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I agree that the drug laws and mandatory minimums need to be revised, but why do blacks get the worst of it? Is it because they're more often stopped and searched because of suspicion, or is it because they tend to live in areas with higher police presence and sell drugs in more obvious places?
Attorney General Chris Koster said the disparity index for African Americans getting pulled over is still higher than “1,” at 1.57. The disparity index for whites getting pulled over was .95. In other words, blacks were 62% more likely than whites to be stopped based on their respective proportions. Hispanics were pulled over at a lower rate than white drivers, but they were searched nearly twice as often when they were pulled over.
Illinois state troopers unfairly single out black, Latino drivers for consent searches - Chicago Sun-Times
Consent searches by the State Police increased by six-fold last year compared with 2011, and the troubling pattern of racial disparity continued. The latest data shows that Hispanic motorists are nearly 2½ times, and African Americans are more than 1½ times more likely than white drivers to be asked for permission to search their cars by a state trooper.
the best part While Hispanics are subjected to these searches more frequently than whites, white motorists are more than twice as likely to be caught with contraband. And white motorists are 8 percent more likely to have contraband discovered in a consent search compared to the more frequently searched African-American motorists.
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Originally Posted by Finn_Jarber
I think it would be a big mistake to legalize all drugs. They did it Portugal, and the use of hard drugs such as cocaine doubled. In North Korea, where pot is legal and drug enforcement for other drugs non-existent, meth use is becoming an epidemic. Is that what you want?
You are confusing reported drug use with an actual change in use.
More people are going to own up to doing something legal than they are something illegal.
The war on drugs is not only racist, but it's a war on the citizens by crony capitalists started by the likes of Randolph Hearst and DuPont. It was nothing more than a way to move money around covertly.
Why is it that the most dangerous drug that kills more people than the rest of them put together is perfectly legal and if you don't partake of it you are considered weird. When I decline an offer for a drink the looks I get are priceless. People have a hard time accepting that you do not drink alcohol.
I'm not a supporter of taking any drugs at all but I would far rather be around people smoking weed than a bunch of drunks.
Why is it that the most dangerous drug that kills more people than the rest of them put together is perfectly legal and if you don't partake of it you are considered weird. When I decline an offer for a drink the looks I get are priceless. People have a hard time accepting that you do not drink alcohol.
I'm not a supporter of taking any drugs at all but I would far rather be around people smoking weed than a bunch of drunks.
It kills more people than other drugs because it is legal where others drugs are illegal, bad comparison.
Finally we have some politicians that woke up and smelled the roses. Forget that blacks are the most arrested for drugs. Let's take a look at how the War on Drugs is draining the pockets of all Americans. Here's the numbers; the US has almost 3 million people behind bars. About 75% are for drugs or drug related charges and 66% are for minor marijuana offenses. It cost about $28,000 per year to house one inmate. It is costing the American public just under 6 billion dollars to lock of people for minor marijuana violations. We can also look at the law enforcement costs for marijuana but I can't count that high. In Kentucky they have a helicopter team that searches for hidden marijuana growing in the wild. That law enforcement team combined with the helicopter costs $600 a minute to operate. If the US did nothing more than legalize marijuana or at least decriminalize it there would be enough money to feed school children, provide them with books, house homeless vets, and all the other things our government says is too expensive.
One thing you have to ask yourself; if marijuana was legalized tomorrow would you go out and buy it? I wouldn't and that's what most Americans would do, nothing.
Regardless on how you feel about drugs you must agree that after fifty years of a useless wasteful effort it is time to stop the madness. What did Einstein say, "insanity is repeating the same act over and over and expecting different results."
Finally we have some politicians that woke up and smelled the roses. Forget that blacks are the most arrested for drugs. Let's take a look at how the War on Drugs is draining the pockets of all Americans. Here's the numbers; the US has almost 3 million people behind bars. About 75% are for drugs or drug related charges and 66% are for minor marijuana offenses. It cost about $28,000 per year to house one inmate. It is costing the American public just under 6 billion dollars to lock of people for minor marijuana violations. We can also look at the law enforcement costs for marijuana but I can't count that high. In Kentucky they have a helicopter team that searches for hidden marijuana growing in the wild. That law enforcement team combined with the helicopter costs $600 a minute to operate. If the US did nothing more than legalize marijuana or at least decriminalize it there would be enough money to feed school children, provide them with books, house homeless vets, and all the other things our government says is too expensive.
One thing you have to ask yourself; if marijuana was legalized tomorrow would you go out and buy it? I wouldn't and that's what most Americans would do, nothing.
Regardless on how you feel about drugs you must agree that after fifty years of a useless wasteful effort it is time to stop the madness. What did Einstein say, "insanity is repeating the same act over and over and expecting different results."
Exactly!! It doesn't make any sense. I can only imagine because the drug fighting agencies are so massive, and funded so well, they fight to keep the war on drugs going. Many will be making a good living employed doing this.
As you say, just the cost of all the people in jail for marijuana supply and use must be massive. It is crazy. When was the last person using marijuana convicted for hurting anyone but themselves? The trouble is, this so called war has been going on for so long now, nobody in authority can see any other way of dealing with this. All illegal drugs need decriminalizing, and a different way forward needs figuring out. I don't know the answer, but the authorities created this mess over many years, and what they are doing now isn't working.
Currently our prison systems are mostly privatized with corporations making big bucks off the incarceration of individuals. These same corporations are the entities that are running Washington. They control our politicians who legislate in their favor.
If you connect the dots it is easy to see how and why we still have these draconian laws.
An example of this unfairness was in NYC with their "stop and frisk" policy. That policy was alleged to prevent fire arms on the streets. The police mainly stopped young black men and in many cases found small amounts of marijuana on them but no fire arms. NYC set up a 24/7 kangaroo court where these violators were processed by being fined $1000 and turned loose. No one went to jail but NYC was raking in the dough. One estimate put the profits at about $60-$70k per day.
Is it any wonder Bloomberg favored this law?
Another example is the enforcement on drugs in the southern states. The drugs are said to come east and north or northeast bound as the case may be. The money those drugs earn were headed back in the opposite direction. The police of NC, TN, SC, etc all set up shop in the west, south and southwest side of the interstates. Why you ask? Simple the municipalities are allowed to keep any drug money they uncover. That is, the money that gets back to city hall. There is no profit in stopping the drugs from coming in and so the police turn a blind eye to the incoming drugs. If the War on Drugs is so critical why do they do this?
You can easy see the War on Drugs is not really about drugs. It is about fleecing the American people by placing many citizens in prisons for he sake of making money. Unfortunately most of the victims of this scam are black. I am surprised that there is not an outrage on this subject all across this country. Where is the NAACP in this matter? Where are the righteous Americans who want equal a fair treatment for all races? Where are the smart Americans who realize the War on Drugs is like digging a bottomless pit and continue to pour money into it in he hopes it will fill up? It is time to end a silly war.
You are confusing reported drug use with an actual change in use.
You are confusing pro-narcotic propaganda for actual facts.
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