On Wed, 9 Jun 2004 15:20:35 -0700, Larry Blanchard wrote:
In article ,
says...
Every year more people are placed behind bars because of their failings as
individuals and our failure to mend holes in our social programs.

They're in prison because they're ****ING CRIMINALS, bill.

That's more like it, Dave, I can disagree with you again :-).

Most of the current inmates are in there for breaking drug laws.
Apparently prohibition didn't teach us that the only thing we do

Oh good, I was getting a bit uneasy there. But, if this is an herbal
point, then we probably agree although I don't partake.

by banning a substance is make a bunch of criminals (see
Columbia) very rich.

Prohibition doesn't work. For anything. Legalize, regulate the
distribution and purity, and tax the hell out of it to fund rehab.

If we'd treat drug addiction as a medical problem, provide
supplies at cost or a modest profit, and try to find out and
fix what underlying social phenomena makes some people think
that frying their brains is preferable to living a normal life,
we wouldn't have to keep building new prisons.

There are victimless crimes, and there are people who choose to be
evil. It's the latter I have a problem with, and whom I have no
use for.