"an eightfold increase in state and Federal incarcerations for drug offenses, and
a threefold increase in crimes attributed to drugs."
These costs will be either eliminated (incarceration), or reduced (crime- because remember, it's not just addicts stealing for their drugs, a huge part of it is illegitimate gangs fighting over drug turf- And that would be eliminated- as well as the drug/gang related incarceration rate, which might do something to ease our horrible US incarceration rate- worst in the entire developed world.)
I have family experience with drug and alcohol costs- and quite frankly, I see very little difference between the two- except that alcohol costs are far more prevalent, and due to drunk driving, far more likely to take out innocents. I've met no people who work with drug users who think incarceration and criminalization are the answer. I taught students banned from school for drug "crimes"- usually involving small amounts of pot. From parole officers, to judges, to rehab, I've met NO ONE who supports the criminal model. I do not believe you that judges and parole officers and rehab people support a criminal model- unless, I guess, their livelihood is dependent on the criminal model. I suppose prison guards who might lose their jobs might be against decriminalization, as might a few other people, as well as people who don't really understand the costs- but the model of criminalization of drugs is quite similar to prohibition- and we all know how that turned out, don't we? Costs or not, it's easier to have alcohol legal, than to have a huge proportion of your population regularly flouting thte law, and thus losing respect for law in general (and for me, this is one of the most important points). |
