Rethinking the War on Drugs – The Wall Street Journal, Mark Kleiman, Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken. Link by Tom M. The U.S. has reached a dead end in trying to fight drug use by treating every offender as a serious criminal. Blanket drug legalization has some superficial charm—it fits nicely into a sound-bite or tweet—but it can’t stand up to serious analysis. Mark Kleiman has ideas that provide an answer which history shows always falls somewhere in a middle ground. It is a realty based proposition; facts! View Frontline’s BUSTED, America’s War on Marijuana. and view Huffington Post’s online archive of Mark’s publications
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May 24, 2012 at 2:10 pm
Jon Taylor @ Bayon Testing
War on Drugs is a tough pill to swallow. No one wants rampant drug users running around but treating it as a criminal problem is not the solution either. If we poured as much money into real substance abuse training versus criminally prosecutions we could probably get somewhere. Education is key and sometimes I feel we lack in that department as a nation. Prosecute now, ask questions and help later.
May 24, 2012 at 2:24 pm
Bill Ford
Yes, Mark Kleiman has struck a balance which could and should work. Appreciate your respect and commentary on a tough issue. Personally, if carefully structured, I don’t think cost should be a big issue. We have facilities already that can be re-tooled, called prisons. Cordoning off the real criminals from stubborn addicts and drunks is a start…and respectfully, to also note the population of mentally ill addicts in our penal system. The screening capabilities that companies like yours can provide can enable identification of addicts.
May 24, 2012 at 2:34 pm
Jon Taylor @ Bayon Testing
I agree Bill.
I often times have concerned parents coming in for screenings and I tell them immediately up front that I’m all about education and not judging. The more parents know, the more their children will know. We have tools and contacts in place to help people get the help they need, if they desire it.
Unfortunately with our country, prisons are big business. When a prison is traded on the stock market, that should be alarming to anyone. An empty jail cell is looked at as a loss of money, instead of generating a smile that someone is bettering their lives outside of that cubicle.