The “drug war” is just a jobs program for overpaid and under-worked cops.
It’s takes lots of work to hunt down and arrest real criminals like burglars, robbers, rapists and murders. That’s why cops love the “drug war!”
It’s much easier and safer to arrest harmless people for victimless drug war crimes then it is to hunt down real criminals.
All the cops have to do is illegally stop and search 100 people and they can usually arrest one or two of them for victimless “drug war” crimes.
And at the end of the day the cops will brag they are making the streets safer by arresting these harmless people who’s only crime is laughing too loud or eating too much after smoking a doobie.
Of course the police say that drugs cause crime. That is a lie. It’s the laws against drugs that cause crimes.
Because marijuana is illegal an ounce of weed is going to cost anywhere from $50 to $300. And of course sometimes people do steal because they can’t afford the high black-market prices of drugs.
If marijuana was legalized you could buy a kilo of weed for no more then a head of lettuce costs. And of course that would pretty much put an end to people stealing because of the high cost of black-market drugs.
It’s time to legalize drugs and make the cops hunt down real criminals.
Mike Ross
Tempe
bobunf posted at 3:43 pm on Tue, May 29, 2012.
The stupid drug war is the main reason that the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world.
I don’t think it can be hammered home enough how anomalous Americas incarceration rate has become in the world, and in history. There is no Western European or Asian country, no large Latin American country that approaches the US incarceration rate.
The only other country that comes close is Russia at 89% of the US rate. Our neighbor, Canada, incarcerates people at 17% of the US rate.
It wasn’t always thus. Remember 1972, the year the stupid drug war started under Nixon that paragon of lawful behavior? The incarceration rate in the US was one-seventh of what it is today – comparable to what Canada is today.
Arizona’s incarceration rate is among the highest in the US. If we had Canada’s incarceration rate, Arizona would save over $800 million each and every year in prison costs – 10% of the total state budget.
And, no, it’s not illegals. The incarceration rate for native born males aged 18 to 40 is 3.4%. For Hispanic immigrants it’s 0.8%.
And we’re not any safer. Canada has a third of the homicides as the US, a fourth that of Arizona.
Something is gravely wrong with this picture.
Leon Ceniceros posted at 6:32 pm on Tue, May 29, 2012.
"And of course sometimes people do steal because they can't afford the high black-market prices of drugs".
Now Folks, how do you even argue with someone who believes that it's "JUSTIFIED" to steal to buy drugs ???
The Letter Writer just made the argument against marijuana legalization. If this is what marijuana drug use does to your moral values.
sockratties posted at 8:25 pm on Tue, May 29, 2012.
The best analogy for the drug war is the success of prohibition. Attempting to stop alcohol sales by interdiction did not work, financed organized crime and directed resources away from more important tasks such as predatory and violent crime.
If marijuana were to be legalized, controlled (like alcohol), taxed and regulated it would become a non-issue. More time and money would be available to control “hard drugs,” human smuggling and border guns. It would be a big hit on drug cartel income and tax income would pay for regulation and control.
The letter writer is pointing his finger at the wrong group. Police have to react to pot use because it has been given a priority both at the state and the federal level. The impression the letter writer gives of police apathy is not accurate. I have found both Tempe and Mesa police to be professional, effective and capable. The remark about the police bragging at the end of the day sounds like sour grapes. Maybe Mike, or someone he cares about, got busted. Well, the law is the law, if you agree with it or not. If they were bragging it was about arresting someone who broke the law.
Accuracy posted at 8:58 am on Wed, May 30, 2012.
Mike Ross thinks: "The “drug war” is just a jobs program for overpaid and under-worked cops."
---------------------------------------------
Marijuana is illegal under federal drug law. It outlaws the cultivation, sale or use of marijuana, and no state or “cops” can enact laws or ordinances that conflict with the federal marijuana law.
Many registered patients, under bona fide medical conditions, can now possess medical-marijuana legally under medical-marijuana laws in Arizona and 17 other states. But still many are arrested (by feds) for position of Marijuana in some of those states.
fae4now posted at 10:04 am on Wed, May 30, 2012.
Sockratties, I agree with you almost entirely.
I recently heard a report that went something like this:
Nationally we collect about 4 billion in fines from marijuana arrests annually.
We spend about 7.5 billion on incarceration and enforcement creating a deficit in the "war on marijuana".
However, if pot were legalized, taxed and controlled, similar to alcohol, we would put about 30 billion per year into the coffers.
Not to mention dramatic reductions in the violence associated with trafficking or the derailing of otherwise productive lives with minor convictions.
But the letter writer may have a point where it comes to the police behaving badly.
I had the unfortunate experience over the holiday weekend of being contacted for a ride by an individual who was arrested at one of Mesa's DUI mobile ops. Mind you I am a hardworking, tax paying, law abiding citizen who uses no drugs, legal or otherwise, save for an occasional ibuprofen and seldom even enjoy a sip of wine with dinner. And I'm just the driver here.
I arrived to find 8 of Mesa's finest standing around chewing the fat. Apparently they were just ending their shift and what one might call 'bragging' about their numerous arrests could be overheard.
When I asked for 'Person X' to be released I was treated to a round of laughter and some inappropriate and disrespectful comments. I saw no reason for me to be treated this way and voiced my displeasure.
Envision this if you will - a sole female in her 50's, standing 5 ft 4 inches surrounded by 8 armed officers. Their leader, identified as Sgt. Mikey, well over 6 ft tall and 280 lbs., felt the need to approach me and thrust his chest at me in confrontation (!) because I dared to say that I do not find this a laughing matter and that I expect to be treated with respect and courtesy. I stood my ground until Sgt. Mikey gathered his wits enough to at least use the word 'please' (good boy, Sgt. Mikey)
If he were to demonstrate any professionalism or leadership he would have commanded his subordinates to apologize to me. And if I were his Mother I'd have had him by the ear demanding it!!
To add insult to injury my call to their supervisor to complain formally has gone, as of this writing, unreturned.
loubator posted at 12:16 pm on Wed, May 30, 2012.
Duuuuuuuuude! Like, whoaaaaaaa! A kilo of the good stuff for like, the cost of a head of lettuce? Solid, man! Sign me up, bro! That much could keep me toasted for like a week, dude! I gots my apps in for a medical marijuana dispensary, bro, me and my buds are just like, stressing, you know? I hope I gets the license, dude. You'll have to come by and visit my dispensary, bro, and pick up some medicine. Thanks for turning me on to the cheap weed factoids, dude. Hope to meet real soon!
VofReason posted at 1:08 pm on Wed, May 30, 2012.
Yes I think every policemean I have ever talked to said they were in favor of letting murders run a amuck in favor of chasing down potheads. Yup, it is the police we need to keep our eye on, not the little potheads that are only there to help. Thank you for clarrifying. Amazingly, someone sat down and came up with this, sent it to a newspaper to print and put their name on it. Use to be that people would be embaressed of such foolishness.
bobunf posted at 9:20 pm on Wed, May 30, 2012.
Many of the comments above illustrate part of the reason why America, "the Land of the Free," has turned into Prison Land over the last 40 years. All with dire political, social, health and economic consequences.
What has happened to our country that we find it necessary to lock up SEVEN times as many people as we did in 1972? And do we feel any safer?
Why is it that we can't do at least as well as our neighbor Canada - with 1/7 the incarceration rate and 1/3 the homicide rate. Or France with 1/9 the incarceration rate and 1/4 the homicide rate.
Every developed country in the world does better than the US - with similar statistics for all, and numbers comparable to where we were only 40 years ago. Where did we go so wrong?
bobunf posted at 9:27 pm on Wed, May 30, 2012.
And what are we to make of comments like, "Police have no duty to be respectful of law breakers or those who would attempt to intercede on their behalf."
What does it cost to be courteous and respectful? As Churchill put it, "When you have to kill a man, it costs nothing to be polite."
Which is likely to escalate a situation? Or defuse it?
With attitudes like that one can see one reason why the US is so violent.
fae4now posted at 11:37 pm on Wed, May 30, 2012.
Bobunf,
Thank you for attempting to restore some level of decency to the discussion along with returning to topic.
I fear, though, that your efforts may be in vain.
sockratties posted at 9:21 am on Fri, Jun 1, 2012.
Rathum... As they say, data can give you any results you want. If you shoot from the hip with pure rhetoric you can be dead on every time. Since you want to specifically choose racial references you can end up with a racially loaded result. That’s a little like saying hungry people are susceptible to food poisoning.
Try adding in a few demographics like urban/suburban, affluence, education, roll models, family units and social opportunity. These data are interactive and if you choose you can blame them on the victim which is another ploy to ignore cause and effect.
If you wish to research the relationship of crime and social patterns there is a lot of information available. I suggest, however, that you do not. You will destroy your image of self righteousness and then you will have nothing left.
Rational Human posted at 5:46 pm on Fri, Jun 1, 2012.
lol, well well I seem to have hit a nerve. All my posts have been removed. The truth seems to be very painful it would seem.
Rational Human posted at 5:46 pm on Fri, Jun 1, 2012.
"Disrespecting older women"? How do you know she is an old hag?
bobunf posted at 7:12 pm on Fri, Jun 1, 2012.
Rational, I think it's something closer to undisguised bigotry won't be tolerated.
Rational Human posted at 8:08 am on Sat, Jun 2, 2012.
bob, I've seen all the undisguised bigotry in your comments and know exactly what you mean. You are one of the biggest bigots I've ever seen.
Rational Human posted at 8:10 am on Sat, Jun 2, 2012.
Yes bob, this country is so violent because cops aren't polite. Thank you for trying to restore some level of decency to the discussion. As I said it is not their duty to be polite to law breakers. Stop please! Stop or I'll shoot please! lol Not only is your assertion rediculous but it also ignores the real reason out country is so violent. Do any of you know who is committing the vast majority of violent crime in America? I rather doubt it because your media is trying to downplay the root cause due to it's potential for racial discord. I wish we could go back to a time before these people starting their rampage and cops were more friendly, but the times have changed and today's cops are much meaner as a result. Ignore the root cause and just blame guns or something else but never, never state the real cause. Here is a fact you can chew on for a while. Remove all data pertaining to Black and Hispanic crime figures from the FBI violent crime statistics and we have about the same violent crime statistics as most every other European country including England, where even carrying small pocket knives is a crime.
Rational Human posted at 8:13 am on Sat, Jun 2, 2012.
Now tell me how the above factually provable ideas are bigotry. I can backup my claim if you want to see the actual FBI crime statistics that prove my assertions here.
Rational Human posted at 8:18 am on Sat, Jun 2, 2012.
The one thing this idiot seems to have forgotten is that cops don't make the law nor should they be interpreting the law. They merely enforce the laws on the books, and pot is against the law. Buy pot puts money in the cartels hands that they are using to murder Mexicans at an alarming rate. They wouldn't have our guns at all if you drug users would obey the law and not buy their drugs. So you see, guns don't kill people, people who buy drugs kill people. Yes Leon, hard to believe the trib would lower their standards and allow something written by a drugged out freak to appear on their paper. In truth I agree that the drug war is a rediculous attempt to control something that cannot be controlled by outlawing it. The very moment the feds banned alcohol, organized crime sprang up to fill the void, and created the Mafia, which in turn began the illegal drug trade when they gave up the impossible and removed the Volstead Act. The very act of totally banning a substance gives all control over to drug peddlers who don't care who's children get hooked. If we allow something, we can control who gets it and when. Simple logic should rule here, but then when has our government ever acted logically?
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