Safe Drug Use Sites: News Miner 43

Also: "Assault" guns, anti-trans rhetoric, 14ers access, the reading wars, and more.

Safe-Use Sites

I will skip past the astonishing amount of bullshit in the Gazette’s recent editorial about drugs and get to its semi-plausible claims about safe-use sites (meaning, places where drug addicts have relatively safe access to drugs), which the legislature is promoting.

The Gazette claims that some people would start taking drugs precisely because they would stop “fearing the dangers.” No evidence is cited for this. I’m skeptical. The whole point of safe-use sites is to give addicts relatively safe access to drugs. I don’t think people are walking around thinking, “Oh, it’s okay if I develop a drug addiction, because then I’ll have access to safe-use sites.” Generally, people who take drugs either think they will not get addicted (which is usually right), or they are deeply depressed or disturbed such that they can’t even think clearly about future problems of addiction. Either way, I doubt the existence of safe-use sites makes much difference.

I hope that the Gazette is not arguing, sort of like the Prohibitionists who murdered their fellow Americans by intentionally poisoning alcoholic beverages, that it’s a good thing that illegal drugs are especially dangerous because they are tainted or impure.

The Gazette further claims that dealers will flock to safe-use sites in order to sell drugs to the drug addicts who use those sites. That I can see. But the relevant question is, will drug dealing overall increase? I doubt it. But I confess I would not prefer to live down the street from a safe-use site. It seems to me this problem can be managed through a combination of intelligent placement and good policing.

Finally, the Gazette urges government to provide recovery treatment rather than safe-use sites. Why not both? One goal of safe-use sites is to try to get addicts into treatment programs. But people who are dead do not benefit from treatment, and safe-use sites prevent death.

Look, people have studied safe-use sites extensively, as I reviewed in a recent post. They save lives. Against that avalanche of supportive research, the Gazette ignores the benefits while offering ill-supported speculations about the problems.

“Assault” Gun Bill Lands

As expected, legislators have introduced a bill targeting arbitrarily defined “assault” guns. Here is part of the summary:

The bill defines the term “assault weapon” and prohibits a person from manufacturing, importing, purchasing, selling, offering to sell, or transferring ownership of an assault weapon.

Of course the bill exempts government agents! Of course! “Assault” guns are so bad that only agents of the state may get them!

I’ve already discussed some of the problems with trying to define certain semiautomatic guns as “assault” guns.

I’ve also written about policies that could actually make a difference in curbing gun crime.

See also George Brauchler’s critical take of the bill.

Meanwhile, news editor Quentin Young’s idea is to repeal the Second Amendment (presumably leading to outright confiscation of many guns) and shame peaceable gun owners. Demonizing people is always such a fun time.

The introduction of the bill coincidentally aligned with a massive student protest against gun violence (see a first, second, third, and fourth Tweet). A student at East High was shot by two teens who apparently had stolen a car and who illegally possessed guns. The victim later died. Apparently the idea here is that the sort of people who do things like steal cars and possess guns illegally are totally going to obey laws such as a sales ban on “assault” guns. Sure.

As I’ve written, Elisabeth Epps, the bill’s primary sponsor, holds the position that police and prisons should be abolished, only police and members of the military exclusively should possess “assault” guns, and further government should send out police armed with “assault” guns to arrest peaceable gun owners who violate the law pertaining to “assault” guns. The enforcement of this law couldn’t possibly be affected by “systemic racism,” right? Epps has twisted herself into quite the ideological pretzel.

One obvious effect of the bill, whether or not it passes, given it “grandfathers in” current owners of “assault” guns, will be to strongly encourage Coloradans to buy as many “assault” guns as they can, while they can.

Quick Takes—Colorado

Peters: One-time Republican elected official and conspiracy monger Tina Peters was convicted on a misdemeanor obstruction charge for failing to turn over an iPad for an investigation, reports the Daily Sentinel. Charles Ashby reports for the paper, “Peters’ conviction, however, means that separate charges of contempt of court can go forward. That’s the underlying case that led to the search warrant and subsequent obstruction charges. . . . The former [Mesa County] clerk faces seven felony and three misdemeanor charges of tampering with election equipment, identity theft and misconduct in office.”

Regulations: I’m pleasantly surprised that a legislative committee killed House Bill 1118, which would (as I summarized) “force businesses to pay employees to not work, if the work schedule is not sufficiently ‘predictable,’ as determined by the legislature.”

Transgender: Rep. Scott Bottoms tried to amend an ERA resolution by adding language asserting a fetal “right” not to be aborted (there is no such right except perhaps in rare circumtances), claiming that women are harmed by transgender women participating in sports (this might be true in delimited contexts), and equating transgender women using women’s bathrooms with “being intimidated or assaulted by a biological male.” This is a Republican playing cultural warrior rather than attempting to do anything positive for the state. Brianna Titone, a transgender legislator, responded forcefully (see video and Titone’s subsequent notes).

Could It Be: Satan? A Colorado school is getting an after-hours Satan club. See the Post and Newsline. This is silliness, but no doubt it will provoke those religious conservatives who seriously believe in supernatural beings. I guess the provocation is the point.

Liability: “Landowner will close access to two Colorado 14ers after lawmakers rejected legislation limiting liability,” reports the Sun. The relevant measure is Senate Bill 103. Here the “progressive” legislature sided with the ambulance-chasing trial lawyers over property owners and hikers.

Quick Takes—General

Literacy: As the Hollywood Reporter reviews, there’s a new documentary out about the “reading wars,” one that firmly takes the side of phonics instruction. That film, The Right to Read, is free to stream until March 9. The main person in the film declares literacy the civil rights issue of our time. I watched it last night, and I highly recommend it as a supplement to the outstanding documentary series, Sold a Story, about which I’ve written.

Exercise: PsyPost: “Review of 1,039 studies indicates exercise can be more effective than counselling or medication for depression.”

Science: Paul Hsieh reviews the recent Covid-related debates about natural immunity, masks, and the lab-leak theory. Hsieh writes, “That these are contentious topics means that the science is still not yet fully settled.” He sensibly adds, “Not all dissents from mainstream opinion are equally valid. But when public health officials prematurely portray their favored position on a controversial topic as a ‘consensus’ and label plausible contrary views as ‘misinformation,’ they risk losing credibility when that purported consensus later collapses under the weight of new evidence and new analysis.”

Space: “Space Elevators Are Less Sci-Fi Than You Think,” says Stephen Cohen, who discusses the matter further with Jim Pethokoukis.

Libertarians: The Libertarian Party of Georgia Tweeted, “Taiwan is part of China.” The Libertarian Party of New Hampshire Tweeted, “Taiwan has made a deal with the devil. Much like the corrupt oligarchs in Ukraine, they’ve allowed corrupt Western oligarchs and State Department war pigs to flood their country with money, bombs, and a false hope at independence. They’re putting the lives of millions needlessly at risk, and we should not be supporting them in any way.” Despicable. Here’s an apt reply: “Well, now I’ve seen everything. The Libertarian Party is now siding with a communist nation over the free world. Whatever this party is, it’s certainly not a defender of liberty.”

Free Speech: “Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has signed a bill banning drag shows in public spaces,” reports NPR. This is ridiculous and obviously unconstitutional. Have the lawsuits been filed yet?

Feminism: Neera Badhwar critiques Bryan Caplan’s views on feminism; follow back the links for the fuller discussion.

Florida: Recently my family enjoyed a few days in Florida. At one point is was 83 degrees in Florida and 3 degrees at home! Here’s a picture.