Why Legalizing Cannabis will Reduce Crime
Crime Rates Drop 25% in Legal Marijuana States from CannabisNet on Vimeo.
https://fee.org/articles/the-war-on-marijuana-impairs-fighting-real-crime/
Could you imagine what the state could do with nearly $40 billion each year to fight real crime. Imagine what you could do with $13 billion yearly? That $13 billion number is the exact costs of drug law enforcement and doesn’t include maintaining drug prisoners or anything of the sorts.
In the US, a lot of time is being spent on arresting pot smokers as opposed to focusing on crimes that actually leaves a victim. According to one report;
…arrests for drug possession continue to make up a significant chunk of modern-day police work. “Around the country, police make more arrests for drug possession than for any other crime,” the report finds, citing FBI data. “More than one of every nine arrests by state law enforcement is for drug possession, amounting to more than 1.25 million arrests each year.” In fact, police make more arrests for marijuana possession alone than for all violent crimes combined.
The phrase, “police make more arrests for marijuana possession alone than for all violent crimes combined” should make you turn your head.
Imagine what would happen if police didn’t have to make those 1.25 million arrests each year and could rather focus their attention on crimes such as theft, violent crimes and so forth. Would society be safer? Would there be less crime?
In all likeliness, yes…there would be less crime.
Why arresting people for non-crimes is a bad idea
Consuming cannabis should not be a crime. First of all, the personal consumption of any substance should not be a crime, that is unless of course you are state property which we allegedly are not. Thus, by putting anything into your mouth should never justify a crime, unless it’s the limbs of your murdered victims then yes…you should be busted.
However when it comes to drug consumption as a whole, there is no REAL crime happening. People are merely experimenting with their state of consciousness’s, and unless altering your perception is a crime (which unfortunately now it is), then we should really stop arresting folks for this action.
The people wastes a lot of time and money on stopping people from getting high and would much rather harass a pot smoker than actually tracking down a sexual predator or violent maniac.
When you squander police resources in such a manner, you limit their ability to actually prevent real crimes. There are thousands of untested rape kits in police labs right now because drug testing gets priority over rape kit testing.
Why?
Because when you have drugs, the lab test will result in a conviction whereas testing for rape kits still won’t provide you with a suspect. You might still have to go out and you know, “do police work” to find the culprit. This wouldn’t be a problem if it wasn’t so easy for cops to get a pass if they have a non-violent pot smoker in custody. However, now cops find it much simpler to go after non-criminals as opposed to “serving and protecting” us from the real bad-guys.
The incentive to keep on busting the pot guys
Not only do cops have quotas to fill, they also receive federal grants based on their drug arrests. This is a system that is rigged in such a way that cops get money for busting down non-violent people, filling up jails with non-violent offenders and thinking that they are doing a “swell job”.
Meanwhile, real criminals have the free range to conduct their criminal activities with less worry due to the fact that cops prefer “lesser criminals” to justify their actions.
If we were to remove the incentive from police departments in relation to drug busts, we would see more effort being poured into combating real crime. In turn, we’d have safer streets, more respect for law enforcement and fewer scumbags out there trying to screw over fellow citizens.
It’s time we set our priorities straight
It seems, that the drug war is winding down. People are getting sick and tired of a forty-year-old failed policy. We have thrown trillions of dollars into this failed attempt at molding people’s consumption habits and currently there are more drug users than ever. What’s more shocking is that it’s easier for kids to get their hands on illegal drugs than it is for them to get their hands on legal drugs such as alcohol and tobacco.
This is because drug dealers don’t card and as long as you have money, you are a customer. Legal establishments are forced to card, making it difficult for under-aged kiddos to get their hands on the promoted drug of choice.
It’s time we acknowledge that murder, rape, theft, assault, property theft, extortion, fraud and all those crimes supersedes any drug related crime that involves consumption. In the US, some people get more time in jail for selling weed than for murdering someone. This is absurd and must change.
It will be up to each and every one of us to help push legislation in this way, meaning that every time you can vote on cannabis, or protest on behalf of ending the drug war…you should.
No longer in this “tolerable society” can we tolerate these antiquated laws.
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