On the other hand I really don’t like the way our nation fights drugs. Using the law to go after big time drug cartels in one thing, putting all our police force time and money onto arresting users is another. The federal government spends about $600 per second on the drug war. State governments spend ½ again more. We fill our jails with people who were only trying to feel good when they don’t feel good. We give someone guilty of ‘possession’ more punishment than someone who steals the retirement fund of all his employees. We often give them more punishment than child abusers. Sometimes we even punish them more severely than murderers.
I don’t want people to take drugs. I don’t think any good will ever come of such behavior. However, a better way to keep that from happening might be education. Lets spend some of the money we waste arresting and punishing users on teaching them the truth about drug use.
Punish people for illegal acts committed while on drugs, such as robbing stores or hurting others. Those things are already against the law. The idea of someone sitting quietly in their house smoking pot may be a sleazy and rather disgusting thought, but it certainly doesn’t bring the same depth of disgust as someone going out and robbing another at gunpoint, running over someone while drunk, or beating someone up to prove they can.
Helping people get off of an addiction without punishment would bring more results than punishing them when it is discovered that they use.
11 comments:
You realize this is pretty much the #1 political issue for members of your family right? You start by saying you don't think drugs should be made legal, then you go on to make pretty standard arguments for legalizing drugs. Why not go all the way and advocate sanity when it comes to drug policy?
You make one argument as to why drugs should remain illegal: 'the pain they bring to the world is too great'.
They are illegal now, and they still bring pain to the world. So I don't see why this is an argument for keeping them illegal.
The fact is, MOST of the pain they bring to the world is a result of their PROHIBITION.
Making alcohol illegal caused a lot of problems, but making it legal again didn't solve most of them. I think I just don't have enough trust in my own opinions to advocate legalizing drugs. They are legal in some parts of the world and that doesn't get rid of the problems. A conundrum I know.
Let me ask you this: what if you knew for a fact that there would be exactly the same amount of problems caused by drugs whether they were illegal or not? Would you want them legal or illegal? It's silly to argue for prohibition simply because decriminalization doesn't SOLVE the problem of drugs. In our society, the burden of proof, so to speak, lies on the other side of the argument. Meaning that prohibiting something must prove to have merit. Instead you argue that NOT prohibiting something must prove to have merit.
Of course ending prohibition doesn't solve the drug problem. But prohibition itself doesn't solve the problem either, and ALL credible studies will show that prohibition ADDS significantly to the pain and suffering caused by drugs.
Oh and just so we have history straight, ending alcohol prohibition DID in fact solve ALL of the problems caused by prohibition. It didn't solve all the problems caused by alcohol.
There is no black market in alcohol. Gangs do not sprout up to deal liquor. Gangs do not have the incentive towards violence in order to protect their massive profits from selling alcohol... etc.
I do agree 100 percent, with your last paragraph.However, much as I think we waste time, talent and money on the way we fight drugs right now, I hardly think it should be anyones top political issue. We have much to think about of more import than this.
I probably shouldn't have spoken for anybody else. I know it is an important issue to some other members of the family but likely not #1.
It is, however, MY #1 political issue. I could go into a huge rant about problems I believe the War on Drugs has caused society, but I've already been way too preachy. Let me just try to explain the main reason. There are hundreds of thousands of NONVIOLENT drug offenders in prison right now. The staggering injustice makes me want to cry. The system seems to have no concept of how devastating incarceration is. Having your very freedom completely stripped away is much more grave than many people realize, and should be reserved for criminals who have directly harmed others. To subject a person to this simply because they make poor lifestyle choices is, in my opinion, unbelievably cold-hearted and unjust.I'm pretty sure you agree with me on that. I just put a lot more weight on the issue than you do.
Actually, I do agree with you except for one thing. It was illegal when they did it, and they knew it was illegal. That was what I was saying in my first blog on drugs. I made a mistake in judgment but then I thought about it and realized it is illegal and not worth fighting the system over. In other words the so called good is not worth the bother, there are lots more good things, legal things that can bring you a release from pain.
In a free country, many believe it is the responsibility of the citizenry to oppose awful legislation instead of kneeling before it. It sounds like you are saying that simply because a law was passed, it must be just; that simply breaking the law makes one deserving of the consequences, even if the law is bad. Are you saying that it is not worth fighting because you think the law is the law and shouldn't be opposed on principle, or because you agree with the particular law itself?
I plan to fight unjust laws in any way I can. Right now, my only means is to bring others around to my side of the argument. The more people who oppose draconian drug policy, the harder it will be for lawmakers to pass such unjust legislation.
"In other words the so called good is not worth the bother, there are lots more good things, legal things that can bring you a release from pain."
This is a bit of a strawman. Just so we are clear, we are not arguing whether drugs are good or bad. The fact that there are other substances people could use instead does not justify waging war on our own citizens. I could eat cucumbers fresh instead of pickled, and they would probably be better for me. That doesn't mean pickles should be illegal.
Actually, we weren't arguing about anything, we mostly agree. But my post was about how a person can and ought to avoid drugs for their own personal benefit. My mention of how I think the nation over zealously pursues users was only the other part of my thought.
Oh sure I didn't mean we were in total opposition. I love that you think about these things. There is so much value in having a good-natured discussion about this stuff. I just happen to be opinionated about this particular subject (and some others) to a fault.
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