[EA]

Of course law enforcement is against it. Big bucks for them. Easy suspects to deal with too.
All it does is cost us money to house people who's only crime is putting something into their own body.

[Merrily Gather]

I think he makes a fair point though. Legalizing it doesn't solve addiction and the crimes that occur because of it.

[Cold Warrior]

Originally Posted by Merry Lee Gather

I think he makes a fair point though. Legalizing it doesn't solve addiction and the crimes that occur because of it.

It should be obvious to everyone by now that criminalization of the use and sale of recreational drugs makes these drugs very expensive. That is the cause of a huge portion of the crime in this country. So yes, legalization would certainly reduce crime.

[ajams22]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

That flies completely in the face of what Portugal experienced when they decriminalized drugs.


It's not like we're charting virgin waters here -- other countries have already implemented these policies. Since humans are humans no matter the language they speak, we can expect similar outcomes if we follow their lead.

Portugal is exactly the example I was thinking of. They found drug issues persisted because of personal failings and disassociation from family and community. By essentially legalizing hardcore drugs, the stigma was erased and people who were addicted to the substances were mentally more attune to getting help.

I know that sounds touchy feely, but its just basic sociology and human nature

[EA]

Portugal not only legalized drugs, they offer treatment to help get people off drugs.

Alcohol is legal, I don't hear anyone complaining about people going around robbing people for beer money even though it does happen, it's not rampant enough to worry about it.
When alcohol was made illegal, people got shot to death over it. People got beaten to death over it. Car chases happened.
Keeping it illegal is far more detrimental than legalizing it and dealing with the lower level of related crimes.

[iditarod656]

Originally Posted by Merry Lee Gather

There is a segment on KNPR called, Murder Is Up, Detectives On The Street: How's Metro Doing?

They talk to the under Sheriff who says if there is crime in your area and you've reported it and you don't know what's going on then go to your area command and ask to speak with the Captain to find out what's going on with your case. They're supposed to update you on that.

Thank you for that info. I can go ask to talk to the captain before going up the ladder.

[unf0rgiven6262]

Originally Posted by Merry Lee Gather

I think he makes a fair point though. Legalizing it doesn't solve addiction and the crimes that occur because of it.

Legalization is just a step in the right direction. It's not a one step cure. Inevitably, more money will end up going towards treatment and removing stigmas. Freeing up prison space and officer time.

[Merrily Gather]

Billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson came to Las Vegas last year for a talk on the drug war. I recall he was part of a panel. His idea was that we should treat drug use as a health issue and not a crime. He served on the Global commission on Drug policy. Richard Branson leaked this UN document to make a point about the drug war I recall that he said that the drug war was racist and evidence of that was by the 84% of the prison population being blacks incarcerated for drugs.

Then there was this recent disclosure about the Nixon administration creating the drug war to suppress the minorities. Report: Aide says Nixon's war on drugs targeted blacks, hippies

I think though that he's right. If you're going to decriminalize drugs then you've got to have treatment options in place to handle what manifests from that, especially in this town.

The other thing that the under Sheriff brought up in the interview as a counter argument was that it's difficult to raise a family in an environment where people are openly smoking marijuana everywhere. Similar to the use of cigarettes being so common only people are under the influence of weed. I could see how the argument about alcohol being a more damaging substance being consumed in public than pot would play out. They serve alcohol at the AMC movie theater by my house now and they even put in some nice recliner seats while you may consume your adult beverages next to families with small children.

Some of the other arguments I've seen brought up by law enforcement and lawyers is that they would have to review all the cases of people incarcerated for it. Some that are dangerous criminals that they could only get on these sorts of charges. They'd have to release a lot of people. Then we'd revisit the prisons for profit argument, ect, and why that's good for business all around. One of my SIL's worked as a court stenographer for the Dept. of Corrections and she said that she could see that once you're in the system it's hard to get out. They just keep coming back for you.

[ScoopLV]

If we decriminalize drugs, we're going to have a LOT of extra money which isn't spent on incarcerating minorities. More than we need to treat addiction as a health problem, in fact.

The real shame about our drug war is that it sent stoner kids to prison. And then they learned how to be career criminals while incarcerated. This policy failure has ruined more lives than drugs ever did.

[AdamSelene]

End prohibition, and you end all the problems that result from prohibition. Gangsters aren't gunning each other down over alcohol anymore. Alcoholics aren't stealing copper pipes from vacant homes for a fix. Prohibition doesn't stop anyone who wants to use drugs from using drugs, it only creates an obscenely profitable inherently violent black market.