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> The problem after that is the stigma that follows you around forever. I count myself blessed to have opportunities when I came home. I'm so happy to hear tha

> The problem after that is the stigma that follows you around forever. I count myself blessed to have opportunities when I came home. I'm so happy to hear that you had that. A while back, a member of my community was not so lucky. He got caught with an ounce of pot, spent some time in prison. When he got out, he had no legitimate job prospects due to his criminal record. He did eventually a job, though, through networking. In this case, the network was some prison acquaintances - apparently the only people who would/could offer him an opportunity. A while later he got caught stealing cars for a chop shop. Rinse and repeat. I don't think I really understood it until I saw it with my own eyes: the US criminal justice system, by being so retributive, isn't just (wantonly, excessively) harming people who get caught. It's also a significant cause of US crime in the first place.

the_only_law 6y ago
Not exactly the same, as I believe there were more than drugs involved, but several years ago, I met someone who had been through the system in his youth. I didn’t really like the guy at first, as he was rather volatile and could suddenly turn aggressive (diagnosed bipolar, don’t know if he was actively treated at the time), but as time went on we were mostly cool. Eventually he would tell me about his life, how he had gone to school for three years, but had to drop out for a variety of reasons. He would talk about his time spent homeless and the things he would do to get by or protect his stuff. It was pretty clear he wasn’t ok mentally. He couldn’t find good work, due to his record, and felt condemned to working a near minimum wage job to support him and his wife in the run down town we lived in. Eventually, he started getting erratic, confronting his managers about issues with his paycheck among other things. One morning, we heard he had crashed his car into a ditch and I didn’t hear anything from or about him for several months until a mutual acquaintance had informed me he had committed suicide at 27.
xiphias2 6y ago
Why do these people stay in the US? In Europe if you say that you were imprisoned for smoking pot, people will just laugh at the situation, because it’s so hard to believe.
- throwaway0a5e 6y ago
  If you have a criminal record bad enough to cause employment problems in the US it's going to be as hard or harder to (legally) start residing in most first world countries, especially if you don't have a party in-country who's basically importing you to do some specific work.
  - xiphias2 6y ago
    I love Cobra Kai, and the 3rd season was the first time I have seen a movie reference for this problem, which I think is a change in the good direction. At the same time even with non-violent crimes I make a huge distinction between stealing and marijuana use. I wouldn't want to trust my code base to anybody who has stolen anything in his life, as the downside for stealing the whole codebase is enormous. Regarding marijuana, who cares, it doesn't hurt anybody (except the passive smoking issues).

the_only_law 6y ago

Not exactly the same, as I believe there were more than drugs involved, but several years ago, I met someone who had been through the system in his youth. I didn’t really like the guy at first, as he was rather volatile and could suddenly turn aggressive (diagnosed bipolar, don’t know if he was actively treated at the time), but as time went on we were mostly cool. Eventually he would tell me about his life, how he had gone to school for three years, but had to drop out for a variety of reasons. He would talk about his time spent homeless and the things he would do to get by or protect his stuff. It was pretty clear he wasn’t ok mentally. He couldn’t find good work, due to his record, and felt condemned to working a near minimum wage job to support him and his wife in the run down town we lived in. Eventually, he started getting erratic, confronting his managers about issues with his paycheck among other things. One morning, we heard he had crashed his car into a ditch and I didn’t hear anything from or about him for several months until a mutual acquaintance had informed me he had committed suicide at 27.

xiphias2 6y ago

Why do these people stay in the US? In Europe if you say that you were imprisoned for smoking pot, people will just laugh at the situation, because it’s so hard to believe.

throwaway0a5e 6y ago
If you have a criminal record bad enough to cause employment problems in the US it's going to be as hard or harder to (legally) start residing in most first world countries, especially if you don't have a party in-country who's basically importing you to do some specific work.
- xiphias2 6y ago
  I love Cobra Kai, and the 3rd season was the first time I have seen a movie reference for this problem, which I think is a change in the good direction. At the same time even with non-violent crimes I make a huge distinction between stealing and marijuana use. I wouldn't want to trust my code base to anybody who has stolen anything in his life, as the downside for stealing the whole codebase is enormous. Regarding marijuana, who cares, it doesn't hurt anybody (except the passive smoking issues).