U.S. Incarceration Rate - 1925-2001 - Has this huge increase been justified??

[BioDefenseGrad]

Who cares how much time they are serving. If they are in prison because of a minor drug offence they shouldn't even be there.

It's like in California when they arrested a guy for his third strike and all he did was steal a candy bar. I would recommend community service unless he was a compulsive shoplifter. Then there would have to be something harsher.

Most people don't spend extensive amounts of time in prison for minor drug offenses. Hell in southern California the sheriff they normally don't spend time in prison, because it's filled with violent criminals and parole vilolators. People go to jail for minor drug offenses, but it's normally connected to what else they're doing at the time.

I'm all for making marijuana legal, as soon as there's a proper "breathalyzer" developed that can detect when someone has had too much to drive. We could even tax it and use it to pay for worthy programs that are facing budget cuts.

 

[D-rock]

On one hand forensic evidence has probably gotten better at catching criminals. On the other hand there really are a lot of dumb ass laws out there and I think it's a combination of both.

I'm all for making marijuana legal, as soon as there's a proper "breathalyzer" developed that can detect when someone has had too much to drive.

Cars and alcohol were around a long time before a breathalyzer was invented to test blood alcohol level. We managed fine back then.

 

[BioDefenseGrad]

On one hand forensic evidence has probably gotten better at catching criminals. On the other hand there really are a lot of dumb ass laws out there and I think it's a combination of both.




Cars and alcohol were around a long time before a breathalyzer was invented to test blood alcohol level. We managed fine back then.

Do you know how many people were killed in Alcohol related accidents back then? Add up the fact that we now have an extensive highway system and exponentially increased the number of cars on the roads. If there was no such thing as DUI I guarantee traffic deaths would see a large jump.

I don't know how far off they are from creating a marijuana breathalyzer, but I do know there are companies working on one.