I’m so upset with the fact that after 50 years, we have a worse drug problem than we did in the 70s.
I don’t believe we can stop drugs from coming into this country as long as people want to buy them. Remember what happened during Prohibition?
So we need to stop the demand. Neither side has done very well with this.
Democrats have focused on harm reduction to the addicts but without regard to the harm done to others in the community – visible homelessness, theft (to buy drugs), loss of taxes from many drug users, and the cost of dealing with drug addicts (criminal justice costs, emergency room costs, etc.)
Republicans have focused on keeping drugs out and punishment — that hasn’t worked either.
I think we need something in the middle — therapeutic treatment that really works and there are some successful models.
I would pressure addicts into this using the criminal justice system, such as 1 warning, then a prison sentence of a year or more.
And then offer to replace the prison sentence with therapeutic treatment in a low-security facility/work camp. People there couldn’t leave but they could choose it over a regular prison sentence. They would get immediate detox, then psychiatric and medical care, life skills and job training, and living in a supportive community where the inmates/residents help each other in a structured environment. It would last at least a year. I think this would be much more effective than what we’re doing now. It’s really more compassionate to the addicts and certainly more compassionate to the community they’re now living amongst.
And bonus, fewer drugs would come into the country because there would be fewer people buying them.
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Lacy
Addiction is something that has been prevelant in my family history, so I have a lot of sympathy for addicts. I hate the way society treats them.
However, I’ve also been the victim of an addict, a minor, who has stolen from me and even assaulted me at one point. There is no real help or consequences, especially for younger offenders. While I agree with rehabilitation first and foremost, I don’t think thefts, assault, and destruction should be brushed off with probation and a few hours of community service, particularly for a reoffender.
Furthermore, why is our society so miserable and broken that so many people escape to drugs and alcohol? Something is wrong.
I’m so upset with the fact that after 50 years, we have a worse drug problem than we did in the 70s.
I don’t believe we can stop drugs from coming into this country as long as people want to buy them. Remember what happened during Prohibition?
So we need to stop the demand. Neither side has done very well with this.
Democrats have focused on harm reduction to the addicts but without regard to the harm done to others in the community – visible homelessness, theft (to buy drugs), loss of taxes from many drug users, and the cost of dealing with drug addicts (criminal justice costs, emergency room costs, etc.)
Republicans have focused on keeping drugs out and punishment — that hasn’t worked either.
I think we need something in the middle — therapeutic treatment that really works and there are some successful models.
I would pressure addicts into this using the criminal justice system, such as 1 warning, then a prison sentence of a year or more.
And then offer to replace the prison sentence with therapeutic treatment in a low-security facility/work camp. People there couldn’t leave but they could choose it over a regular prison sentence. They would get immediate detox, then psychiatric and medical care, life skills and job training, and living in a supportive community where the inmates/residents help each other in a structured environment. It would last at least a year. I think this would be much more effective than what we’re doing now. It’s really more compassionate to the addicts and certainly more compassionate to the community they’re now living amongst.
And bonus, fewer drugs would come into the country because there would be fewer people buying them.
Addiction is something that has been prevelant in my family history, so I have a lot of sympathy for addicts. I hate the way society treats them.
However, I’ve also been the victim of an addict, a minor, who has stolen from me and even assaulted me at one point. There is no real help or consequences, especially for younger offenders. While I agree with rehabilitation first and foremost, I don’t think thefts, assault, and destruction should be brushed off with probation and a few hours of community service, particularly for a reoffender.
Furthermore, why is our society so miserable and broken that so many people escape to drugs and alcohol? Something is wrong.