
Originally Posted by
megabyteme
Sorry, I assumed our failed "War on Drugs" was known to be a failure outside of our borders. We have certainly pressured enough foreign countries into joining in.
Actually, what I was referring to was more of a War on the Casual Marijuana User. People have spent years in jail for non-violent offenses involving smallish amounts of pot/plants, lost their houses/cars/boats/etc. At the same time, our prison system has grown drastically, and other criminals have gotten out.
The US's "War on Drugs" has been a disaster in terms of cost, justice, and personal liberties. I am somewhat happy it is not one of the "imports" that has arrived along with McDonalds...
The U.S. a country of 311 million people currently houses 2 million of them in prison, this is actually one quarter of the world's prison population. From this sum you can extrapolate that either A. the inhabitants of the U.S. are inherently a great deal more criminal than the rest of us, or B. the legal system is a tad overzealous.
Also the fact that under federal law marijuana is treated as a Class A drug and carries the same penalties as possession or distribution of Heroin, while the rest of the world treats possession at least as a minor offence and in many cases not even a prisonable one.
Bookmarks