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It says it's only for people who don't have previous convictions but the vast majority of first time drug arrests get pleaded down to misdemeanors anyway.
Seems like it may just be a way to minimize the strain on the courts/public defenders office and/or the expense of a criminal lawyer.
I am not agreeing with this. A certain volume indicates intent to distribute. Drug pushers should have the book thrown at them.
We've tried that! For the last 40 years in fact! It's called "The War on Drugs".
And I bet if you or I either one wanted to go out and get some heroin or meth, we could do it. In other words, after 40 years, trillions of dollars, and tens of thousands of lives lost (including law enforcement personnel), we still have easy access to illegal drugs. The War isn't working. It never has.
Isn't it time to try another method? Other countries have, and it is working!
After all, doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definition of, well, you know...
You're putting innocent people in jeopardy because most drug users. especially herion users will do anything they can to get another fix.
You're basically giving them them a loaded gun.
So by your assumption we should just give everyone the day they're born a gun and IF they kill someone or commit a crime then they should be punished?
They don't get desperate if they have somewhere to go to get that fix, along with treatment. Please check out the results of decriminalizing in Portugal. As it turns out, it works MUCH better to treat this problem in the health care system, not the criminal justice system.
We've tried that! For the last 40 years in fact! It's called "The War on Drugs".
And I bet if you or I either one wanted to go out and get some heroin or meth, we could do it. In other words, after 40 years, trillions of dollars, and tens of thousands of lives lost (including law enforcement personnel), we still have easy access to illegal drugs. The War isn't working. It never has.
Isn't it time to try another method? Other countries have, and it is working!
Great! This has not been a real area of priority for me, I confess, since it does not affect mine. I am totally down with users being treated rather than incarcerated. If you are willing to help me understand alternatives to handling distributors I would be grateful.
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After all, doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definition of, well, you know...
My sister lives in Southern Oregon. It's such a beautiful place, but so full of depressing scenes. The almost-death of the timber industry has hurt these folks so damn bad. There's a couple generations just drifting through life in towns like Winston and Roseburg and Grants Pass. Drug abuse, particularly meth, is rampant. I see scores of unemployed people spending their days just walking around there. There is little hope or opportunity for these people right now. It's quite sad. Their city and county budgets have been cut so severely that they have few services to offer, and their police forces are pathetically stretched to the limit. They are in crisis mode.
I support the decriminalization. The police need to gather their meager resources and devote it to managing violent crimes and other victim-involved crime occurring there. Drug addicts are soaking up too much of the police's time. It's time to turn efforts elsewhere and see if quality of life can be improved from a different angle.
Great! This has not been a real area of priority for me, I confess, since it does not affect mine. I am totally down with users being treated rather than incarcerated. If you are willing to help me understand alternatives to handling distributors I would be grateful.
Look at it this way. We don't have to handle illegal distributors of alcohol or tobacco products by building huge prison complexes to do it, right? Sure, there are a few law breakers here and there, but nothing that can't be handled by normal jail cells and normal sentences. That is because there is no profit in distributing alcohol or tobacco products because they are legal, regulated, and taxed. Once the proper tax point is found that system will work for legal cannabis also, after it gets legalized at the federal level.
But hard drugs are different. The models that are working in other countries allow things like heroin to be available only at government owned and run institutions. It's not a free-for-all, and treatment is available there. But there are also no desperate users on the street committing crimes to get a fix, and no dealers there to supply that fix. The result is the number of deaths caused by heroin overdose in Portugal is lower than anywhere else in Europe, and lower by a long shot compared to the USA.
You're putting innocent people in jeopardy because most drug users. especially herion users will do anything they can to get another fix.
Yep, that is how freedom works.
Do you want:
Perfect security/safety from any thing bad that may happen
or
Freedom
Pick one.
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