Repeal Victimless Crimes
Some people think the “Broken Window” Policy saved New York City; others think it destroyed it. What’s indisputable is that New York City still has lots of draconian laws on the books and police choose whether or not to enforce them on a case-by-base basis.
As Public Advocate I’ll maintain a list of “crimes” that our city’s politicians should consider repealing so the police aren’t in a position to decide whether or not to punish someone for a victimless crime.
Decriminalize Sex Work
Sex work is a risky activity that becomes only more dangerous and harmful to society when its regulated by law enforcement officers instead of public health practitioners. The fact that New York City continues to pursue a policy of prohibition against sex work is a shame. We should listen to the advice of health care professionals and implement the same type of decriminalization policies that are working well in European counties.
Harm Reduction Approach for Opioids
Just like with alcohol prohibition of the early 20th century, we now know that prohibition of opioids is increasing, not decreasing, the harm of opioids on people and on our society.
We are not the first nation to experience an opioid epidemic. Portugal in the 1990s had a huge one. After trying many prohibitionist policies that failed to curb the problem, they decided to decriminalize the possession and use of the drug, enabling people to access it through medical professionals who are also trained in addiction treatment. This enabled them to cut opioid addiction by 75% and reduced the amount of people who contracted HIV from injecting drugs by 90%.
This change in policy has literally saved over a million lives in Portugal over the last 20 years.
If you care about this issue; if you, your friends and/or loved ones have been affected by it, please do the research, look at the Portuguese model and become part of the public health-based solution.
Ban the Bans
Every year it seems like the politicians have decided to ban something else: large sugary drinks, vaping, fur, plastic bags — what’s next?
These bans might seem good natured or relatively harmless, but they have real and detrimental impacts on people, the environment and our culture.
Every ban is enforced through violence or the threat of violence. And many of the proposed bans have unintended consequences. Banning large sugary drinks raises the cost of beverages for people who can least afford it. Vaping can help people quit cigarettes. A single plastic bag take 6000 times less energy to produce than a cotton one.
Our politicians should be focused on making our lives better, not on preventing us from spending our time and money however we see fit.