Rehabilitation? The parent post was about dealing - not using.
Someone who makes money off of the victims of drug dependence is horrible scum, and if you're willing to lock up con artists you should be able to work up the give-a-crap to lock up a heroin dealer.
The vast majority of people arrested for dealing are the equivalent of grocery store clerks. (Really, their job has less prestige than grocery store clerks.)
People are making a lot of money off of this, but not, for the most part, anyone who is at risk of getting arrested and charged with decades in prison.
Furthermore, arresting them has about as much effect on the drug trade as locking up all the clerks in a grocery store. The demand is still there, the distribution networks are still there, all they're missing is people willing to work for minimum wage or less. (And obviously there's no shortage there either.)
Lots of people make money off of the victims of drug dependence, including the entire pharmaceutical industry, Jack Daniels, Starbucks, psychiatrists, social workers, foster parents, and the entire law enforcement industry.
You're thinking of rehabilitation in the "recovery from addiction" sense.
The poster you're replying to is using rehabilitation in the "correct this person's future behavior" sense.
lock up a heroin dealer
The problem is that nearly 3/4 of all prisoners end up back in prison within 5 years [0]. Locking people up isn't changing their behavior. Locking up a heroin dealer isn't keeping them from dealing heroin once they get out.
So, either we need to lock people up indefinitely (which costs $$$ even if you're not swayed by the humanitarian arguments), or we need to figure out something more effective than trying to hammer our square peg (prison) through this round hole (reducing criminal behavior).
And since the other post mentioned my comment on fraudsters and con artists, dealers are not lying to people, they're just providing the consumer with what they want.
The ones who should be locked up are the fraudsters, because they mix things like Fentanyl, which may directly lead to someone's death (not to say people don't OD without that, but it is less often).
Honestly, I dislike anyone who takes advantage of other people's ignorance or incompetence. They are the bottom of the barrel of society in my opinion.
How is this different from beer and liquor companies making money off of dependency? Or taboacco companies? Or pain medicine companies? Or even companies engineering "bliss points" into their food?
Comments
Rehabilitation? The parent post was about dealing - not using.
Someone who makes money off of the victims of drug dependence is horrible scum, and if you're willing to lock up con artists you should be able to work up the give-a-crap to lock up a heroin dealer.
The vast majority of people arrested for dealing are the equivalent of grocery store clerks. (Really, their job has less prestige than grocery store clerks.)
People are making a lot of money off of this, but not, for the most part, anyone who is at risk of getting arrested and charged with decades in prison.
Furthermore, arresting them has about as much effect on the drug trade as locking up all the clerks in a grocery store. The demand is still there, the distribution networks are still there, all they're missing is people willing to work for minimum wage or less. (And obviously there's no shortage there either.)
Lots of people make money off of the victims of drug dependence, including the entire pharmaceutical industry, Jack Daniels, Starbucks, psychiatrists, social workers, foster parents, and the entire law enforcement industry.
Are all these people horrible scum?
You're thinking of rehabilitation in the "recovery from addiction" sense.
The poster you're replying to is using rehabilitation in the "correct this person's future behavior" sense.
The problem is that nearly 3/4 of all prisoners end up back in prison within 5 years [0]. Locking people up isn't changing their behavior. Locking up a heroin dealer isn't keeping them from dealing heroin once they get out.
So, either we need to lock people up indefinitely (which costs $$$ even if you're not swayed by the humanitarian arguments), or we need to figure out something more effective than trying to hammer our square peg (prison) through this round hole (reducing criminal behavior).
0: http://www.nij.gov/topics/corrections/recidivism/pages/welco...
Precisely.
And since the other post mentioned my comment on fraudsters and con artists, dealers are not lying to people, they're just providing the consumer with what they want.
The ones who should be locked up are the fraudsters, because they mix things like Fentanyl, which may directly lead to someone's death (not to say people don't OD without that, but it is less often).
Honestly, I dislike anyone who takes advantage of other people's ignorance or incompetence. They are the bottom of the barrel of society in my opinion.
How is this different from beer and liquor companies making money off of dependency? Or taboacco companies? Or pain medicine companies? Or even companies engineering "bliss points" into their food?