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Marijuana possession was the number one crime and is now legal in a majority of states. This seems like the high-order bit.

by saulpw 1y ago

0xbadcafebee 1y ago
^ This. The drug war was an attempt for conservatives to punish poor people for using a harmless drug (marijuana) to help cope with systemic inequality, and kids for wanting to have fun. From 1950-1970, America introduced new mandatory minimums for possession of marijuana. First-time offenses carried a minimum of 2-10 yrs in prison and a fine of up to $20,000. They repealed these minimums in 1970 because it did jack shit to stop people smoking. The govt even recommended decriminalizing marijuana in 1970, but Nixon rejected it. But then came The Parents. As fucking usual, parents "concerned for their children" began a years-long lobbying and marketing effort to convince the public any kind of drug was evil and harming kids. Through the 1980s their lobbying spread to all corners of the government, influencing messaging and policy. So finally in 1986, Reagan introduced new mandatory minimums for marijuana, based on amount. Having 100 marijuana plants was the same crime as 100 grams of heroin. And then they went further; if you we caught with marijuana three times, you got a life sentence. Life. For pot. In 1989, Bush Sr. officially declared the "new" War on Drugs. And we've all been paying for it ever since.
- anonzzzies 1y ago
  It is not a harmless drug though. Less harmless than most others, but not harmless.
tptacek 1y ago
At what point in the last 30 years did cannabis possession account for even a plurality of incarcerated persons, in any state or federally? Cannabis is not the high order bit.
- BlackFly 1y ago
  Well apparently 43% of American inmates are incarcerated for drug related offenses. https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_inmate_offenses.jsp https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_inmate_offen... This article claims that about 32k people in 2021 were for cannabis related offense, and simply carrying that to today would be 23% of the prison population: the largest offense type. https://www.lastprisonerproject.org/cannabis-prisoner-scale https://www.lastprisonerproject.org/cannabis-prisoner-scale
  - tptacek 1y ago
    32,000 people is about 1% of all those incarcerated.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
jahnu 1y ago
How do the two sets of states compare on crime rates since the change?
anonzzzies 1y ago
It is absolutely bonkers to me this ever was a crime. I don't like the stuff but where I am from it was basically like smoking (which now no one does anymore); seeing people getting prison time really, at that time, made me think 'land of the free, my ass'.

Marijuana possession was the number one crime and is now legal in a majority of states. This seems like the high-order bit.

by saulpw 1y ago

Marijuana possession was the number one crime and is now legal in a majority of states. This seems like the high-order bit.

0xbadcafebee 1y ago

^ This. The drug war was an attempt for conservatives to punish poor people for using a harmless drug (marijuana) to help cope with systemic inequality, and kids for wanting to have fun. From 1950-1970, America introduced new mandatory minimums for possession of marijuana. First-time offenses carried a minimum of 2-10 yrs in prison and a fine of up to $20,000. They repealed these minimums in 1970 because it did jack shit to stop people smoking. The govt even recommended decriminalizing marijuana in 1970, but Nixon rejected it. But then came The Parents. As fucking usual, parents "concerned for their children" began a years-long lobbying and marketing effort to convince the public any kind of drug was evil and harming kids. Through the 1980s their lobbying spread to all corners of the government, influencing messaging and policy. So finally in 1986, Reagan introduced new mandatory minimums for marijuana, based on amount. Having 100 marijuana plants was the same crime as 100 grams of heroin. And then they went further; if you we caught with marijuana three times, you got a life sentence. Life. For pot. In 1989, Bush Sr. officially declared the "new" War on Drugs. And we've all been paying for it ever since.

anonzzzies 1y ago
It is not a harmless drug though. Less harmless than most others, but not harmless.

tptacek 1y ago

At what point in the last 30 years did cannabis possession account for even a plurality of incarcerated persons, in any state or federally? Cannabis is not the high order bit.

BlackFly 1y ago
Well apparently 43% of American inmates are incarcerated for drug related offenses. https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_inmate_offenses.jsp https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_inmate_offen... This article claims that about 32k people in 2021 were for cannabis related offense, and simply carrying that to today would be 23% of the prison population: the largest offense type. https://www.lastprisonerproject.org/cannabis-prisoner-scale https://www.lastprisonerproject.org/cannabis-prisoner-scale
- tptacek 1y ago
  32,000 people is about 1% of all those incarcerated.

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

jahnu 1y ago

How do the two sets of states compare on crime rates since the change?

anonzzzies 1y ago

It is absolutely bonkers to me this ever was a crime. I don't like the stuff but where I am from it was basically like smoking (which now no one does anymore); seeing people getting prison time really, at that time, made me think 'land of the free, my ass'.