个瞬息万变的全球性商品市场,这就是灾祸之因。

And what we really need to do is to bring the underground drug markets  而我们真正需要做的是把地下的毒品交易市场,

as much as possible aboveground and regulate them as intelligently as we can  尽可能带回地面上来并且尽我们所能地，明智地，规范它,

to minimize both the harms of drugs and the harms of prohibitionist³ policies. 以减少药物的伤害和禁毒政策带来的危害。

Now, with marijuana, that obviously means legally regulating and taxing it like alcohol.  这样，当我们提到大麻，显然指的是像酒精一样的依法管制和征税。

The benefits of doing so are enormous, the risks minimal⁴. Will more people use marijuana?  这样做的好处是巨大的，而风险极小。会有更多的人使用大麻吗？

Maybe, but it's not going to be young people, because it's not going to be legalized for them,  也许吧，但年轻人不会这样,因为大麻不会对他们合法化，

and quite frankly⁵, they already have the best access to marijuana. 而且坦白地说，他们已经有最好的获取大麻的途径了。

I think it's going to be older people.  我认为这将会是上了年纪的人。

It's going to be people in their 40s and 60s and 80s who find they prefer a little marijuana 大概40多岁、60多岁和80多岁的人，他们发现自己宁愿吸点大麻,

to that drink in the evening or the sleeping pill 来代替晚上喝的一杯酒或者吃的一片安眠药,

or that it helps with their arthritis⁶ or diabetes⁷ or maybe helps spice up a long-term marriage.  或者是用它来舒缓他们的关节炎或糖尿病又或者，用它来给老夫老妻的婚姻生活增添点情趣。

And that just might be a net public health benefit.  所以这对公众健康或许也有一些益处。

As for the other drugs, ]look at Portugal, where nobody goes to jail for possessing drugs,  至于其他药物，看看葡萄牙，在那儿没人会因为拥有毒品被抓去坐牢,

and the government's made a serious commitment to treating addiction⁸ as a health issue. 政府作出了郑重承诺，会把上瘾作为一个健康问题来治疗。

Look at Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands,  再看看瑞士、德国、荷兰、

Denmark, England, where people who have been addicted⁹ to heroin¹⁰ for many years and repeatedly tried to quit and failed 丹麦和英国，在这些地方那些对海洛因上瘾多年，多次试图戒毒但失败的人，

can get pharmaceutical¹¹ heroin and helping¹² services in medical clinics, and the results are in: 可以从医疗诊所获得药用海洛因和援助服务，而这样做的成果是：

Illegal drug abuse and disease and overdoses and crime and arrests all go down,  非法药物的滥用、疾病、服药过量、犯罪和拘捕 统统下降，

health and well-being¹³ improve, taxpayers¹⁴ benefit,and many drug users even put their addictions¹⁵ behind them.  健康和福祉提高，纳税人受益，许多吸毒者甚至戒掉了毒瘾。

Look at New Zealand, which recently enacted¹⁶ a law 看看新西兰，他们最近通过了一项法律,

allowing certain recreational drugs to be sold legally provided their safety had been established.  允许某些软性毒品的合法销售只要这些药品的安全性已经得到确认。

Look here in Brazil, and some other countries, where a remarkable¹⁷ psychoactive substance,  再来看看巴西，和一些别的国家，他们有一种引人注目的精神类药物，

ayahuasca, can be legally bought and consumed provided it's done so within a religious context.  死藤水，可以被合法地购买和服用只要是在宗教背景下。

Look in Bolivia and Peru, where all sorts of products made from the coca leaf, the source of cocaine¹⁸,  看看玻利维亚和秘鲁，各种由古柯叶制成的产品，就是可卡因的原料,

are sold legally over the counter with no apparent harm to people's public health.  都在柜台上合法地销售这样做并没有对人们的健康带来明显的危害。

I mean, don't forget, Coca-Cola had cocaine in it until 1900,  我要说，别忘了，可口可乐直到1900年配方里都含有可卡因，

and so far as we know was no more addictive¹⁹ than Coca-Cola is today.  但到正如大家所知，没有人觉得它比现在的可口可乐更让人上瘾。

Conversely, think about cigarettes: Nothing can both hook you and kill you like cigarettes.  相反，想想香烟：没有什么比香烟更令你上瘾，更让你加速死亡了。

1 prohibition   

n.禁止；禁令，禁律

参考例句：

• The prohibition against drunken driving will save many lives.禁止酒后开车将会减少许多死亡事故。
• They voted in favour of the prohibition of smoking in public areas.他们投票赞成禁止在公共场所吸烟。

2 abdication   

n.辞职；退位

参考例句：

• The officers took over and forced his abdication in 1947.1947年军官们接管了政权并迫使他退了位。
• Abdication is precluded by the lack of a possible successor.因为没有可能的继承人，让位无法实现。

3 Prohibitionist   

禁酒主义者

参考例句：

4 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

5 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

6 arthritis   

n.关节炎

参考例句：

• Rheumatoid arthritis has also been linked with the virus.风湿性关节炎也与这种病毒有关。
• He spent three months in the hospital with acute rheumatic arthritis.他患急性风湿性关节炎，在医院住了三个月。

7 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

8 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

9 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

10 heroin   

n.海洛因

参考例句：

• Customs have made their biggest ever seizure of heroin.海关查获了有史以来最大的一批海洛因。
• Heroin has been smuggled out by sea.海洛因已从海上偷运出境。

11 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

12 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

13 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

14 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

15 addictions   

瘾( addiction的名词复数 )； 吸毒成瘾； 沉溺； 癖好

参考例句：

• He has removed the stigma of drug addictions. 他已经洗去吸毒的污点了。
• Intelligent people are good at using reason to control excessive addictions. 智慧的人善于用理性来控制过度的嗜欲。

16 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

17 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

18 cocaine   

n.可卡因，古柯碱（用作局部麻醉剂）

参考例句：

• That young man is a cocaine addict.那个年轻人吸食可卡因成瘾。
• Don't have cocaine abusively.不可滥服古柯碱。

19 addictive   

adj.(吸毒等)使成瘾的，成为习惯的

参考例句：

• The problem with video game is that they're addictive.电子游戏机的问题在于它们会使人上瘾。
• Cigarettes are highly addictive.香烟很容易使人上瘾。