A drug offender's take on drug laws

[BehindBlueI's]

I interviewed a guy on a robbery recently, and he stated his motive was money for crack cocaine. This isn't unusual. What was someone unusual is he had a pending cocaine possession charge when I talked to him...and he was disappointed with the legislature for downgrading the offense. He said higher sentences should be attached to crack and heroin because of how much crime they cause and because harsher penalties would keep more people from doing drugs. I figured I'd delve into that a bit for my own curiosity, as we'd already covered the robbery pretty well.

I asked him the longest he'd ever been clean while "out". He said 10 months. Reason? Impending death of a family member, so he wanted to be out of jail for the passing and the funeral. Then 2 months after getting out the last time.

So, I ask, the harsher penalties didn't keep you from using crack again.

Yes they did, for two months, he answered.

It felt a bit odd to be the cop arguing that longer drug sentences were useless to prevent drug use and the crack addict arguing they should be stiffer and he's disappointed in the legislature for not taking crack more serious.

So I asked him what would be the best thing to help him not reoffend and his answers were:
1) Reunite with my family
2) Home detention instead of work release, work release is where all the drugs are
3) Better drug treatment counseling in prison

Note that even after telling me how the penalties mattered, when asked to list things that would help him not reoffend, penalties weren't there. He knew he screwed his life up by becoming addicted to crack, that his other crimes stem from that, and that if he could get off crack he'd have a chance at a straight life...but that his odds of doing so were slim. It was actually pretty damn sad. One stupid decision very early in his life...a life time of very real consequences.

 

[steveh_131]

Interesting perspective, thanks for sharing.

Heart-breaking to say the least. Addiction is a terrible thing. Sometimes programs, rehab, jail, etc. can help. Sometimes it just leads to a different form of addiction, maybe a less damaging one.

I've seen God do some pretty miraculous things in the hearts of addicts, though.

 

[HoughMade]

The discussion is fascinating.

...but I can't help but think that when Kirk reads about this in depth "interview", it will inspire him to lift a fist to the heavens while bellowing: "WHY WON'T ANYONE LISTEN TO ME?!"

 

[shootersix]

but the most important thing, and in your story even reinforces the fact is "that the person wants to quit!" i got into a "discussion" with a Id10T runnion for local office, he said we need more "diversion programs" for drug offenders, less jail time! then he said the new drug problems are comming from drug cabinets abd that kids are going through their parent medicine cabinets!

i laughed at him and said "my medicine cabinet wont explode!" (we had been talking about meth labs!)

now my story with drugs(not me but my familys)

my father is an alcoholic has been all his life!, about 30 years ao he started trying to quit, never worked he didnt want to, 25 years ago, he got drunk accused my mom of cheating on him with a guy at work(mom has taking all the overtime she could, my dad had been laid off for a year or two, and had just got back to work at a new job, and had taken a major pay cut, and since mom was a nurse she could get all the ot she wanted), and as she was getting ready to leave, he threw a pot of hot coffee on her, that night i took my sisters to my grandmoms house, and i went back home, but when i got home he was gone, he'd left to go to a friends house, i got home from work the next day, and he was on the couch with mom crying, he was waiting for me to come home to say he was sorry, he'd talked to his friend, and my mom, had talked to his new job, and they had said that it was ok for him to go to rehab(he would still have a job and that insurance would cover the cost), that was the last time he drank, and 25 years later, he's still clean and sober! (he has his 25 year aa chip).

before that day, i wanted to kill my dad! i hated him! every time i saw him he was drunk! and i didnt see him often! all through school he worked second shift, so i only saw him on weekends, but i remember seeing bear cans littered all thru the house(well beer cans on payday...and mad dog the farther it got away from payday)

but he wanted to quit that time! he had a reason! my mom, and mom passed away 2 years ago, and i talked to him, i said i was worried that he would start drinking again, he told me that he promised my mom he would never drink again, and that he still means it, he's my best friend.

now the other drug story...
my nephew, at 16 he was sent to "kiddie jail" in vincennes, got out at 18, still drinks, still smokes(weed) and other drugs(meth im sure), he's stolen drugs from my father(he got cought trying to smuggle it into the kiddie jail), he got a ticket for minor in possesion of alcohol, and didnt go to court, so im sure he has a bench warrant for his arrest, he's done others that i wont put on here!

but now the big differance between the to stories...one wanted to quit the other dosent!

 

[Dead Duck]

INGOtarians preach that all drug laws need to be repealed as do all "Victimless Crimes" laws.

 

[steveh_131]

Because the drug laws did such a great job of preventing these drug addicts from becoming drug addicts?

 

[foszoe]

Because the drug laws did such a great job of preventing these drug addicts from becoming drug addicts?

Shouldn't the question be did they prevent more people from becoming drug addicts then those that became addicted?

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

Because the drug laws did such a great job of preventing these drug addicts from becoming drug addicts?

They don't not work all the time. I quit messing around with that stuff way back in high school or early college in large part because they said I could wind up in jail or worse and I believed them.

 

[Trigger Time]

INGOtarians preach that all drug laws need to be repealed as do all "Victimless Crimes" laws.

Yep they do. But I don't claim to be An ingotarian.

 

[Dead Duck]

As I remember, the right has always wanted stiffer laws and harsher punishments than the ones we have now.
Harsher punishments will always deter but they have to stick and stop plea dealing them down. I know the cops are tired of busting the same guys over and over.

Slap on the wrist will never have an impact the drug problem.

Making drugs legal will also never have an impact the drug problem.

 

[Leadeye]

Interesting stories.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

As I remember, the right has always wanted stiffer laws and harsher punishments than the ones we have now.
Harsher punishments will always deter but they have to stick and stop plea dealing them down. I know the cops are tired of busting the same guys over and over.

Slap on the wrist will never have an impact the drug problem.

Making drugs legal will also never have an impact the drug problem.

Unless we simultaneously remove the various safety nets that allow abusers to not feel the full weight of the consequences of their decisions.

 

[steveh_131]

Shouldn't the question be did they prevent more people from becoming drug addicts then those that became addicted?

No, I don't think that's a good question at all. I don't think that my tax dollars should be used to babysit people in jail so they don't become drug addicts.

 

[indiucky]

The discussion is fascinating.

...but I can't help but think that when Kirk reads about this in depth "interview", it will inspire him to lift a fist to the heavens while bellowing: "WHY WON'T ANYONE LISTEN TO ME?!"

I quit carrying AIWB because of Kirk and felt guilty for pocket carrying while wearing my colostomy bag...Kirk makes sense and does it with warped humor...He will get through eventually.....

 

[SpiritClump]

hmmm, interesting perspective. Thanks for sharing. We all make mistakes. It's unfortunate some people end up messing up their entire lives because of one mistake.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

but I can't help but think that when Kirk reads about this in depth "interview", it will inspire him to lift a fist to the heavens while bellowing: "WHY WON'T ANYONE LISTEN TO ME?!"

It took some prolonged therapy but I am ok with the world not listening to me.

And by therapy I mean weekends with a bottle of sotol.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

They used to have harsher penalties for crack than for powder cocaine, but they recently reduced it to the same penalty because liberals claimed it was racist (since presumably minorities couldn't afford the "good stuff").

 

[The Bubba Effect]

.

 

[Leo]

It seems America has the "peace corp" view of law, which is a religion called secular humanism.

Drug laws are not supposed to be about prevention or taking care of the offender, THEY ARE FOR PROTECTING THE LAW ABIDING!! While the guy is locked up, he is not endangering the lives of the law abiding, he is not stealing from those who obtained their possessions the lawful way, or reproducing offspring that will be even worse than he is. Look back 1000 years of history, every society that changes the laws to protect the offenders ends up creating more victims and ushering in the break down of society. The only real change in the offenders is not by laws, but is in change of heart, something that governmental laws have never had any effect. In the history of our own country, the period of time that we had the lowest capital crime rate was also the period where we executed the highest percentage of capital criminals. Today we are subsidizing criminality.

 

[mrjarrell]

Ten Years After Decriminalization, Drug Abuse Down by Half in Portugal - Forbes

14 Years After Decriminalizing All Drugs, Here's What Portugal Looks Like - Mic

Evaluating Drug Decriminalization in Portugal 12 Years Later - SPIEGEL ONLINE

Here's a series of looks at what Portugal did. We could certainly do worse than follow their example. As a matter of fact we are doing worse. It's time for a change. Jail hasn't really helped BB's burglar. We need to try something different for the addictions and drug use.