[GA - PASSED] Repeal "Drug Decriminalization Act"

Status
Not open for further replies.
Magecastle

Magecastle

Wolf of the North
Pronouns
He/Him
TNP Nation
Magecastle Embassy Building A5
Discord
green_canine
ga.jpg

Repeal "Drug Decriminalization Act"
Category: Repeal | GA #577
Proposed by: Magecastle Embassy Building A5, Co-authored by: Imperium Anglorum | Onsite Topic
Replacement: World Psychoactive Drugs Act​

The World Assembly,

Respecting the goal of the resolution to decriminalise the simple possession of psychoactive drugs, with the criminalisation thereof being an inefficient policy proven to cause massive societal harm and punish victims, instead of actually reducing drug addiction and use,

Dismayed that the resolution's definition of a "drug" excludes any substance with "recognized medical purposes", a very broad criterion which includes many recreational drugs such as morphine or fentanyl, thus opening up recreational users of such drugs to the harms the resolution aims to prevent,

Further noting that 1b.i of the resolution does nothing to prevent member nations from setting a broad rebuttable presumption that any quantity of drugs is "for the purposes of monetary or material gain", with such presumptions usually being very difficult or impossible to rebut, further allowing member nations to de facto criminalise simple drug possession,

Believing that these problems significantly weaken the resolution's protections, such that they should be repealed and replaced with stronger legislation on the subject,

Repeals the "Drug Decriminalization Act".
Click to expand...
Note: Only votes from TNP WA nations and NPA personnel will be counted. If you do not meet these requirements, please add (non-WA) or something of that effect to your vote.
Voting Instructions:
  • Vote For if you want the Delegate to vote For the resolution.
  • Vote Against if you want the Delegate to vote Against the resolution.
  • Vote Abstain if you want the Delegate to abstain from voting on this resolution.
  • Vote Present if you are personally abstaining from this vote.
Detailed opinions with your vote are appreciated and encouraged!

ForAgainstAbstainPresent
15100
 
Last edited:
Overview
This proposal seeks to repeal General Assembly Resolution #577 (GA#577), also known as the "Drug Decriminalization Act", which aimed to decriminalize the simple possession of psychotic drugs. However, GA#577 had a number of flaws. Due to its broadness, GA#577’s definition of a "drug" excluded any substance with recognized medical purposes, which included many recreational drugs such as morphine and fentanyl. Furthermore, clause 1b.i did nothing to prevent member nations from setting a legal basis that any quantity of drugs was "for the purposes of monetary or material gain." This allowed member nations to de-facto criminalize simple drug possession.

Recommendation
While GA#577 had good intentions, it did not achieve its desired goals and did not effectively decriminalize the possession of drugs. Its repeal can help ensure that member nations adopt policies that are more effective in addressing drug addiction and use while protecting the rights and well-being of drug users at the same time.

For the above reasons, the Ministry of World Assembly Affairs recommends a vote For the Security Council Resolution at vote, “Repeal: “Drug Decriminalization Act”.
 
Last edited:
For, obviously. I understand that people may be fatigued from just having had to debate a previous repeal of this same target, but a pro-decriminalisation repeal such as this one is necessary to get rid of such flawed legislation once and for all. In addition, this has well over a month until it gets to vote, so if you oppose the repeal due to the replacement you should consider that there is still a long time in which the replacement can be worked on before submission.

The difference with the previous repeal effort is that the previous one argued that the target was bad because the WA shouldn't address the topic; while this one acknowledges the need for legislation on the subject, repeals based only on flaws in the text, and is intended to go alongside an also pro-decriminalisation replacement. The target author indeed supports this repeal and is co-authoring the replacement.
 
(Non-WA) I will likely oppose the replacement as a matter of policy. However, I am for this repeal. Though there is disagreement over what form the replacement will take, the targeted resolution satisfies nobody. The target containins a major loophole, which is a sign of flawed execution rather than any balanced perspective on the issue.
 
Non WA against. There are no compelling reasons to repeal the target. All of the above issues would be fixed by a replacement, including the author's one, so this repeal is quite unnecessary. However, I recognise that the author will disagree with this take and I respect that position.
 
Honeydewistan:
Non WA against. There are no compelling reasons to repeal the target. All of the above issues would be fixed by a replacement, including the author's one, so this repeal is quite unnecessary. However, I recognise that the author will disagree with this take and I respect that position.
Click to expand...
You need to repeal the target to write a replacement, so a repeal is literally necessary. Am I missing something here?

For
 
Pallaith:
You need to repeal the target to write a replacement, so a repeal is literally necessary. Am I missing something here?
Click to expand...
I believe Honeydew's point is that it would technically not be illegal for duplication/contradiction to submit the replacement without repealing. However, I find repealing and then replacing to be preferrible as replacing first would (among other things) open the can of worms of "the replacement is redundant, repeal 577 first!"; while 577 would continue to be a target of repeal due to being redundant.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top