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 ...
Self-righteous much?
“But it is the same with man as with the tree. The more he seeks to rise into the height and light, the more vigorously do his roots struggle earthword, downword, into the dark, the deep - into evil.” - Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra
On more quote to sum up belef system of a lot of the “drug warriors” on Free Republic:
“Despotism is a legitimate mode of government in dealing with barbarians, provided the end be their improvement.” - John Stuart Mill, On Liberty
And that kind of thinking iis why most of the native Americans were killed..... Next up for improvement, The Deplorables.
So now you're making an analogy between druggies and Native Americans. How's that for druggie logic? You're better off watching re-runs of Reefer Madness. Maybe you'll learn something.
A lot of the bad stuff that happened to the Native Americans was because of people trying to “help them” - just saying.
I am 100% certain that you sit at the dining table drinking your alcohol and bitching people who take drugs, don’t you?
I'm 100% certain you're a druggie who has repeated the same alcohol-related comment at least once for every puff of your bong. Get a copy of Reefer Madness and watch it.
I would respond with a better comeback but I am on the toilet and I can only deal with one shit at a time.
You're living in an illusion and believe that if we just edge a little closer to anarchy and social disintegration every year we'll all be fine. I honestly don't give a damn if people want to stay stoned or drunk, sitting in their own feces with a stupid grin on their faces..
Put mandatory minimum sentences of the crap so many people bargain down to Possession and, no problem, drop the Possession charge in exchange for a plea to the other charges.
Little childish catch phrase snark like "love living in a prison planet" are proof for all to see that you have nothing intelligent to say. You're a parrot, and not a very bright or colorful one, but one that apparently just loves to have little spats and arguments so you an "shine" by upchucking bits of "enlightened" trash you've sucked down for years.
In addition, you broadcast the fact that you're so ignorant you don't know there's no "h" in the Rasputin to whom you compare me because you're too stupid to actually read rather than regurgitating BS.
have a nice day
Nor are you in jail, Mr. Johnson supporter.
That is exactly, the dead guy’s got shot because they were acting irrationally, not responding to police officer commands.
Cry me a river RASH-Putin. What at does your handle signify, that you are a skin infection on a Russian strong-man’s ass?
Just STFU you control-freak, prison-industry advocate.
I would never support Johnson, way to libertine for my tastes. I just don’t understand the cognitive dissonance that you “Drug Warriors” have, I have had dinner with drug warrior jerks pontificating in the horrors of marijuana while drinking martinis and getting $hit-faced stupid. Daemul get me a dollar that you and most of the people on this form advocating for the one on drugs of behave in the same way.
What a drug does to a person is primarily dependant upon the personality and brain chemistry of that person. There are plenty of people who ruin their lives and suffer an early death due to alcohol and I would say it’s probably in the same percentages as for any other psychoactive drug.
I haven’t heard anyone you drug Warriors posting me claim that you do not drink alcohol, hypocrites.
You should install a TV in your bathroom so you can watch Reefer Madness as you shit. Spend your shitting time wisely.
Face facts, you’re a Nazi control freak. Are you sure you’re posting in the right site? I’m sure you’d be quite happy posting at Democratic Underground as they would welcome a kapo there.
Oh come now. Druggies are liberals. You're a druggie, therefore you are a liberal. It's simple logic.
I think pot should be decriminalized, but heroin dealers should be executed.
Agreed. The loss of our freedoms far outweigh any benefits from the WOD.
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