4 ms·

Sending someone to jail does not magically cure them of their meth addiction. It probably compounds it as whatever sense of desperation or alienation drove them

Sending someone to jail does not magically cure them of their meth addiction. It probably compounds it as whatever sense of desperation or alienation drove them to drugs is now catalyzed by the inability to find meaningful work with due to a drug conviction / prison time. The solution should be to help these people get off of drugs but that is a society wide effort that needs to occur. Its much easier just to send a a few armed dudes over to rough them up and throw them in a cell. America does love to remove its undesirables from the view of others.

AlexTWithBeard 6y ago
Sending to jail is supposed to be a prevention factor, not a cure. That being said, being an addict is not a crime in most countries. Selling drugs is. Is it different in the US?
- wonderwonder 6y ago
  Being an addict is not a crime in the US but possession of drugs even for personal use is for the most part, exceptions exist for marijuana in some areas. I think history has proven that if you are at the point you are considering using heroin or meth, the threat of incarceration is generally not a deterrent. I don't know that I have the answers, I just don't think that throwing someone in prison is the solution to the drug pandemic. I do agree that dealers should go to jail.
diogenescynic 6y ago
No but the rest of society is no longer victimized or harmed. Why do we just let drug users trash our public spaces and commit so much destruction? Does that not have a toll on society and everyone else’s quality of life? What about all the stuff they steal daily? I don’t see other developed countries bend over so far to accommodate criminals and drug addicts and frankly our strategy isn’t working at all—these populations just get bigger every year....
- wonderwonder 6y ago
  If they are stealing, committing vandalism or generally victimizing others then yes I absolutely agree they should be punished. My main point was I disagree with arresting people for possession of narcotics. Once it crosses over from a victimless crime to something else then I agree.
  - diogenescynic 6y ago
    Prop 47 and 57 turned most of California cities into slums. Now you can steal up to $950 a day and use drugs openly and camp anywhere you want--a great foundation for any functioning society. Almost every large city in California has a few streets of blocks where they just push all the homeless and trash piles up, you see open bike chop shops pop up, there are super sketchy pimps/prostitutes. I just think we are allowing someone who has a drug addiction to descend to an even deeper downward spiral. I think Neo-liberals tell themselves that they have to not further harm these marginalized folks, but really it's just the the further soft bigotry of low expectations. My dad was a drug addict and the only time I saw him get sober was after he was incarcerated. I don't think the people out there sleeping under bridges and pushing carts full of trash are getting help, society is just letting them rot until they die off and neoliberals like Nancy Pelosi can just ignore them like a meaningless statistic. Republicans straight up don't care either, but I've never seen lower levels of human despair and drug addiction than in San Francisco or other deeply blue democrat run states.

AlexTWithBeard 6y ago

Sending to jail is supposed to be a prevention factor, not a cure. That being said, being an addict is not a crime in most countries. Selling drugs is. Is it different in the US?

wonderwonder 6y ago
Being an addict is not a crime in the US but possession of drugs even for personal use is for the most part, exceptions exist for marijuana in some areas. I think history has proven that if you are at the point you are considering using heroin or meth, the threat of incarceration is generally not a deterrent. I don't know that I have the answers, I just don't think that throwing someone in prison is the solution to the drug pandemic. I do agree that dealers should go to jail.

diogenescynic 6y ago

No but the rest of society is no longer victimized or harmed. Why do we just let drug users trash our public spaces and commit so much destruction? Does that not have a toll on society and everyone else’s quality of life? What about all the stuff they steal daily? I don’t see other developed countries bend over so far to accommodate criminals and drug addicts and frankly our strategy isn’t working at all—these populations just get bigger every year....

wonderwonder 6y ago
If they are stealing, committing vandalism or generally victimizing others then yes I absolutely agree they should be punished. My main point was I disagree with arresting people for possession of narcotics. Once it crosses over from a victimless crime to something else then I agree.
- diogenescynic 6y ago
  Prop 47 and 57 turned most of California cities into slums. Now you can steal up to $950 a day and use drugs openly and camp anywhere you want--a great foundation for any functioning society. Almost every large city in California has a few streets of blocks where they just push all the homeless and trash piles up, you see open bike chop shops pop up, there are super sketchy pimps/prostitutes. I just think we are allowing someone who has a drug addiction to descend to an even deeper downward spiral. I think Neo-liberals tell themselves that they have to not further harm these marginalized folks, but really it's just the the further soft bigotry of low expectations. My dad was a drug addict and the only time I saw him get sober was after he was incarcerated. I don't think the people out there sleeping under bridges and pushing carts full of trash are getting help, society is just letting them rot until they die off and neoliberals like Nancy Pelosi can just ignore them like a meaningless statistic. Republicans straight up don't care either, but I've never seen lower levels of human despair and drug addiction than in San Francisco or other deeply blue democrat run states.