[anon3_]

In my opinion, it's about drugs and cultural undertones that drugs are permissive, that you can be the "druggie guy", and to some, it's hip and cool. I blame the intelligentsia.

Try the scenario when you're in a low income family with an addict. This very easily leads to a vicious cycle - eventual arrest and incarceration. That's one less person coming home with a paycheck. That's a family growing up a generation with a criminal.

And our culture doesn't shame (rightfully) the selfishness of doing drugs - it's ramifications on families. Instead, we blame cops, we blame the government, the privileged roll eyes and think being soft, sympathetic and compassionate will help.

Whatever the solution we want to take to crime - and however hip Ivy League law students make going soft on this and that - our culture needs to recognize criminal acts are inherently selfish, not cool.

[droopyEyelids]

If the system was concerned about helping the families of addicts, or even lessening the suffering in society, it would be impossible to make an argument that jailing a non violent drug offender (destroying their family, preventing them from getting a job in the future, inflicting them with mental trauma, probably infecting them with hep-c) is beneficial. That kind of trauma would drive most people further into despair and drug use.

[panzagl]

I do wonder how and why we're supposed to get people into treatment if drugs aren't illegal- "Hi citizen I noticed you're enjoying a legal activity with deleterious long term effects. Please take this pamphlet with a list of treatment centers and voluntarily enroll." It's worked so well with tobacco and alcohol.

[maxerickson]

It has worked out with tobacco, quite well.

http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/tables/trends/cig...

[wil421]

Alcohol problems have seemed to take a downward trend in recent decades as well. Although it looks like pregnant women are drinking more!

http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/Social/Module1Epidemi...