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People who earn an honest living also should be free from the hassles of those who want to take advantage and steal from us. Where is the compassion for those of work all our lives and do contribute to, not contaminate, society?
Why do so many assume all drug addicts are out stealing? The majority of posters don't seem to have a clue about drug addiction and get their info from TV shows, which only show the absolute worst possible outcome from drug use. The vast majority of addicts have jobs, many have high level careers, they take care of families and look just like everyone else. Most addicts pay for drugs by working, not stealing. Professions with the highest rates of drug abusers include medicine, law, finance, and construction workers.
Many of these people want to quit but the absolutely devastating social stigma of being labeled a drug addict keeps them from seeking help. All one has to do is read these types of threads to see how strong the stigma is. People have no idea what leads one to take drugs and the intensity of physical dependency but they don't hesitate to call everyone who becomes addicted to drugs "losers" who deserve to suffer and die.
What would happen to Law enforcement if that happened though? They would all the sudden have much less to do, more importantly, they could no longer justify the huge budgets and staffing levels they currently get, not to even mention the prison industry, who would likely go bankrupt very soon after this.
In order to keep the quotas up and jail cells filled, there MUST be laws that enough people are consistently willing to break, drug laws do this perfectly.
Then there are the drug cartels, who would also go bankrupt, (unless they became legit distributors), but if heroin were totally legal, there is no way they could charge $150-200 per gram, 80% of that cost is due to the risk involved.
The DEA and US law enforcement needs the drug cartels as much as the cartels need the DEA and LE agencies. They both work hand in hand and both benefit from the other.
This is the truth! Many people depend on the war on drugs for their jobs. It doesn't seem to matter that many of their jobs are utterly useless. They lock people up so others can take their place, all they do is run around in circles and accomplish very little. There are huge sums of money involved in the war on drugs. Police unions and the arms manufacturers who make a fortune selling their product to police are making sure politicans continue to support the war on drugs. Anyone who can't see this is blind.
What would happen to Law enforcement if that happened though? They would all the sudden have much less to do, more importantly, they could no longer justify the huge budgets and staffing levels they currently get, not to even mention the prison industry, who would likely go bankrupt very soon after this.
In order to keep the quotas up and jail cells filled, there MUST be laws that enough people are consistently willing to break, drug laws do this perfectly.
Then there are the drug cartels, who would also go bankrupt, (unless they became legit distributors), but if heroin were totally legal, there is no way they could charge $150-200 per gram, 80% of that cost is due to the risk involved.
The DEA and US law enforcement needs the drug cartels as much as the cartels need the DEA and LE agencies. They both work hand in hand and both benefit from the other.
Truly a symbiotic relationship and one that won't go away easily.
That said - and I don't know how we could possibly prevent this - but out of control addicts shouldn't be having children. Too many dead and neglected dead babies.
True....but it's a war that we're fighting and we're losing. There's more supply out there than they are man power...to try to control it.
I am NOT an advocate of drugs. As a former drug user, I can testify that they are the devil. But if someone wants to inject themselves with that poison, who are we to say that they should go to jail for doing so? I would rather wait until they commit the crime for us to take action.
Thank you. I just don't understand why is it legal for someone to get pissed drunk but it's illegal for someone to get high from shrooms or crack. It's only a crime if I break the law while intoxicated (Drunk). I know there's a lot of political BS that goes on behind the scene but...
To perpetuate the "industry" and make more money grabs under the auspices of 'helping'. It has never been about solutions and the peoples interests. So called 'Leaders' have been doing this to their own people for years. They don't care it becomes another 'talking point' and revenue stream on the back end via taxpayers money.
IMO, it's not addiction that causes crime, it's addiction to illegal substances that cause crime. I really feel like we should decriminalize ALL opiods, decriminalize pot (on the federal level) etc.
Many people have addictions. Addiction to tobacco (but no one's risking their life and jail time crossing over the border for tobacco.) Well, except maybe in NYC, where the cost for cigarettes is so damn high, a cop will shoot you down for selling individual cigarettes on the street corner. Addiction to alcohol (but you can go into any convenience store and purchase just about any kind of alcohol you want.) Addiction to coffee even (but heck, we can order our coffee on Amazon if we want to, and everyone loves their favorite little coffee shop, where you can just sit around and chat with friends, or plug in to the free wifi for a couple of hours.)
BUT, it's big big business for lots and lots of people to keep certain drugs illegal. We'd have an unemployment nightmare of out of work cops and federal agents, and DEA agents, etc. And then there's all the rehab facilities. IF you made drug use like we make alcohol, coffee, tobacco...there would be no reason for people to have to go to seedy places and dark corners to purchase what they want/need. The prices would normalize and standardize, The drug industry would normalize, and you wouldn't be risking say...buying heroin that's laced with fentanyl, and more likely to kill you.
Granted, you will still have people who do too much. You might still have people dying. But you have that already. INSPITE of all the money thrown at keeping it illegal.
You won't have as many people in prisons and jails, meaning more people can become productive citizens, AND our tax money can be better used in some other capacity, other than feeding non-violent offenders in prison.
At least in my area of the country, there's really no focus on rehabilitation at all.
I live in northeast TN. Full blown Hillbilly Elegy - lots of opioid and meth abuse. Jails are way overcapacity, stuffed full of often nonviolent drug offenders.
Ultimately, the individual makes a decision to use, but at some point, the societal costs of rehabilitation and focus on turning these folks into productive citizens would be less than imprisonment and unemployability.
BS on what? You cannot see the incentive to both sides in keeping the drug war going full steam?
Maybe you are just overly conditioned, you think our govt could never be involved in such a thing...right?
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