Marge

Last week I wrote about my conservative views, so it should come as no surprise that I would support “Jessica’s Law.” In a nutshell, the law requires anyone convicted of sexually assaulting any child under 14 years old to serve 25 years in prison without the possibility of parole.
I remember when this law was being introduced. One of the main arguments against it was that it could add up to 1,000 beds to our state prison system. Maybe I’m missing something here, but removing 1,000 perverts from the streets seems like a good thing. But I do understand it comes with a cost. If it means adding onto our existing prisons, or even building new prisons to remove these people from the streets, do it. If it means another tax increase, so be it.
Now this is where I’m going to go against my conservative views. And to think people call me a neo-con. What if we had a way to make room in our prison system without added expense? What if we had a way to do it and actually generate millions of dollars in new taxes in the process? Would you be willing to listen?
This isn’t exactly a new idea. And I won’t try to take credit for it, or the blame for it either. I just believe it‘s an idea worth considering. A few days ago a lady named Marge called into the Jim Cates Show. You just have to love Marge’s passion. Anyway she was saying it was time to put an end to this crazy, so called “war on drugs.” She talked about the hundreds of billions of dollars and the thousands of lives being lost in this decades old , failed attempt to stop the flow of illegal drugs coming into our country. At first I thought, what a stupid idea. But is it? Are we really gaining ground in this war? After a little Googling over the weekend, I’d have to say no.
I’m not suggesting we embrace the likes of Meth, Cocaine, Heroin, and so on. I’m simply saying maybe it’s time to legalize Marijuana. Yeah, I can hear it now. What a crazy idea. Why, we’d have chaos in the streets. Crime would be out of control. We’d have drug crazed maniacs everywhere. Sorry, but these conditions already exist.
Compare it to the dismal failure Prohibition of alcohol was in the 1920’s. Granted, the first couple of years after Prohibition became the law of the land, alcohol consumption did in fact drop. But by 1925, consumption had risen dramatically, especially among women and children. Why? Because it actually became easier to get. It’s the same with pot today.
Consider if you would, tobacco, (nicotine) it’s our most deadly drug. It’s estimated to be responsible for 390,000 deaths in the U.S. per year. Followed by alcohol, which is responsible for around 80,000 deaths per year. Both of these drugs are legal, and produce billions in taxes. Cocaine, heroin, and aspirin combined cause around 6,200 deaths per year. But get this, there has never been a single case of someone dying as a direct result of smoking pot. It simply isn’t toxic enough. So much for the argument that it’s a deadly drug.
Am I promoting drug use? Absolutely not. There are an estimated 30 to 40 million drug users in our country now. No promotion is necessary. Why not regulate it, sell it in liquor stores, and tax the hell out of it. It’s estimated there are 1.5 million people in our U.S. prison system. 60% of these are there for drug offenses. While it’s true, your typical pot head isn’t imprisoned. It’s the dealers they’re after. But, take away their customer base and the dealers go away.
I know this idea will never get off the ground. But I’d urge you to Google “war on drugs.” You’ll find somewhere around 180,000,000 different sites to check out. Just something to think about.
I guess if I had the choice between locking up a pot head or a child predator. The pot head would go on about his business. But hey, what do I know? I’m just an old guy.