One of the kickers about the War On Some Drugs, it was black politicos that advocated much greater penalties for crack than regular cocaine. Now, they're whining that the differences in sentencing, saying it's racist!
It is all about the money. The prison guards are a union. To them a prisoner is worth way more in jail then on the street free and consuming drugs.
Interestingly enough, the author fails to mention that drug posession is legal in Mehico.
Ahem.
I’ve observed it before, and I’ll probably point it out again: the only bright line I can find between psychoactive substances which are legal and those which are illegal (flat out, or without a prescription) is that those which are legal — caffeine, alcohol and nicotine — were popular and generally accepted in Europe at the time of the American Founding, while those which are illegal — marijuana, cocaine, opiates, ibogaine, psilocybin, . . . — weren’t.
Rational policy would look at the harms likely to be caused by increased use and weight them against the harms caused by the prohibition policy, on a case-by-case basis. I suspect a few drugs (methamphetamine, possibly cocaine, maybe LSD) would stay illegal by that standard, while the rest would be better treated the way we treat alcohol and tobacco: regulated, taxed, and their excessive use treated as a health issue, rather than a criminal matter.
I agree with every word of this piece. And one more thing not mentioned by the author:
This arrangement has sent a terrible msg to children. In poor neighborhoods, the only guys with money are the ones tied to dealers. This becomes, to them, a viable career choice.
It reminds me of the stories I used to overhear as a little kid; about the regular people tossing coins on the statue of Mary during the Feast of the Assumption parade in August, while the Mafia members were pinning hundred dollar bills on the float.