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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.
That would all be counter productive to a growing police state.
Yes. Yes it would. And it's also counter productive to asking for increased funding for police departments, in the name of protecting us.
In the name of protecting me, they caught me growing my own in Oklahoma.
By the time it was all over I had proven I was not a dealer, the only charge was for personal cultivation, not distribution. Regardless, in Oklahoma the maximum penalty for doing so is Life In Prison. In addition, I was looked right in the eye when I was told by the chief investigator from The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics that if my house had not been "mortgaged to the hilt" that I would have lost it. Asset Forfeiture in its full glory. This was regardless of the fact I was a successful business owner who employed other Oklahomans and paid taxes.
That is (was) my state protecting me. I now live in the much less corrupt state of Colorado, and haven't looked back.
In the name of protecting me, they caught me growing my own in Oklahoma.
By the time it was all over I had proven I was not a dealer, the only charge was for personal cultivation, not distribution. Regardless, in Oklahoma the maximum penalty for doing so is Life In Prison. In addition, I was looked right in the eye when I was told by the chief investigator from The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics that if my house had not been "mortgaged to the hilt" that I would have lost it. Asset Forfeiture in its full glory. This was regardless of the fact I was a successful business owner who employed other Oklahomans and paid taxes.
That is (was) my state protecting me. I now live in the much less corrupt state of Colorado, and haven't looked back.
Yep. That's why I said illicit drugs are big business. Big big business. And not just for dealers, cartels, etc.
Yep. That's why I said illicit drugs are big business. Big big business. And not just for dealers, cartels, etc.
Yep. My story should make it obvious why law enforcement, all the way down to the local level, is fighting tooth and nail to keep prohibition in force.
Keep in mind, when forfeitures occur, the arresting agency gets to keep a good chunk of the assets forfeited. They then use that money to buy more vests, cars, guns, equipment, and anything else they deem necessary in order to ramp up the operation to find more assets to seize. It has become very corrupt.
In the name of protecting me, they caught me growing my own in Oklahoma.
By the time it was all over I had proven I was not a dealer, the only charge was for personal cultivation, not distribution. Regardless, in Oklahoma the maximum penalty for doing so is Life In Prison. In addition, I was looked right in the eye when I was told by the chief investigator from The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics that if my house had not been "mortgaged to the hilt" that I would have lost it. Asset Forfeiture in its full glory. This was regardless of the fact I was a successful business owner who employed other Oklahomans and paid taxes.
That is (was) my state protecting me. I now live in the much less corrupt state of Colorado, and haven't looked back.
Well, face it, you were breaking Federal law.
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