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The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. If drugs were legalized they'd start arresting us for something else. It has nothing to do wi

The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. If drugs were legalized they'd start arresting us for something else. It has nothing to do with the crime rate. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration#Incarceration_rates_by_country https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration#Incarceration_ra... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration_rate

rdl 14y ago
Was this true before the drug war?
- jvm 14y ago
  No. I think parent is being a little sensationalist. Graphical evidence that the war on drugs specifically is the problem: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/US_incarceration_rate_timeline.gif http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/US_incarc...
- olefoo 14y ago
  No, but at this point the prison and incarceration industry is large enough that it has a lobby dedicated to pushing its viewpoint.
tsotha 14y ago
Why do you assume people would still be incarcerated at the same rates if drugs were legal? The "prison industrial complex" depends on the consent of the voters.
- nonamegiven 14y ago
  Because there's a large infrastructure dedicated to exactly that, from law enforcement officers to prosecutors and judges to storage to politicians. Just getting 3 Strikes laws undone would be practically impossible. Any politician proposing it would immediately come under attack by an opponent who would gladly pick up that rock. Political courage is uncommon enough to be an oxymoron.
  - tsotha 14y ago
    Where I live 3 strikes doesn't apply unless the first two are violent crimes, so a change in the drug laws won't affect the number of those people incarcerated. People who have already been convicted of two violent crimes and are now charged with a third felony are slow learners that probably belong in jail for 25 years. But there are a whole lot of people in the pen for selling relatively small amounts of drugs. I don't see the government passing new laws to replace them if drug laws were repealed.
    - rdl 14y ago
      A lot of the violent crimes are drug related.
      - tsotha 14y ago
        Sure, I expect violent crime to go down. But the point was the repeal of thee "strikes laws" probably won't change much. Even without three strikes you're not going to get much leniency from a judge on your third felony.

rdl 14y ago

Was this true before the drug war?

jvm 14y ago
No. I think parent is being a little sensationalist. Graphical evidence that the war on drugs specifically is the problem: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/US_incarceration_rate_timeline.gif http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/US_incarc...
olefoo 14y ago
No, but at this point the prison and incarceration industry is large enough that it has a lobby dedicated to pushing its viewpoint.

tsotha 14y ago

Why do you assume people would still be incarcerated at the same rates if drugs were legal? The "prison industrial complex" depends on the consent of the voters.

nonamegiven 14y ago
Because there's a large infrastructure dedicated to exactly that, from law enforcement officers to prosecutors and judges to storage to politicians. Just getting 3 Strikes laws undone would be practically impossible. Any politician proposing it would immediately come under attack by an opponent who would gladly pick up that rock. Political courage is uncommon enough to be an oxymoron.
- tsotha 14y ago
  Where I live 3 strikes doesn't apply unless the first two are violent crimes, so a change in the drug laws won't affect the number of those people incarcerated. People who have already been convicted of two violent crimes and are now charged with a third felony are slow learners that probably belong in jail for 25 years. But there are a whole lot of people in the pen for selling relatively small amounts of drugs. I don't see the government passing new laws to replace them if drug laws were repealed.
  - rdl 14y ago
    A lot of the violent crimes are drug related.
    - tsotha 14y ago
      Sure, I expect violent crime to go down. But the point was the repeal of thee "strikes laws" probably won't change much. Even without three strikes you're not going to get much leniency from a judge on your third felony.