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THOUGHT OF THE MOMENT:

 

Freedom,  Prosperity and Peace...

FOREVER.

 

 

 

(...continued from previous page)

 

Here are a few things Georgia should consider to better deal with drug use and abuse.

 

    * California’s Proposition 36 provided funding to divert drug addicts from jails and prisons to drug treatment programs. After several years the research shows that for every dollar spent on treatment they saved seven dollars on law enforcement, courts, jails and prisons. This approach treats addiction on the front end and helps to return recovering addicts back to their communities and families. This saved California taxpayers over $1 billion dollars in just a few years.

 

 

    * The state should end mandatory minimum sentencing and return sentencing discretion to judges not grid charts. Current laws are sending petty drug offenders to prison longer than many traffickers. Our jails and prisons are over-crowded with non-violent offenders who are better off under local supervision, house arrest and work release programs that give addicts a chance to make a living, support their families and repay any debts to society. The over-crowding of the state prison system with drug offenders is backing up inmates in county jails which help to justify massive spending projects to build more jails.

 

 

     * Marijuana laws should be brought in line with alcohol and tobacco laws, eliminating tens of thousands of arrests each year in Georgia alone. Freeing up these resources will ensure that limited jail and prison space is reserved for those who commit crimes against persons and property. Possession of a handful of marijuana can get you up to ten years in prison in Georgia.

 

 

Some people take the “get tough” approach to drug use until it is their child or friend facing prison time. Only then do the tears flow and the pleas for leniency are heard.

 

Albert Einstein said this about prohibition laws, "The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the prohibition law; for nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in this country is closely connected with this."

 

It doesn’t take an Einstein to see that prohibition laws are stupid, costly and ineffective. Drugs are bad, prohibition is worse. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is what Einstein called insanity.

 

James Bell

 

James Bell is a libertarian consultant and videographer in the Atlanta area. (Douglas County Georgia)\

 

                                                                                                                                                                                         

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