>>>Something isn't working properly the way it's supposed to. I still believe in stern sentences for major crimes, but maybe the U.S. (and Canada) incarcerates people too easily for minor crimes.
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>>And here's a place where we agree. In particular, we need to stop putting people in jail for using drugs. Selling is one thing, but using is something else entirely.
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>>Tamar
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>Ah. on this we agree. Of course it does lead to that strange old dichotomy of the sweepstakes tickets. Back when I was a kid here in Toronto, it was illegal to sell Irish Sweepstakes tickets, but legal to buy them. If you won, the money was yours free and clear, but if you got caught selling them you were fined.
>
>The problem though is, how do you wean a person from certain drugs. How do you get a person off say, heroin, if said person has no real desire to quit. Prison is one way. External prison (outside the penal system) of some sort is another way. I'm not sure I know of a third way.

I think we need to treat it as a medical problem, not a criminal problem. I think much illegal drug use is self-medication for mental health issues, so a better mental health system would be a good start.

Tamar