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I have a question about how to possibly make things safer for both law enforcement and civilians while at the same time decreasing government spending to put a shovel or two of dirt in this financial hole the country is in at this point. Wouldn’t it make life easier for law enforcement officers if we abolished unnecessary laws that they’re currently having to enforce that outlaw actions that are considered crimes which really have no victims other than the participant himself. For instance if we ended the war on drugs and prostitution which constitute a huge portion of law enforcement time and effort and lives being spent wouldn’t just decriminalizing these two things alone take away huge burden currently on law enforcement, save billions in tax payer expense, and most importantly spare possibly hundreds of law enforcement officer lives? When people use drugs whether it’s weed or the other more hardcore serious stuff they’re not really hurting anyone but themselves and if they choose to use then they have to deal with all of the ill effects to the brain and physical health, altered level of consciousness, possibility of becoming an addict, and potentially overdosing. At the point that they become addicted I think we would be much better served to give them the option of being enrolled in a medical treatment program and start treating drug addiction as a health issue(mental/physical) instead of a legal issue like it is now with jail time and criminal records. It seems what we are doing now to combat drugs, throwing people in jail and giving them criminal records, isn’t working and is only overcrowding our prisons and only giving drug users another source of stress when they get back out such as a criminal conviction which makes it much harder for them to find jobs and the worry of being on probation and doing something to violate it and be put back in prison only fuels the problem and they end up turning to drugs again to escape these problems and the vicious cycle keeps repeating itself.
And most gang activity is either driven and motivated by drugs or prostitution so decriminalizing these two activities wouldn’t it make sense that this would greatly reduce gang activity and violence and make life easier and safer for both law enforcement and civilians. We only have to go back to the 1920’s to see the minimal effects prohibition had on alcohol consumption and sale but exponential increases in violence and gang activity related to bootlegging. Today history seems to be repeating itself on a larger scale but with marijuana, meth, and other drugs. Most drug cartel activity along the Mexican border is driven by marijuana alone so simply legalizing, regulating, and taxing weed would greatly reduce border violence that is plaguing civilian and law enforcement officer lives who live in states on the Mexican border today. In fact marijuana is relatively harmless when it comes to the possibility of becoming addicted, incurring permanent damage to the brain, and overdosing when compared with other drugs including prescription narcotics and even alcohol I’ve never used any illegal drug including weed and would never recommend anybody do this, but it just seems to me the benefits of taking the action we are taking now against drugs simply don’t outweigh the costs and risks and are not helping anybody addicts, law enforcement, society at large, not to mention the budget deficit.
You can make the argument drugs induce people to commit other criminal, violent or heinous acts during their high or trip, ok well maybe so but there are plenty of people who commit plenty of robberies, assaults, rapes, murders, etc. that are intoxicated on a perfectly legal drug(alcohol), mentally ill, sociopaths simply devoid of any conscious or moral compass, or perfectly normal mentally healthy people simply acting out of emotion, desperation, or some other situation being caused by people or factors in their environment. How about we simply criminalize and prosecute violent or criminal acts themselves regardless of the mental status or what chemicals the offender has in their body at the time. There is nothing inherently harmful to anybody else from simply being high, drunk, etc. if the individual doesn’t harm or threaten anybody else or their property while in such a state. People can also make the argument that drugs and prostitution harms and breaks up marriages and families and while I agree this is true so does alcohol and affairs but both of these activities at least by law are perfectly legal. Many things not just drugs can come between spouses or between members of a family but the point is there is no use making things illegal simply on this moral basis, no law is going to change this because it is ultimately up to the individual if they get help for their addiction and get the desire to stop using drugs, seeing prostitutes, or whatever else is tearing their life and their family’s life apart it is not the government’s responsibility to do this.
Ok I’m off my soap box now and I will say now that I am a libertarian so my views on certain issues may be a little extreme for most but this is just my 2 cents worth of how we as a society could possibly make life better,, safer, and easier for both our law enforcement and civilians while at the same time helping to decrease government spending and address the financial debt crisis our country is in now. We need an alternative to our current policies as a nation when it comes to drugs and prostitution that would be beneficial and help everybody including the offenders themselves and actually treating them and helping them recover from addiction instead of simply taking a punitive route.
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I feel that while anyone with a functioning brain realizes that this is true however, government uses the umbrella of cultivating morals and virtues as an excuse to gain more power in the form of tax payer dollars from people who like to think that government is somehow the source of “good.” Churches, private organizations, and homes should be the moral backbone of society, NOT government. They always have and they always will be.
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If some drugs were legal and regulated by the states yes it could be a huge money maker as well as legal prostitutes. Just take a look at Cali the first year marijuana was legal it grossed I think around $1billion in revenue for the state, and look at the Bunny Ranch in Nevada, they are rolling in the dough. However with those items being legalized it would bring a whole different set of problems for the people.
Now I’ve done my share of security work and highly respect the police force in this country, but would those two things really make their job easier? Personally I don’t think it would it a lot, but I could be wrong. -
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