Should Casual Drug Users Be Imprisoned or Should They Be Required to Undergo Addiction Treatment Instead?
Question by james: Should casual drug users be imprisoned or should they be required to undergo addiction treatment instead?
Best answer:
Answer by Mina
I believe that drug prohibition is a dismal failure and has done nothing but cause crime and create criminals of ordinary citizens. People going to jail for using pot is absolutely ridiculous, especially when jails are already crowded.
Legalizing pot would be a good step, and offering counseling and detox programs to people doing more damaging drugs instead of putting them in jail would be a good one as well.
Answer by Jitter
Neither. They are casual users, they are not addicted nor dealing the drugs out to people.
I might be biased though, considering I am one myself.
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I think the criminalization of drugs has been one of the biggest failures of the United States government, and a huge waste of taxpayer’s money and law enforcement’s time. The only victim of drug abuse us the abuser themselves… alcoholism isn’t a crime, we don’t have an entire task force dedicated to seeking out and arresting alcoholics, but alcoholism is just as severe and detrimental to society as the abuse of any other drug.
I think marijuana should be controlled and legalized, and an extra tax should be added to both alcohol and marijuana to support rehab clinics and half-way houses in our country so that people with serious abuse problems can get the HELP they need, instead of being treated like the criminals they aren’t.
As for drug dealers, I believe they should be held accountable for the violent crimes they commit, but not the drug possession and sales themselves. There is undoubtedly a huge amount of crime associated with drug dens and dealers, but we should target those crimes, not the “crime” of drug use itself. If we can remove the dealers from the streets because of the actual crimes they commit – owning unregistered fire arms, child endangerment, tax evasion, etc. – we can decriminalize the victimless crime of drug use itself.
I have to agree with the other two. I’ve learned some of the history of marijuana prohibition and it is full of misinformation. It’s basically the religious groups that fought for and failed at alcohol prohibition still had this giant propaganda machine and they still wanted to use it. They seem to have targeted weed because it was used by poor people, blacks, and immigrants, all of whom were not liked. This gave the police an excuse to arrest and convict these people. Arrests of middle class white people didn’t happen and still seems to be far more lenient than what is done to the poor, the black, and Mexican immigrants.
Marijuana information is also rife with misleading propoganda. I read in a health textbook from the 1980s that they tried to describe an amotivational syndrome associated with it, where users faced a perpetual lack of motivation to do anything and were very apathetic. No. It’s also not chemically addictive, although irresponsible users will tend to self-medicate to mask whatever emotional problems they have and will become psychologically dependent on it. It’s also not toxic, although the hot smoke is naturally harmful, there are no cases of marijuana overdose and the tar can be minimized via filters and the heat can be removed via a bong. For comparison, there are cases of Water overdose in drinking contests. There are also experts who cite that large black markets would be unable to operate if marijuana was legalized and that the quality of marijuana could be improved to minimize harmful effects, require smaller intake for effect, and could be regulated as a source of tax money. The only real risks are psychosis for people with certain mental disorders and driving issues due to delayed reaction time. Both of these risks are much less than the already legalized alcohol.
As for other drugs, it depends on whether the user is addicted (I’m against all addictive substances, and don’t give me that free choice to use baloney because the addiction takes away a person’s free choice to not use). Second, it depends on health effects of the drug and whether the drug can be reasonably linked to any crime the user has committed, aside from petty crime like speeding or jaywalking, etc.
I am not a drug user, casual or otherwise, but drug use should not be a crime. It should be legalized and controlled by prescription.
Drug use is a coping strategy, I think it depends on the individual on what they want
nobody should be imprisoned purely for drug use, if there addiction that has lead to being involved in crime then “yes” i think prison is the answer but why imprison somebody for using the only coping strategy they know (even if it is destructive). prisons are already overcrowded without locking every drug user up for there addiction. not to mention the amount of added stress on social services with all of the homeless children that would arise because of the issue.
I also think that nobody should be forced to undergo addiction treatment in any form. i think that in order to rehabilitate someone effectively it has to be a two way thing. Nobody can be forced to quit drugs and i think that it is a waste of time and money to sit and talk at somebody who doesn’t want to get better. It needs to be a partnership, an open and honest relationship were the drug user work with services and uses other coping strategies to help themselves.
I guess for me as long as its not affecting others I guess it is ok. It is not a crime for me but because we are under this law that prohibit of using this then I guess it is. Not unless this law is change. As long as the person is not addicted to it or has no sign of addiction I guess there is no need for him or her to undergo treatment. It would just be a waste of government’s money.