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There will always be some portion of society that can not be forced to conform, to become responsible. They will NOT hold fulltime jobs. They would rather be homeless.
My state is seriously being over-run by homeless.
My wife and I own an apartment building. We invested in it, envisioning apartments for low-income singles to give them a place to live as they rebuild their lives. It took us four years of investing and work to get this building up-to-code.
At first we accepted parolees. Guys who had been on work-release programs for a year while in prison, so they came to us with fulltime jobs and their own cash for security deposit and rent. But that effort failed.
They had only agreed to work as a method for early release from prison. Once they left prison, each of them quit their jobs within 2 or 3 days. They do not want to be in prison, but they do not want to be self-supporting either. And you can not convince them to be self-supporting.
Today our building is full of people who were homeless and who are receiving state aid money.
Last night I read a news article about the growing homeless camps forming in a nearby city. The problem is growing worse, and these people are not rebounding.
My Dw volunteers three days a week at a food pantry, they feed over a hundred families each week.
I do not see any answer.
As to the OP, I am a cancer patient. I have had cancer twice. At this point in my life, my only option for warding off cancer's return is for me to get plenty rest and to avoid stress. I use marijuana at night on my way to bed, to help me to get solid rest.
I do not buy marijuana, I do not sell marijuana. I grow it.
Actually, I liked the last war on drugs. Thought it was just fine.
People know what the law is. If they choose to violate the law they should be punished accordingly.
Retracting the law because the prisons are getting crowded is a coward's way out. Drugs are dangerous and addictive and should remain illegal.
The War should go on. Failure?..... Sure. All laws are failures - speed limit, murder, robbery - they all get violated and violators all get punished. But you don't change the law to accommodate the guilty.
I think the point is that some of those laws are dumb and create a burden on the legal system, which means they don't have the resources to deal with actual crime. Look at how the legal view of marijuana has drastically changed in recent years. I don't want my tax paying dollars going to pay for someone being in prison for several years because they got caught with a joint. Laws are not static and our system is designed so that we can change them when they don't make sense or reflect the views of society at large. Alcohol and tobacco are dangerous and addictive too and they're perfectly legal. Weird that you would endorse something you admit is a failure in the first place.
I think the point is that some of those laws are dumb and create a burden on the legal system, which means they don't have the resources to deal with actual crime. Look at how the legal view of marijuana has drastically changed in recent years. I don't want my tax paying dollars going to pay for someone being in prison for several years because they got caught with a joint. Laws are not static and our system is designed so that we can change them when they don't make sense or reflect the views of society at large. Alcohol and tobacco are dangerous and addictive too and they're perfectly legal. Weird that you would endorse something you admit is a failure in the first place.
Intelligence, it was said, is accepting the vagaries of life. Talking about what should be law and why it should be and so forth is a waste of time. People end up in prison because they ignored the law. They took your words to heart and ended up paying a price - on our dollar.
The point is NOT "some of these laws are dumb". The point is, they are the law. Sometimes they are vague, sometimes they don't make sense, but it is the law. We don't get to violate the law simply because we disagree with it.
Intelligence, it was said, is accepting the vagaries of life. Talking about what should be law and why it should be and so forth is a waste of time. People end up in prison because they ignored the law. They took your words to heart and ended up paying a price - on our dollar.
The point is NOT "some of these laws are dumb". The point is, they are the law. Sometimes they are vague, sometimes they don't make sense, but it is the law. We don't get to violate the law simply because we disagree with it.
I think that the issue with your argument, is that when we talk about something like drugs... As the post you replied to said, laws are not static. And the relative...what...morality, I guess... of a thing is a more nuanced question, than simply, "is it illegal?"
Cannabis use is highly illegal in one state and legal in another. Is cannabis good in the one state and evil in the other, because "the law" dictates that? People have to make and tend to the laws. Like no, we don't get to violate the law just because we disagree with it, but if enough people in a free country (as ours is theoretically supposed to be) disagree with a law, then we can push to change it. And we should. It is not only our right, it's our obligation. Our civic duty.
You could always point to the federal status of cannabis and take the easy position that it is still "against the law" even in legal weed states...but what if the federal laws change?
There are plenty of things that are LEGAL and that don't even necessarily need to be ILLEGAL...but that does not make them harmless or good or fine. It's not breaking a law to quit your job and sit at home and play video games all day and expect a parent or spouse to support your lazy butt. I don't think that it should be illegal to do that. But that doesn't mean that it's ethically fine and there won't be any consequences to that choice.
Having just read Fentanyl, Inc., it's obvious that the last War on Drugs didn't seem to accomplish much, but lots of incarceration of users and dealers.
This book gave me a preview of what other countries are doing with their War on Drugs, and their war on Fentanyl (50 times more powerful than heroin),and the offshoots of Fentanyl.
What would your Intelligent War on Drugs be like? Any ideas?
1. Decriminalize use and small dealing of any drug not considered across some threshold of addictiveness. Pass laws against being under the influence just like w alcohol.
2. Consequently, increase the penalties for large dealing.
3. Increase detection and enforcement. That means more border patrol for the mules and the tunnels, and more CBP customs agents at border crossings and airports.
4. Get an agreement with Mexico that allows us to intervene within X miles of our border.
Such sentencing already occurs at the federal level. Common to hand out 30 + (life is some cases) for those whom they deem at the top. Even the mid-level can get 20 + years. Hasn't stopped anything and in many cases only exacerbates the problem.
There's been a lot of press about crime in Chicago. What people don't realize is that a lot of the gang violence started after El Chapo was convicted. That left a power vacuum in the Sinaloa cartel, which controlled the drug trade in Chicago, into which a bunch of rivals entered.
Since half of all gun violence is gang related our government could reduce a lot of the violence just by clearing out the gangs.
And a very large percentage of people incarcerated for violent crime have some involvement with drugs. I know that people hope to reduce drug related violence by making drugs legal and less expensive. But I wonder how many wouldn't have committed a violent crime if they weren't under the influence and judgement impaired.
There's a reason why bars have a lot of fights and it isn't because of illegality nor the cost of drinks.
Since half of all gun violence is gang related our government could reduce a lot of the violence just by clearing out the gangs.
And a very large percentage of people incarcerated for violent crime have some involvement with drugs. I know that people hope to reduce drug related violence by making drugs legal and less expensive. But I wonder how many wouldn't have committed a violent crime if they weren't under the influence and judgement impaired.
There's a reason why bars have a lot of fights and it isn't because of illegality nor the cost of drinks.
Yeah. A lot of posters have referred to some mythical person in jail "because he got caught with a joint". I have never actually seen that. There are people in jail for marijuana charges, but none that I ever heard of are there just because "they got caught with a joint".......... There is always something else.
And violent crimes?......... Yeah. Very often there are drugs involved. Law enforcement just ignores that part, because the violent portion is easier to prove and prosecute.
I don't have a problem with this, as long as the seller confiscates the user's driver's license and returns it to the state. We don't need more drugged drivers on the road.
And what about the micro-dosers? Micro-dosers just nibble a little bit of the mushroom, to relieve their depression, as an alternative to Prozac, they don't take it to the hallucination stage.
Interesting article in the recent Reader's Digest/A Dose of Mental Health, regarding psychedelic mushrooms, featuring psilocybin.
I'm fervently hoping and praying that more hard users of more addictive drugs discover an alternative via psychedelic organic mushrooms. Even if a quarter of them switch, it will be a solid victory.
But, so far, psychedelic mushrooms are only legal in San Francisco or Denver, and it's going to be a very long road for other states/cities to decriminalize them, and I'm guessing Big Pharma will be right there amongst the opponents.
Lots of dangerous drivers on our roads, those driving under the influence of marijuana and alcohol and there's sleep-deprived drivers who are the equivalent of drunk drivers.
1. Decriminalize use and small dealing of any drug not considered across some threshold of addictiveness. Pass laws against being under the influence just like w alcohol.
2. Consequently, increase the penalties for large dealing.
3. Increase detection and enforcement. That means more border patrol for the mules and the tunnels, and more CBP customs agents at border crossings and airports.
4. Get an agreement with Mexico that allows us to intervene within X miles of our border.
I say you legalize all drugs and then set up an agency to distribute the drugs with rehab being the goal. Only legal place to use these drugs would be at these distribution centers. Anyone caught selling or possessing these drugs outside the centers gets life in prison. This would take the cartel out of the mix. It would stop most petty crime. I know lots of people are against such an idea but people will get the drugs regardless. Either they buy from street dealer with connections to the cartel or its done in a manner where we know who is using and put resources into getting them off drugs instead of wasting money chasing the drugs at the border and in our cities. We have tried this war on drugs for 40 years and its totally failed. Only thing that has changed is the drugs of choice. Would lots of new people decide to try drugs if these centers existed? They would have to register as a drug addict and have mandatory rehab. I think the average person who has never tried these drugs would think twice about going down that road. Easier now when your local drug dealer can get someone almost anything and its all off the radar and under the table.
Mexico will never allow the USA to patrol their side of the border. We could not even get them to pay for the wall as Trump promised. Its a pride thing for them. And the cartel controls the government there. Any politician who would agree to do that will not be around for long.
And Mexico benefits financially by illegal drugs coming here. They make as much off of drugs as they do oil or tourism. They are not going to help us stop that cash flow. They don't care that Americans are addicted to this stuff.
Last edited by Oklazona Bound; 09-22-2022 at 03:48 AM..
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