To me what does not make sense is continuing to follow a failed policy. We spent more money on this issue than any other developed country and yet have the least amount of success....
....I have seen estimates of between 60 and 70 billion a year spent on the prison system....yet we are not winning the drug war....
I can't honestly see 'failed' policy, tweekable, sure. No doubt in my mind, there's no will to make the policy succeed. Take for instance the recent discussion here. A huge crippling fine against a baker, and a revolving door at the border and prison for a 'nonviolent' druggie who graduated to murder. Is that a 'successful' policy, as to what happened to the baker? Depends on who you ask. The left says, too bad about the murder, but revolving doors are good.
We are a whole bunch bigger than most developed countries, and no, visiting prisons is not at all like wondering why the place filled with straight laced executives who got caught with a joint at a party. Which country should we pattern after? 60 to 70 bil. a year, by any stretch of the imagination, that's a drop in the bucket, a true bargain the way these folks print, borrow and squander money. 'They' print around that amount each month and at times quite a bit more.
Why not two parts. First treat it like speeding tickets, the worst the offense the higher the fine, and push it too far and you get arrested. You can't say there's more important police work to do, speed traps are a basic business model of most forces.
Second, add a big surcharge on their medical insurance, so that their 'risk' group covers their expenses. 'Rehab' is high maintenance and expense, I don't think it's the equivalent of a poor single mom taking her crippled kid in for necessary surgery. It's not a big deal, but you really didn't seem to warm up to the thought of teaching a guy how to run a mill in your shop, when you saw him light up just before he knocked on the door for his first lesson.
