Was it really people’s interest or was it spam? I think it was a little bit of both. But when Obama asked citizens for questions and gave them the ability to rank those questions, it appears there is a lot of interest in the decriminalization of drugs.
But no one really wants that, right? I know for a fact that drug lords, growers, pushers and gangs are certainly against the idea. So are the alcohol and pharmaceutical companies.
We incarcerate more citizens per capita than any other country. Most of those incarcerations are because of drugs. And, ironically, our prisons have tons of drugs in them. So we imprison people for using drugs and, while in prison, they have even greater access to them. And each person in jail can no longer contribute to society and each incarceration drains tens of thousands of dollars from taxpayers each year.
When I worked in the mental health field, I met lots of 12 and 13 year old drug vendors. That’s right. And these kids had ZERO motivation to stay in school because they were making more money than their parents. Under age children are used by bigger pushers simply because they are too young to go to real jail. And when they turn 18 their records are given a clean slate.
Just because these kids were into the selling didn’t mean that they were users. Most of them weren’t users, yet. They just got into the trade because it was easy money.
Easy money. That’s the problem. As long as drugs are illegal, the underground sale of them will be easy money for a group of people who typically arm themselves and are willing to kill to keep their power and money. This easy money will attract a lot of people the worse the economy gets.
Because of our laws, we spend billions of dollars trying to do the impossible – keep people from getting high. If it’s not pot, then it’s glue or gas or some other extremely harmful improvisation. If drugs were legal, would there be more drug users? Possibly. But I don’t think people will jump up and start using just because they can.
Legal or not, I won’t be using cocaine, smoking crack, shooting heroin or taking ecstasy. Even tequila is a bit much for me…and it’s still legal. And as far as my involvement in other people’s lives via the rules of society, I would much rather spend the tax money on prevention and treatment rather than incarceration and enforcement. And maybe these meth labs and drug gangs will disappear once and for all.
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