If the government had the people's best interest at heart they would rehabilitate drug offenders who are users and not just incarcerate them. There is a revolving door for drug offenders in America's current criminal system. By this I mean that people who are arrested for drug offenses are very likely to end up in jail again for the same offenses. The problem is that these people are addicted to drugs and locking them up is not a means to help them kick their habits. Addicts need to be rehabilitated in order to have any chance of recovering from their addiction. Also when people are convicted of drug offenses their permanent record is negatively effected. Thus making it harder for those individuals to find a decent job that can help them be a productive member of society. This may force them into a life of crime and eventually behind bars yet again.
GreenWellness blog post best describes the War on Drugs when stating,
I think we can all say that the “War on Drugs” seems to be some what of a disaster. Millions of citizens are irresponsible put through the court system, Billions of dollars are pumped into the fighting Marijuana’s “dangers” from reaching our neighborhoods, but still crack, heroin, and disease run ramped in most slums around the the country, not to include the huge increase in our youth getting hooked on pharmaceutical drugs.
Halleluiah my friend, to everything you’ve said and more, it is time for a new approach to the war on drugs, since Nixon first coined the slogan, the amount of drugs in and consumed in the U.S. has only increased. Along with profit for the cartels and outrageous over flow in our federal prisons. Right now the U.S. is second in the world for highest incarceration rate, but we are most definitely going to soon take over that title. With the majority of these prisons inmates drug offenders as you said the focus is not where it should be on rehabilitating these people. Its seems to me that enforcement is the main focus not the social problem of drugs in our society. Arresting small-time dealers does little but create business opportunities for others. Its time for something new, first like you said marijuana is not a drug; you will never hear of someone dying from smoking too much pot. I swear its amazing the focus on prohibition. Its like wake up that is never ever going to happen. What would be so wrong with legalizing something that is so commonly used be a wide range of demographics; creating billions of jobs and revenue for our country and at the same time undermine criminals and their illegal activity.
ReplyDeleteEvery thing I have ever read on the subject says since the war on drugs began things have only gotten worse, I have even read and I’m almost certain it could be true that some of our own national government institutions make some sort of profit on the drugs brought into the US. And even if that’s not so think of how much seizing of these drugs it would take to hurt the cartels something like 75% to even hurt their profits. Its ridiculous having old fashioned views and ways of dealing with something that is evolving and most definitely not going away maybe instead we could have regulated legalization, along with rehabilitation for those who need it. Just something new, because the way things are going now there is only more violence, more drugs, and even more prisons to hold these drug offenders to come.
I agree with you 1000%! The effort used to ATTEMPT to keep marijuana off the streets, have failed for many years, and will continue to fail. Where there is a law, there is a way to get around, and hide it. Marijuana is easy to get, easy to find, and easy to grow. There is virtually no way to keep these drugs off the streets. Not only marijuana, but every other narcotic known to man, people can get. While some drugs are more harmful than others, some of the most deadly legal substances are available in the supermarkets! In concurrence to your statements, the war on drugs is extremely ridiculous. This will continue for years to come. Maybe eventually the government will realize that this is way beyond their control. Until there is a way to tax these drugs, they will continue to be illegal.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Hello World. The U.S drug policy's were written in order to oppress minority's during the 1930's.
ReplyDelete"There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others." -Harry J. Anslinger
The war on drugs is an even bigger failure than prohibition, in my neighborhood, you'l be offered crack at least twice before you can walk to the store for a beer. Why not take all the money that goes into the war on drugs , and put it into education, and free treatment facility's for those who WANT to kick. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. Whats funny is that no one gets sober in prison, they can get anything they want in ther. Prisons are a multi- billion dollar buissiness in this country, ther's no reason privatized companies should be making money off the enslavement of it's fellow citizens, its preposterous. Almost everyone over the age of 12 smokes pot these days, you cant put all the youth in jail. You can fool some people sometimes
But you can't fool all the people all the time
So now we see the light
We gonna stand up for our right- bob marley