Criminals & Crimes - Don't They Get It?

According to current laws, a person who commits a crime, is a criminal.

But, just what makes certain things crimes? Our lawmakers, of course. But just what do they know that qualifies them to make those decisions? Not much, apparently.

A true crime, imho is an act of violence, or a threat against another human being and/or his/her family or property. Those type of crimes, the ones which involve a victim, one who is left suffering emotionally, physically, both or dead ought to remain crimes.

But if a person drinks alcohol and doens't drive, or engage in other activity that could endanger others due to his impaired state, well that person is just a fine, upstanding citizen. Why? Because our lawmakers have decided that it is legal to drink alcohol (if you are over 21, of course).

I'm not suggesting that they do so, however, if a person makes an informed decision to ingest a substance into their own body, harms no one, then why should it be a crime? Especially if there is no victim!

The jails are overcrowded, I have often heard that most of the overcrowding is caused by harsh sentences, which fill up the cells with people who have committed the crime of posessing a substance that has been proclaimed to be illegal by our lawmakers. However, the majority of them are not violent or dangerous.

People unfortunately do commit violent crimes, all too often. Some do their crimes while under the influence of alcohol, the legal drug, or under the influence of some other illegal drug, and some do their crimes under the influence of no substance what so ever.

If people who have commited crimes against others and/or their family or property, they should be arrested and tried for the actual crime they committed. Not for what substance they may have had in their system when they did it. Most people, whether under the influence or not, do know right from wrong. They also know the difference from just thinking about it and acting upon it. Those who act upon it, do so of their own free will. No one, or nothing is making them do it.

Because drugs tend to only exagerate what feelings a person already has. If someone truly wants to commit murder, they will do so eventually. If they feel that they need the drugs (or alcohol) to give them the nerve to do it, it could only result in the inevetable occuring a little sooner. But not never. Someone with the true intent to kill, has an underlying psychological problem already. And blaming it on the drugs, is just a cop out. Drugs don't make people do things, people choose what they do.

The point I'm trying to make, is that crime is on the rise, not because more and more people are becomming criminally minded, but because the laws being written are making more and more things illegal, that used to be legal.

Rather than building more and more jails and prisons, rather than spending more and more tax dollars to fund this so called war on drugs, why not focus on the real problems concerning the safety of all people?

Leave the people be who are doing nothing more than entertaining themselves, the ones who are bothering nobody. There is no reason to lock them up. There are murders, rapists, child molesters, etc... who have shorter prison terms than people who were caught possessing some "illegal" drug.

Why do the violent ones, the true dangers to society get shorter sentences? It's crazy, but a lot of the time it is due to the fact that the prisons and jails are full. Full of non-violent inmates, who have never been a threat to anyone, certainly not to be considered dangerous to society.

Making certain drugs illegal, is what causes so much unneccesary "crime". If a person could walk into a store, like a liquor store, as long as they are of age, purchase their marujuana, or whatever is their preference, pay the taxes on it, and go home and indulge themselves, much like a person shopping at a liquor store would, without the threat of being arrested, the crime rate would go down considerably.

It would also accomplish other things that would be good for society all the way around. For instance, just by the mere fact of making them illegal, forces their manufacture, importation and distribution solely to the black market. On the black market, products are not regulated at all like they would be, if they were sold openly in certain stores. This alone is a danger, because a person never knows what they are really getting.

Another thing it would accomplish, would be to eradicate the propaganda that is shoved down our throats on a daily basis, that "if you use drugs, you are funding terrorism". Well again, the simple solution to that would be to not force them to the black market. That way, the black market would virtually be out of business. Who wants to pay very high prices for something they don't know what it is half the time, when they could go to their friendly neighborhood market, purchase what they want, knowing that it has been tested and approved by the FDA, at a much more reasonable price. And of course, the government could tax it. They would get their cut also.

But...... there seems to be a problem with this too simple theory.

IMHO, I think that the laws are the way they are, because although they don't advertise it, (for obvious reasons) it is my belief that international drug trade goes on on a very large scale within the governments themselves, and by forcing them to the black market, is where the government really makes a profit.

Why, when tallying up the budget, the cost of war is not included? Shouldn't that be a big one? Possibly because the drug trade is funding it?

I dont' have concrete evidence, just some thoughts that make a lot of sense. At least to a CyberKat who is struggling to Deny Ignorance.

Criminals should have victims, or not be criminals at all.

[edit on 3/4/2005 by CyberKat]

[edit on 3/4/2005 by CyberKat]

[edit on 3/4/2005 by CyberKat]

there is more to the marijuana thing than we will ever know im sure. I hate how they try to emphasize on tv how pot is SOOOO BAD. it's not even that harmful! i mean # they give it to cancer patients! I still find it odd how cigarettes which do kill thousands of people a year are legal and yet marijuana which has no record of being a cause of death is illegal? and the same with alcohol. !

IMHO, I think that the laws are the way they are, because although they don't advertise it, (for obvious reasons) it is my belief that international drug trade goes on on a very large scale within the governments themselves, and by forcing them to the black market, is where the government really makes a profit.

About one month ago, one cargo ship of canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin's ship company (Canada Steamship Lines) was found carrying a huge load of coc aine in its lower tank. The ship was even named at his wife's name!!!

The government stands to make huge amounts of money from taxing marjiuana, if it is legalized.

The government spends huge amounts of money trying to stop us using marjiuana.

The government is in it for the money.

Given these three facts, I think we can logically (if incorrectly, perhaps) conclude that the government is making enough from the drug trade RIGHT NOW that they would actually lose money if pot was legalized.

How's that for a conspiracy?

[edit on 3/8/2005 by Odd]

yeah it is about the money!!! totally. money makes the world go round.. yeah the black market is crazy!!!

In the Florida prision system (70,000+) about 80% of the people there don't belong there, and the number that were there for BS reasons, about 15% belong there, and about 5% should never see the light of day.

(I worked in about 6 Prisions in FL, and got to know a few hundred of them. Found it interesting that the "I never met a guilty man in prision" was BS, They may not be honest about why they were there, but they would tell you that "hey, I did this", or "I did that".)

It's about the power, the more people they process as criminals, the more money they can get to protect us by hiring more cops, and the more rights we will give up to have them keep us safe. As a side benefit, the criminals, once they have paid their debt to society, don't get their rights back.

It is my oppinion that we could close every jail/prision in the USA if they would reduce punishment to one of three punishments;

1) Fine
2) Flogging
3) Death

I've never worked in trhe prison system before, but I believe you. I used to live in Ft. Luderdale for a couple of years.

I now, for the time being at least, live in Oklhoma, which I believe has either the highest or the second highest number of inmates in prisons. Also Oklahoma does have the highest population of women inmates in the country!

The Justice System here, and I suppose everywhere in this country, are anything but just!

I agree with you somewhat, the prisons probably shouldn't be abolished all together, but the number of them drastically reduced. There should only be enough to house the people who are truly a danger to society.

I am saddened to know that there is a place in the USof A that is close to FL in that regard.

I forget who said that one could judge a society by their Justice system.

(One of the guys I met once landed planes on I-95 between WPB and Stuart - before it was completed - said the worse part was trying to sweep all the seeds out before landing in Mia. for customs).

I couldn't take working inside, some of the places were nice, others were a little on the scary side. But I found myself having serious problems with the concept of warehousing humans.

(A lot of the problems I saw were the direct result of the Guards, or bad food -> Aramark The stories I could bore you all with...)

[edit on 3/12/2005 by dancer]