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The problem driving the move to reduce prison population is the cost of operating prisons which has added greatly to the financial problems for the states and the Federal prison systems. It is popular now to ease up on marijuana question so it is easy to suggest this angle to reduce the population and thus reduce the cost by easing up on this crime. The problem is not that simple to solve. The prison industrial complex will not allow any movement to reduce prison populations. This is one of the only growth industries left and it has tremendous clout. They continuously lobby to create new laws that will put more people in prison. They want more prisons built and Prison Guards Union wants more jobs. I expect that Eric Holder's pronouncement will fade out quickly as soon as the prison lobbyists have their say. You can expect a torrent of fear based arguements about how dangerous it will be to allow all those dopers on the street.
He was obviously smoking something funny?
Maybe, since Snowden's revelations about the NSA spying on every one of us, including all the Congress People, Holder himself, and Pres Obama, they now realize that many of them could very easily get put into prison for smoking dope.
Interesting idea! After all Air America was used to transport drugs into the US during Vietnam.
Interesting! ;-}
Draft them for community service but not for the military... even if they were treated rough and have a mean old drill sergeant as long as there is no obligation to send these people off to yet another war. An abundance of soldiers will only encourage the politicians to invade some other countries. And it looks like they are trying real hard to make a case for invading Iran right now. In fact, I wouldn't be too surprised if this rift between Russia and the US right now over Snowden and over differences in Syria will grow into another cold war...their "terrorists" theatrics is wearing thin and starting to be questioned by a lot of people so they may just try reverting back to Russia as our new enemy. There wouldn't be any wars if the war mongers didn't have armies to sacrifice.
AGREED !!!
Great post
Holder is late to the 'party' Whatever his motves I agree Prisons are for Violent criminals, murderers, rapists, armed robbers. ' Small time ' drug users Do not need to be in jail at huge Taxpayer expense ! Instead they should serve our country ,do public service .
Drug treatment / rehab.. whatever. Politicians just LOVE to TAKE , WASTE or STEAL OUR MONEY ! . Americans are sick to death of them !!!!
For far too long we've waged a war on people who ostensibly "abuse" drugs, unable to differentiate between use and abuse, while ignoring completely or even subsidizing drugs that abuse people, especially alcohol and tobacco. Tobacco has historically been one of the highest subsidized crops in all of agriculture, getting far more in subsidies that food crops.
Another change I would like to see is in the obtuse Controlled Substance Act, Currently the power to schedule drugs as harmful, having no medical value and/or having a high potential for abuse is given to lawyers. The Act itself falls under the powers of the Attorney General. I'd like to see the scheduling power be given to doctors and the Act moved over to the control of the Surgeon General, admitting "drug abuse" is a medical problem, not a law enforcement problem. Putting drug users in prison makes no sense as inside our prisons is where the highest per capita use of illegal drugs occurs.
Around the time the Controlled Substance Act went into effect, at least one of Nixon's children had been busted for drugs, pot I believe. So in order not to appear soft on drugs, Nixon made sure these powers weren't given to doctors because doctors could easily be swayed by those annoying things called "facts" that could disrupt policy. Policy all along has seemed to favor the profits that a Black Market paradigm can generate. In the 1970s, the illegal drug trade was a $400 million per year industry. By 1980, it had grown ten fold to a $4 billion per year industry. By 1990, another order of magnitude increase brought it up to a $40 billion per year industry. Today, its over a $400 billion per year industry.
Even our presence in Afghanistan has allowed for the doubling of the heroin industry. Prior to our invasion, the Taliban had destroyed 90% of the opium poppies. Today, heroin production has doubled from its pre-invasion high to an $88 billion industry.
I have suspicians that the drones "patrolling" our southern border are really just elaborate ways to traffic drugs and money back and forth across the border. All the while looking as if we're preventing illegal aliens from entering our country.
Several banks have already been indicted in laundering drug money. And it would seem ignorant to think that banksters wouldn't have their fingers deeply sunk into the drug trade with hundreds of billions of tax free money to be manipulated.
On the flip side, drug users do make good employees, often being promoted faster than non users in the private sector. So our Corporate Prisons may suffer a lapse in quality and productivity, but it may move those things closer to the wages they pay, if any.
Ten times as many people die playing Bingo than die from all illegal drugs combined. Yet conspicuous by its absence is any decades long "War on Bingo." The vast majority of illegal drugs being "used or abused" aren't even lethal. The CIA were giving 30,000 hits of LSD to one person!
Republicans and libertarian upper middle class pot smokers in their late fifties and early sixties should be thrilled. Lawyer and doctor bud will no longer be a threat to them or their kids. The government will no longer be intruding into their lives privately regarding pot. Frankly I think all drugs should be legal and dispensed (sold) and managed by something like OLCC. At the same time rehabilitation should be widely available to anyone who desires. I work in a branch of the alcohol service industry. I am not a drinker myself but I observe the number of both upscale and poverty alcoholism running rampant. Especially among affluent patrons of the wine industry. The mental depression of the average US citizens is really alarming. Seems everyone is drunk or drunk and stoned and concaine is more prevalent now than in the disco era. It is time for alternative management.
Chuckle8: And you forgot to mention that Obama helped make the $700billion bank bailout a reality....and that Obama petted his dog. Was it really in the interest of progressives to bail out Chrysler and GM? Was it really in the interest of the nation to bail out the banks? You consider those things to be progressive/Democrat good deeds? Somehow, I just can't fathom the big bosses in GM, Chrysler, and the banks as being worthy of being bailed out. They get huge bonuses and salaries even though they are the main reasons behind the failures...they use parts largely all made in China or elsewhere instead of in the US like they used to be...all to maximize their profits..then they skim off the top...and then squeeze the workers out of their jobs.
Obama is part of the problem....the corrupt Democrat Party is part of the problem...it's not just the Republicans...they're indisputably the biggest @$$holes...but the solution is not to elect the cowardly Democrats...because they make promises they don't intend to keep. They are sell outs. They have no balls to stand up to the ruling elite. We need someone who can stand up to them whether that is through a third party or through a massive rebellion in the streets of America.
About time!
If Holder does indeed issue new guidelines for sentencing and prosecuting drug offences he needs to take it one step further and remove the financial incentive to incarcerate people by stopping the privatization of prisons in the U.S. Else the powers that be will just move to criminalize other activities and behaviors. The right will just not allow their corporate friends to not make a profit.
Common sense at work here. The stupid party will fight it.
It's about God-Damned time something has been said about this! And no need to simply stop there! This whole "War on Drugs" line of insanity has completely ruined this country's finicance's, famiies, and tied-up countless hundreds of thousands of court-hours. I personally know of a man that has in five (5) years in a county jail fighting a drug-related charge in which no drugs were even found! It's time we stop 'warehousing' people so private as well as state institutions can no longer profit off of inhuman/unjust incarcerations. This bull-shit is something you'd read about from some third-world country, not in the "Land of the Free"!
Bottom line here is reslly simple. Like Everything the Obama people do, it's half way at best. NO ONE should be in jail for pot, no one should be in jail for victimless crimes, banksters & Wall Streeters should be made totally poor by fines & so on. People in the country illegally should be after conviction should be sent back to their country of origin. Our prison population should be cut by at least 75%.... Obama should stand before the people & say simply, POT is not illegal.
chuckle8 ~ That is really a great idea! It has the added benefit that in this country with all the foreign illegal wars that such a policy would quickly lead to a rebellion. What better way to keep the government and military honest. A splendid idea! Just make sure wealthy kids have to serve too. Make sure you draft everyone and not just kids that can't afford an education!
Palin -- The things that Obama did with a filibuster proof senate did not seem like a blue dog to me. Such things as
1 Chrysler Saved
2 GM Saved
3 AHCA passed (AKA Obamacare); (because of blue dogs like Max Baucus it was not a single player plan; to get Sen Baucus to sign it, Max's county got single payer.)
4 Middle class tax cut
5 Went from losing 750,000 per month to 30 straight months of job gains (in spite of Republican governors cutting 4.5 million jobs)
6 Education spending increased
7 Laws against hate crimes strengthened
8 CHIPS expanded (Childrens Health Insurance Program)
9 Forced through Child Labor Laws
10 consumer protection agency formed
11 Credit card reform
12 Predatory lending to soldiers restricted
13 Troops paid for stop loss time
14 Torture stopped
15 VA spending increased
16 Women allowed to serve on subs
17 Equal pay for women
18 Nuclear arms reduction proposal
19 BP cleanup fund
20 EPA strengthened
21 FDA powers broadened
22 Healthcare for 9-11 responders funded (during Bush Term it was ignored)
23 DADT was repealed
24 Within 24 hours of his inaugration in 2009, he ordered that the financial statistics of the top 400 families should be treated like everyone else's; that is, they should not be a classified government document.
I like the Swiss way. Draft everyone for 1 year of service followed by free college education.
Duh!! Did Holder just come up with this idea on his own? Did it come to him in a dream or was it in his fortune cookie? Did one of his nephews just get busted with a joint? Give me a break! This should have been one of the first priorities of the Obama Administration when he took office. In fact, Clinton should have done it when he first took office. For that matter, Carter had a chance and screwed up too. He even came out and said that, "Penalties for using drugs should not be worse that the consequences of the drugs themselves." How many thousands of innocent nonviolent young men and women have suffered needlessly during the past 33 years of this stupid war against the people? How many millions of dollars have been squandered? How much damage has this done to the psychology of a generation of ex cons?
I do hope that part of Holder's plan is to release current nonviolent drug offenders as much as curb future prosecution.
Don't get me wrong! I am ecstatic that someone in power has the wherewithal finally to do something about a great injustice. However, I have no choice but to be suspicious about the motive for this move. Everyone is aware that these laws are immoral, tyrannical, and unconstitutional. I certainly hope that there isn't an underlying seriously malevolent motive.
Carson L ~ Makes an excellent point. Now, with little jobs available, especially for ex cons, this is the perfect opportunity for the military to jump on this prison exodus in order to fuel their military machine. Historically tyrants have always had huge prison populations and resorted to them for their military when the loyalty in the citizenry started to wear out. I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that this is one of the big motives behind immigration reform as well. Sudden realization that the current drug laws are wrong is just not a notion that I can buy. Nice gesture; but, like with everything else this corporatocracy does, there must be some profit reason behind it.
Numbers are up for prisons and down for enlistment. What better way to reform someone than giving them like a year long bootcamp? Fail to pass boot camp, go back to prison. Next. Can't we just start with nonviolent yet long term convicts by offering them a significant deduction in their prison sentence for their non-compensated service in our military? Naturally I would disagree with giving them weapons or control of any weapon systems and throwing them out on the front lines. But fortunately, I'm not certain on this number, but approximately 80% of the work done in all branches of the military are not weapon related. With time, those good men who were raised with terrible ideas and examples, who made bad choices at a very young age (as do us all) and got convicted for it, will begin to reenlist and run these boot camps and become the co's of such pre-enlisted level of service. Also, this could be an excellent way for convicts to provide for their children while serving the time for their crimes. Maybe their children could be allowed to stay with them at speacial, sentence enlistment barracks. It's the children we need to be worried about, as long as they're left out on the streets with no guidance then they will continue to make bad desicions. This also could drastically change the severity of penalty dealt out for especially non violent offenders, as in Bad Bankers. Knowing that whistle blowing on your rich boss will land him in the slammer getting god knows what done to his body vs. knowing that whistle blowing on your boss will land him in a system for much needed reform on his thought processes concerning the value of other peoples lives might be just the kind of approach we've been missing to let justice naturally float to the top where it desires and deserves to be.
Palindromedary ~ Actually you make a very good point! That thought hadn't occurred to me before; but, now that you mention it, that too could be a large part of this countries psychosis on many levels. Perhaps even the major underlying cause. Especially with men. Men like to feel like they are in control as a result of our cultural conditioning. When you place them in an environment such as in our country under this war machine they do tend to shrink from any manly task of doing something about it. That denial and cognitive dissonance alone can lead to a plethora of negative psychosis--everything from drug abuse to spousal abuse. Eating disorders, excessive greed and selfishness could almost be seen as side effects. As someone I respect whose name shall remain nameless once said, 'that to be subject to a tyrant turns good men into mean men.' That certainly makes much more sense now.
Thanks Palindromedary! I knew that between us we could answer MMmmNACHOS inquiry.
It seems to me that you have done far more than merely use religious terms...you've often gone way overboard in quoting many passages of scripture a number of times. It seems to me that you are, on one hand, trying to suggest that you distance yourself from religion and then try to claim some familiarity with scientific thinking yet you have, in the past, also said, if I'm not mistaken, that you believe in demons as well as in God. Science does not rely on superstitious ideas. Some of your comments sound to me not unlike those of Scientific Creationists. There is no scientific proof for demons or a God and the burden of proof lies with those who claim they exist not with those who don't believe in them. Those just-pretend ideas are no more valid than any other mythical ideas that have been created in the people's imaginations down through history. They are no more valid than fire-gods, moon-gods, sun-gods, fairies, or any other supernatural beings that the imagination has conjured up.
I don't see how anyone can expect to use religious terms to "free our country from wanton greed" especially when religious terms have been used so skillfully, and so often, to effectively steal from so many people. Churches, especially the really big ones, do that quite well...oh sure, they have token charity programs to convince people that they are all good guys. But that is just a front, a facade, a shiny bauble to lure the little fishies to their traps.
Scoundrels are always using religious terms to screw people. They use religious terms because they know how effective it is against vulnerable people...ie: superstitious and religious people. Yes, "blessed are the meek" for they shall be royally ripped off of all their worldly goods so that the rich can buy yet another yacht or chateau. And they "shall inherit the earth" ...yeah, after the rich have turned it into a burned out cinder...who'd want it then? But the earth that most will "inherit" is a dark, dank pit 6 feet down after they die early deaths from lack of decent health care.
I agree with some of the points you made in your last few paragraphs. But, you seem to be saying that the reason why we are having so many problems now is because the masses need to be better educated, better trained, feel better about themselves and then everything will be better. But it doesn't address the fact that the wolves are already eating us for lunch. Very well educated and skillful Americans are already overly educated and skilled for the few lousy jobs that have been left since the wolves have sent our jobs overseas. The only way we will be able to reinforce our self-esteem is when we overthrow those bastards and relieve them of all their worldly goods..the goods they managed to relieve us of over the years. I really don't think that will happen through a corrupt democratic system.
2950-10K ~ How true!
DAnneMarc: I never said the Democrats are the ultimate answer. The party however does represent an opportunity for infiltration by progressives.....the only nonviolent path in my opinion to Democratic Socialism. By the way, as I've said before I'm a Socialist leaning independent who votes Green Party when it makes sense.....in other words when I'm not throwing away my vote in a tight race between, as others have described, evil and more evil. With more evil there's not a snowballs chance in hell, short of violent revolution, we the people can get any representation.
It only takes four ingredients..... Conservative lawmakers, ALEC, corporate lobbyists, and red states, shake well, and you get taxation without representation....at least for 99.9% of the population in those states. I wonder if that rings a bell with any tricorn wearing Teabaggers out there?