Thursday, February 3, 2011

Meanwhile, Back Home...

The U.S. and the various state governments should take this moment to reflect upon the fact that while we are all so critical of the Arab world's injustices it is the U.S. that has the highest percentage of people in prison and the highest prison population in the history of mankind.

Worse, our police kill a great many Americans for what are, essentially, crimes of morality - DRUGS.

Worse still, our police KILL INNOCENT AMERICANS BY MISTAKE while making drug busts, stings, warrant service... and that is a very, very incomplete list.

This is simply unconscionable.

And what have we got to show for all of the blood on our hands? Our prison system has created the gang problem here in the U.S.!!! Way to go, guys!

Talk about the gift that keeps on giving.. well, to law enforcement, corrections personnel, lawyers, and judges, that is; and aren't these the very people that are draining our state and local budgets with their outrageous pension benefits?

Drugs are bad. No Duh... Our War on Drugs is much, much worse.

5 comments:

bureaucrat said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
PioneerPreppy said...

Drugs, domestic violence, false rape, non-support. They all add up. I do wonder that if female "perps" got equal prison time for equal violations as opposed to men if our prison sentences wouldn't drop almost overnight.

It seems almost any offense committed these days in an automatic felony as well.

tweell said...

Hey, I'm not one of the evil correctional employees anymore! Woohoo!
Bear in mind that the incarceration rate would not drop as far as all that if drugs were decriminalized. Drugs are easy to prove usage, and many crimes are plea-bargained down to a basic drug count accordingly.
Still, if the drugs were decriminalized, the cost would be less, which means that Jane Druggie would need less money for her fix, so she's not burglarizing as many homes. Win!

A Quaker in a Strange Land said...

Tweel!!

Congratulations!

(I was excluding present company, of course:))

Anonymous said...

I'm still noodling this. Just like abortion, it needs to be approached in ways other than law enforcement. I do believe that drug abuse is a symptom of societal sickness. By some estimates, 30% of the population is depressed enough to require treatment. Whether this is actually true, or crap dispensed by some drug company, I don't know. But, we have a lot of VERY UNHAPPY people in the midst of great wealth and personal freedom. I say that notwithstanding the financial crisis. I don't know why that is so. When that gets fixed, drug use will decline.

Regards,

Coal Guy