[OGinparadise]

So patronizing. I was born in DC; I don't need the Wikipedia article on the crack epidemic.

Put that on your profile so next time this topic come up we know. Seriously. I didn't know that about you and time and time again posters post something from the past to give context.

Context might explain why the "tough on crime" politicians pushed for mandatory sentences even for minor amounts.

[_delirium]

I would say that playing to populist fears explains just about everything related to "tough on crime" politicians. It's also curious that the same "tough on crime" politicians seem for the most part surprisingly uninterested in the root causes of crime, such as poverty or lack of access to education.

[tokenadult]

Are you really sure that if there were no poverty and everyone had lots of education that there wouldn't be that kind of crime? Where are your real-world data to back up that idea?

[dspeyer]

Draw a map of drug-related violence. Draw a map of poverty. Same map?

[tokenadult]

No, actually, and you would readily observe that fact if you did just what you are suggesting that I do.

[benaiah]

Correlation != causation. Come on - you're not even trying.