Sunday, February 20, 2011

Update on Draft 1.3

A familiar tale: my goals for this past week were modest, I failed to meet them, but still accomplished more than I would have had I not committed those goals to writing on this blog. So I will soldier on -- OK, a sort of antiquated, out-of-shape, cowardly type of soldiering.

I did fully get through Fosdick and Scott and the Transform blueprint. I updated the Fosdick and Scott review in the old draft, but barely touched the Transform section -- which requires a serious Transformation. Didn't write the licensing section(s) either, but did cobble together some thoughts. So, for next week, in terms of writing, I will re-iterate last week's plan: rewrite the background sections on Fosdick and Scott, and Transform -- with a focus on their similarities as well as their views on buyer licensing -- and generate a full, coherent draft of the licensing section. Beyond these now-venerable aspirations, I want to look into the Committee of Fifty's 1905 Summary book, a hard copy of which I procured from the library, and also get up to snuff on the drug policy regime in Portugal. In Toward Liquor Control, Fosdick and Scott make frequent reference to the Committee of Fifty.

Fosdick and Scott do not look all that kindly toward the licensing of alcohol buyers -- though they recognize that it can be helpful in some locations, and that it has proven popular with many elements of Canadian officialdom. Transform endorses buyer licensing or limits for many drugs, and the proposed licenses come in a wide variety of styles. For cannabis, they do not see the need for buyer licenses, though purchase limits (as in the Dutch coffee shops) might be put in place. During the early part of a transition to a legal regime, they support buyer licenses and purchase limits for users of cocaine, opiates, and amphetamines. For the psychedelic drugs, Transform imagines clubs at which drugs could be dispensed to members, who among other conditions, might have to undergo training on the risks (and benefits) of drug use.

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