The police tend to have rather odd things to say on drugs. My daughter was given very strange (and sometimes incorrect information) from her DARE officer. I can only draw the conclusion that the police are running on some sort of talking points system based on data given to them by the feds- who seem, as they are in so many areas, to be fueled by faith based logic, rather than by actual statistic, facts, or good studies. When I say faith based- I don't mean religious per se- I mean the idea that "If we believe it's true, it's true- regardless of what the facts might be outside the scope of our belief."
I don't believe you because my experience is completely different. I need to believe the evidence of my own experience- that's the ONLY thing it says about me. You said to talk to people- I tell you I HAVE, and what I have experienced is completely different- so I cannot believe in your conclusions. Everyone I have met in the system (although I haven't met any prison guards) - rehab people, lawyers, judges, doctors, parole officers- think decriminalization is the answer. The police tend to be split on the matter- but then the police forces tend to draw folks who like an authoritarian model, no matter what the problem is. You know the old saying "When the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail"- well the police tend to think of incarceration that way. I don't blame them for it, but I think it's a certain blindness that develops from being in a bad system, and not wanting to think of it as a bad system. |
