Study: All non-violent criminals jailed on minor drug offence should be released • Hacker News Board

Re: Study: All non-violent criminals jailed on minor drug offence should be released

#191

Post by sigmaprimus » Tue, Jan 12, 2021, 2:32 PM UTC

princevegeta wrote: post #164

sigmaprimus wrote: post #95

I'm conflicted when it come to this idea, on one hand it does seem pointless to punish addicts but on the other, very few of the addicts that are incarcerated were not aware of the laws before they got caught. In many cases they traffic in "Minor" amounts to support their own addictions which just creates more addicts and spreads the sickness to other victims. In a perfect world, all drugs would be legal and more imp…

Why is it important if they know it’s illigal or not? Seems to me the important question is what harm they are doing to others.

Possibly You are right, it is very hard for me to comprehend what goes on inside the mind of an addict. I would say for arguments sake that the addict is also aware of the damage that they are doing to others but unfortunately the desire for the drug overpowers any sense of morality. Short of locking them up which then puts the burden and guilt on the rest of us, or making all drugs legal and free, I am not sure what would work. Like I said my thoughts are quite conflicted with this matter.

My personal solution although fairly selfish is to avoid getting into and breaking away from any relationship if and when it becomes apperant that someone is using.

Re: Study: All non-violent criminals jailed on minor drug offence should be released

#192

Post by clairity » Tue, Jan 12, 2021, 4:50 PM UTC

SubuSS wrote: post #67

clairity wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

thanks for relating your incarceration story. with the benefit of hindsight, 'tough on crime' was plainly power exerting itself on the populace to enhance its own esteem, not an exercise in creating a more just society. let's cut every sentence (and sentencing guidelines) by 90% right off the bat and use the savings for better rehabilitation programs (like more support systems, instructional content, and training pro…

I can sympathize with how this will work out for non-career criminals. How do you see this working out for repeat offenders? Seattle today has a mini-version of this FWIW: We have offenders who have 44+ counts of 'minor' arrests and a felony conviction on the street [1] getting involved in public shootings. Overall I like the part where folks who have paid their dues get their life back through a measured re-introduc…

somewhat echoing sibling (jsjsbdkj), 44 minor convictions tells me something else is going horribly wrong in that person's life, possibly from lifetime systemic injustices. without really understanding the person and their situation, we shouldn't pass judgment from selected tidbits in a news blurb.

we all make mistakes and break laws (often unknowingly) all the time. (harsh) punishment escalates the resentment cycle, pushing it to fester and metastasize, and is counterproductive to stable and harmonious societies. as such, you'll never completely segregate away injustice-fueled resentment, so the better strategy is to dissipate it away using compassion and care. much less than 1% of humans (and probably less than 0.001%) are truly irredeemable, requiring segregation from the rest of us. most petty crimes are of immediate, and often temporary, circumstance.

the crimes that need harsher punishment are those committed from positions of power that affect many people (like environmental disasters and corruption). by harsher, i mean take away all the money and status garnered from the crime and provide full restitution to victims (not lawyers), not longer prison terms.

Re: Study: All non-violent criminals jailed on minor drug offence should be released

#193

Post by sershe » Tue, Jan 12, 2021, 5:34 PM UTC

aaomidi wrote: post #54

cubano wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The problem after that is the stigma that follows you around forever. Tell me about it. Between my prison "stigma" and the discriminatory ageism that is very prevalent in the industry, and even though I have 30 years professional programming experience, I am currently finding it impossible to find any work. Can someone please tell me...what am I supposed to do at age 55? Find a new "career"...doing what? I know ple…

The call to end prisons, police funding, and prison funding is partially to solve this exact problem. I don't think ANYONE should be able to request a federal background check. I don't think background checks should be allowed for employment or housing. Same as credit checks. A person is either safe enough to be in society, or not. There should NEVER be an in between state. And before you say anything: 1. Yes I am fi…

This is defense in depth. We are way too lenient on the people who are not safe enough to be in society IMO, so it's good to have another mechanism. Recently, it's even worse than it's used to be... e.g. in Seattle they quickly release people back onto the streets after multiple separate violent assaults.

I think the incarceration for drug crimes and such should be stopped, but I am also a-ok with stigma following repeated and/or violent crime. I personally think people who have repeatedly shown to be too dangerous to live in society should never be released into said society, but if that mechanism is broken due to "compassion", at least I prefer to never interact with them.

Re: Study: All non-violent criminals jailed on minor drug offence should be released

#194

Post by 3131s » Wed, Jan 13, 2021, 4:19 AM UTC

specialist wrote: post #161

iridium_core wrote: post #10

Just legalise all drugs and let the free market decide. We could create innovative new substances which are safer and less socially damaging, compared to the plants and fermented liquids we happen to have stumbled upon millenia ago.

How would Freedom Drugs™ address addiction, safety, abuse? If at all.

Why don't you spend two seconds reading older threads, or anything at all on the topic, so you can get a clue?

Re: Study: All non-violent criminals jailed on minor drug offence should be released

#195

Post by 3131s » Wed, Jan 13, 2021, 4:38 AM UTC

MajorBee wrote: post #64

iridium_core wrote: post #10

Just legalise all drugs and let the free market decide. We could create innovative new substances which are safer and less socially damaging, compared to the plants and fermented liquids we happen to have stumbled upon millenia ago.

Well, cigarettes used to be all "free market" right from marketing to technology for quite some time, and we all know how that particular industry ended up. There are certain things that just seem to be a net-loss to society, no matter how much it may clash on an individual's right to destroy themselves. Cigarettes, hard drugs (and possibly even alcohol) seem to be among them.

You will not stop people from taking drugs. They will bring them over whatever distance, border, or other obstacle you put in place and the harder you try, the more money they'll make and the more havoc that will be wrought on your society and neighboring countries. How's it working out currently?

Criminalizing drug use and distribution creates a condition far worse than a legal and appropriately regulated market for marijuana, cocaine, heroin, mushrooms, opium, and more where users can buy standardized, well-labelled, individually packaged doses from a normal store (not a criminal empire).

Amongst all this crying about some idiots raiding the capitol and wanting to ban everyone for bad opinions, all these replies are hard to take seriously.