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Police arrest more people for marijuana use than for all violent crimes — combined
https://www.washingtonpost.com ^ | 10/12/16 | Christopher Ingraham

Posted on 10/14/2016 4:25:58 PM PDT by BBell

On any given day in the United States, at least 137,000 people sit behind bars on simple drug-possession charges, according to a report released Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights Watch.

Nearly two-thirds of them are in local jails. The report says that most of these jailed inmates have not been convicted of any crime: They're sitting in a cell, awaiting a day in court, an appearance that may be months or even years off, because they can't afford to post bail.

"It's been 45 years since the war on drugs was declared, and it hasn't been a success," lead author Tess Borden of Human Rights Watch said in an interview. "Rates of drug use are not down. Drug dependency has not stopped. Every 25 seconds, we're arresting someone for drug use."

Federal figures on drug arrests and drug use over the past three decades tell the story. Drug-possession arrests skyrocketed, from fewer than 200 arrests for every 100,000 people in 1979 to more than 500 in the mid-2000s. The drug-possession rate has since fallen slightly, according to the FBI, hovering near 400 arrests per 100,000 people.

Defenders of harsh penalties for drug possession say they are necessary to deter people from using drugs and to protect public health. But despite the tough-on-crime push that led to the surge in arrests in recent decades, illicit drug use today is more common among Americans age 12 and older than it was in the early 1980s. Federal figures show no correlation between drug-possession arrests and rates of drug use during that time.

But the ACLU and Human Rights Watch report shows that arrests for drug possession continue to make up a significant chunk of modern-day police work.

"Around the country, police make more arrests for drug possession than for

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: arrest; cannabis; marijuana; police; warondrugs
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I'd say the war on drugs has been a waste of time and money. But it gets the local LEOs a lot of cool new toys.
1 posted on 10/14/2016 4:25:58 PM PDT by BBell
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To: BBell

Dumbest crime ever invented.

It needs to be repealed. It’s totally useless.


2 posted on 10/14/2016 4:28:27 PM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously-you won't live through it anyway - "Enjoy Yourself" ala Louis Prima)
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To: BBell

On any given day in the United States, at least 137,000 people sit behind bars on simple drug-possession charges,”

LOL.


3 posted on 10/14/2016 4:28:32 PM PDT by TexasGator
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To: BBell

The war on drugs has literally looted the tax payers for decades. All it did was increase the size and scope of government dramatically. One big con job.


4 posted on 10/14/2016 4:29:46 PM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: BBell

Cops aren’t necessarily looking for this, rather pot charges are used to go after petty criminals, vagrants, and go after people who they may not be able to get on more serious charges, etc


5 posted on 10/14/2016 4:30:53 PM PDT by PGR88
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To: TexasGator

There is no better refutation than a LOL.


6 posted on 10/14/2016 4:30:58 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: PGR88

Possibly... possibly. It’s easy.

The more socialized that medicine is, the more impetus there is for wanting to bust users as drags on the system.


7 posted on 10/14/2016 4:32:59 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: HiTech RedNeck

Just my expression of emotion at reading that...


8 posted on 10/14/2016 4:33:08 PM PDT by TexasGator
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To: TexasGator

Of course, since emotion bare tells us where we ought to go.


9 posted on 10/14/2016 4:33:46 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: HiTech RedNeck

Last I looked Sorts was the major funder of legalizing marijuana


10 posted on 10/14/2016 4:35:41 PM PDT by TexasGator
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To: TexasGator

Soros


11 posted on 10/14/2016 4:35:57 PM PDT by TexasGator
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To: BBell
The so-called "war on drugs" is nothing but tyranny. It has chewed up the lives of millions of Americans by incarcerating them and the felony convictions have rendered them permanent members of the underclass. Kids have lost their parents, families have lost their main breadwinners and become wards of the state, the predatory civil asset forfeiture violates steals money and property from Americans even if they are never charged or convicted which violates our Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments’ Due Process Clause:

The Fifth Amendment reads in part, “No person shall … be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;”

Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment applies a similar provision to states. “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;”

The "war on drugs" is really a war on Americans and they God-given rights and freedoms which the Constitution is supposed to defend.

12 posted on 10/14/2016 4:35:59 PM PDT by WMarshal (Trump 2016)
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To: HiTech RedNeck

I don’t follow Soros


13 posted on 10/14/2016 4:36:45 PM PDT by TexasGator
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To: BBell

Entirely believable.

Stoners don’t fight and can’t run well. Much easier to catch than an armed robber.


14 posted on 10/14/2016 4:37:24 PM PDT by VanShuyten ("a shadow...draped nobly in the folds of a gorgeous eloquence.")
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To: BBell

I guess what we need are more violent crimes.


15 posted on 10/14/2016 4:37:47 PM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (46 DEMOCRATS voted to have the UN disarm the American people.)
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To: BBell

I say so long as people aren’t smoking dope and driving,on the job or smoking next to children, it may not always be a crime.
The same restrictions that apply to tobacco and alcohol, should apply to marijuana. The emphasis is it should still be illegal for teens and younger to be smoking it, unless there is some legitimate medical benefit from it. I have heard that cancer patients sometimes use it to endure chemotherapy.

Would an end to these arrests put over 30% of our Police out of a job? Would an end to the tickets, paroles lawyer fees and fines paid by those accused of pot possession put a city at great financial compromise? I hope not. That’s an interesting question.


16 posted on 10/14/2016 4:37:57 PM PDT by lee martell
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To: TexasGator

If Soros believed in kicking a smoking habit, you would smoke to spite Soros?

You specialize in illogic.


17 posted on 10/14/2016 4:38:28 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: FlingWingFlyer

There were far fewer violent crimes associated with pharmaceutical misuse back when this was an ethical issue in the purview of doctors and pharmacists.


18 posted on 10/14/2016 4:40:02 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: lee martell

It would end a government welfare problem... sinecures at taxpayer expense.


19 posted on 10/14/2016 4:41:12 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: BBell
the ACLU has been so upfront and righteous and honest too...as well as nonpartisan....

I would take any charge from them with a grain of salt....

I don't care to see people thrown in jail for a small amt of weed, but I won't cry for them either....

its still a law in many places....they broke the law...

20 posted on 10/14/2016 4:42:42 PM PDT by cherry
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