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I agree. It needs a little more nuance, especially the plea bargaining. And on top of that, prosecutors are known to pile on tons of only vaguely-applicable,

I agree. It needs a little more nuance, especially the plea bargaining. And on top of that, prosecutors are known to pile on tons of only vaguely-applicable, probably-not-convictable charges just to get someone to plea bargain down, so that complicates even the plea bargain exception. I'll throw in another part where more fine-grained control would be nice: the amount of said substances is measured by gross weight, baggie included, even if whatever the substance is has been "stepped on." Now, wave a gun in someone's face to take their money for drugs? Keep that charge. But otherwise we should not only free, but expunge the record, retroactively. Some kid with a dime bag ends up having to suffer for that decision for the rest of their life.

azinman2 6y ago
And what about trafficking 100kg of heroin? Everyone likes to pick the seemingly trivial examples to justify liberal values on jailing (“what if the 3rd strike is stealing a loaf of bread!”) but the reality is there are a broad range of crimes by a broad range of people. That’s why we have judges and give them latitude.
- BikiniPrince 6y ago
  I think in there case of something like Acid the weight can be an incorrect measure of substance. I heard it was popular to use the old books of stamps. So five doses on a stamp book is a silly about of weight. Then over a certain weight it is considered distribution and boom the sentence is jumped. Thanks to the war on drugs I’m not sure how much can even be reasoned by a judge. Now, keep in mind, I’m not necessarily on the side of no more crimes. I do see the cracks in how the offenses wer e codified. Things like marijuana outside distribution should probably be ignored. I was horrified watching someone on a cop show get arrested for a roach they found nearby on the ground. This was also a person who was strolling through a walkway in the forest between residences.
- gowld 6y ago
  > That’s why we have judges and give them latitude. See "Mandatory sentencing" aka "Mandatory Minimums" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandatory_sentencing#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandatory_sentencing#United_St...
- at_a_remove 6y ago
  This is going to be unpopular, but I say legalize it. Watch "My 600 Pound Life." People can destroy their lives with food, they can destroy their lives with alcohol. One is merely legal, one is a necessity. People make terrible life choices constantly and selecting heroin -- once prescribed for asthma -- as a no-go is just hating the newcomer versus giving traditional old alcohol, a civilizational favorite, a pass. We should spend the money from the war on drugs on instead trying to prevent the root causes of these kinds of disastrous decisions. We don't even have a great grasp on why people make some of these choices yet. I'm not saying we just set up a Needle Park or anything, but frankly we've lost the war on drugs. It's time to re-evaluate our priorities.

azinman2 6y ago

And what about trafficking 100kg of heroin? Everyone likes to pick the seemingly trivial examples to justify liberal values on jailing (“what if the 3rd strike is stealing a loaf of bread!”) but the reality is there are a broad range of crimes by a broad range of people. That’s why we have judges and give them latitude.

BikiniPrince 6y ago
I think in there case of something like Acid the weight can be an incorrect measure of substance. I heard it was popular to use the old books of stamps. So five doses on a stamp book is a silly about of weight. Then over a certain weight it is considered distribution and boom the sentence is jumped. Thanks to the war on drugs I’m not sure how much can even be reasoned by a judge. Now, keep in mind, I’m not necessarily on the side of no more crimes. I do see the cracks in how the offenses wer e codified. Things like marijuana outside distribution should probably be ignored. I was horrified watching someone on a cop show get arrested for a roach they found nearby on the ground. This was also a person who was strolling through a walkway in the forest between residences.
gowld 6y ago
> That’s why we have judges and give them latitude. See "Mandatory sentencing" aka "Mandatory Minimums" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandatory_sentencing#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandatory_sentencing#United_St...
at_a_remove 6y ago
This is going to be unpopular, but I say legalize it. Watch "My 600 Pound Life." People can destroy their lives with food, they can destroy their lives with alcohol. One is merely legal, one is a necessity. People make terrible life choices constantly and selecting heroin -- once prescribed for asthma -- as a no-go is just hating the newcomer versus giving traditional old alcohol, a civilizational favorite, a pass. We should spend the money from the war on drugs on instead trying to prevent the root causes of these kinds of disastrous decisions. We don't even have a great grasp on why people make some of these choices yet. I'm not saying we just set up a Needle Park or anything, but frankly we've lost the war on drugs. It's time to re-evaluate our priorities.