countryboy (04-08-2020)
countryboy (04-08-2020)
Common sense is not a gift, it's a punishment because you have to deal with everyone who doesn't have it.
Agreed. Throwing more people behind bars ultimately does more long term damage than good. And like you said earlier the war on drugs has not been a success other than ruining a lot of lives.
For the sake of discussion I'll throw this out there. In SF we reduced the charge of stealing items under $1K from felony to misdemeanor and often they aren't even pursued anymore. As a result there are people brazenly breaking into stores during the middle of the day stealing things because they don't fear repercussions. So I admit to somewhat of a conundrum. Harsh jail sentences isn't really the answer but there has to be fear of breaking the law as well.
And we have a huge opioid and drug crisis in our City. People regularly doing drugs on the open streets, people dying in the streets of overdoses and brazen drug dealing in broad daylight. Again, I'm with you in that the War on Drugs has been a failure so using the harsh methods we have in the past isn't the answer. But when you this stuff on a daily basis you know it's not ok.
There's no easy answer I know. And its far more than Republicans and Democrats bitching back and forth at each other.
"Those who vote decide nothing. Those who count the vote decide everything." Joseph Stalin
The USA has lost WWIV to China with no other weapons but China Virus and some cash to buy democrats.
You make some extremely valid points. You're right, there are no easy solutions. But one thing is certain, the so-called war on drugs has been wholly ineffective. And even in places like California, who have legalized marijuana, have done so in such a manner that it is heavily taxed and highly regulated. This has done little to stem the black market trade. Which in my opinion, is the whole idea of legalization, to choke off the money flowing into the criminal element. Any policy which doesn't achieve that, is a failure as far as I'm concerned. Furthermore, the vast sums of money wasted on drug enforcement, could be much better used for rehabilitation, and combating violent criminals. Encouraging petty theft also is not a good thing. it's a well-known fact that, many of the people who pull off these petty crimes, are the same people who commit a lot of the violent crime.
Every life matters
cawacko (04-08-2020)
private prisons corrupting government with money earned off state slavery is the main thing.
I hear you and am with on the weed thing. I don't know if legalization or decriminalization are the same thing or not but we need it for reasons you stated. And you are correct about California, the black market has still flourished because of the high cost of legal weed.
Last edited by cawacko; 04-08-2020 at 10:40 AM.
The real question is why are so many people tied to the Trump Campaign in prison?
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