TED演讲 第18期:为什么我们应该终止禁毒战争(4)(在线收听

 People tend to think of prohibition 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 abdication 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 prohibitionist 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 minimal. 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 frankly, 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 arthritis or diabetes 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 addiction 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 addicted to heroin 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 pharmaceutical heroin and helping 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-being improve, taxpayers benefit,and many drug users even put their addictions 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 enacted 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 remarkable 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 cocaine,  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 addictive 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。
  原文地址:http://www.tingroom.com/lesson/TEDyj/kxp/451757.html