"White Boy Rick" Wershe [To be Released July 20]

[Wheels]

Danny, read my post #101 and then respond. I thought I had a pretty clear argument as to why the streets of Detroit are the way they are. Supply and demand. Your not going to stop it, its something that needs to be dealt with. I have faith he will be released, as he should be. No good is coming of keeping him locked up or the other thousands of people in prison for non violent crimes. Legalize, regulate, distribute responsibly, and tax. On top of that with all the money saved and made we could offer treatment on demand instead of just throwing them in a cage and throwing away the key, thats just barbaric.

How can you and others here call this a non violent crime? Thousands died life's were ruined and there are still Crack Babies from that era causing violence on the streets of Detroit!

[Django]

How can you and others here call this a non violent crime? Thousands died life's were ruined and there are still Crack Babies from that era causing violence on the streets of Detroit!

Of course there is no perfect answer to addiction other than treatment. Locking people up has done nothing in the 40 years of the drug war, we have only become the most incarcerated country on earth. Like Ive said, supply and demand of drugs will always rule. Locking people up does nothing except drive the price of illegal drugs upward. Drugs should be regulated, dispensed properly, taxed and with the money saved from not arresting, prosecuting, and jailing people we could be offering substance abuse treatment on demand. This could all be done while taking away the violence that occurs because of the drug war between cartels and street thugs fighting over territory. Surely anyone these days can see the mistakes we have made keeping drugs illegal. If you do not you will soon. Times are finally changing. Obama has made some strides in reducing mandatory minimum sentences and is expected to release possibly thousands of non violent offenders, many of whom are women caught up in the drug business of their then boyfriends, often time not even knowing what they were doing. Wheels, drugs will always be a scourge but its the addiction that needs to be tended to not the supply. Drugs will always be available, addiction will always be a problem, we will never be able to jail our way out of the problem. Did locking Rick Wershe solve anything? Did locking up a million other drug offenders solve anything? The issue is addiction, and prevention, again we will never jail our way out of the problem of drugs. Its time for everyone to start looking at a different solution. Should I start in on privatized prisons? Dbest, you are correct, from heroin coming in from Asia through Air America to Cocaine through the CIA in the Reagan 80s to fund the Contra war, and most likely now heroin from Afghanistan, at the very least our troops protecting poppy fields. Drugs are a solid commodity that will not be ignored.

[DaveyM]

How can you and others here call this a non violent crime? Thousands died life's were ruined and there are still Crack Babies from that era causing violence on the streets of Detroit!

If you want to use that analogy then we may as well senf those who sell booze to prison for life. Rick hasn't sold or touched an illegal drug in almost 3 decades. He's not responsible for the actions of others.