| came out of class and work today to find my bike was stolen right off campus. its not a surprise really i kinda of expected it because my lock just broke. im getting kind of immune to being robbed my cars been broken into twice everyone i know has either been victim of some similar crime or worse or knows many people who have been.
yesterday i happened to attend a meeting at our town hall about reforming the drug laws in the city. a narcotics agent told his story about how when the drug war started there wasnt even a real problem and how they would just go around and hang out with groups of kids and eventually bust them. talked about how the drug war in essense has created the huge drug problem we know have. an economist takled about how much money the city and nation could save. but i already knew most of the things they were saying but what moved me was some of the things the community members had to say.
everyone here and in many other cities knows the problems that come from the crime associated with drugs. but it was really nice to see that so many people realized its not the drugs it the laws. one kid got up and talked about how if we had more jobs in the city there wouldnt be this much drug dealing/use becasue people would be working. one kid got up and talked about how since hes got a felony over his head and our laws are so strict he cant move on with his life. he paid his time was his point and hes going back to school trying to get his life in order but the community needs to do more to help people who want to reform get back on track becasue right now all it does is hold them down. another guy who was pissed got up and said how he was beaten up by a cop for no reason cause they wanted so search his car for no reason. its crazy there was a lot more but im sure everyone knows what im talking about. most of the stories and problems all stemmed from the same thing the problems associated with the war on drugs not the drugs themselves. even a reverand came up and said that. it was intense people were getting hyped they all want change.
the council who the meeting was speaking too didnt seem to have a clue about what to do about the situation. thats what disturbs me. i mean we know what would solve many many of the problems. first make marijuana not a crime its just rediculous and a waste of money, second open institutions that provide addicts with safe drugs and a specified amount of them and social programs for them to get a job etc. this would cut out the crime associated with drug use. but how does a city of state or country pay for this?? do they use the money they save from not incarcarating people etc? do they raise taxes? do we bring in jobs? there is another meeting in a few weeks so im hoping the momentum that people started yesterday keeps going and hopefully we have more solutions to bring to the table. what do you guys think about the war on drugs its problems? what about solutions to drug associated crime etc? stories facts tell. |