HOME | POLITICS | SPORTS | LIFE | SCI/TECH | OPEDS | HELPFUL TIPS
|
Oct. 17, 2005 The War on Drugs provides tax payer supported job security for cops, lawyers and jailers. The one business that is booming in West Virginia is the prison industry. There is a little welfare community in West Virginia . The corner of Second and Temple Streets has a publishing company, a few bars and several empty store fronts. It is also known as the Red-light District. Men form the surrounding counties know that if they need ill-gotten sensual gratification for a price that Second and Temple Street is the place to go. It is also a place to buy illegal recreational drugs. It is also a place for an easy bust if a cop needs to increase his druggie arrest quota. Once a year or so, there will be a sting operation. Those caught in the sting will find themselves dealing with the West Virginia Justice System. The taxpayers foot the bill to tune of about 37 million dollars to fight the war on drug just in this little welfare community. Megabucks are spent one capturing, lawyering, and incarcerating one illegal drug participant. If the law need to increase their drug arrests, they can achieve this most easily by focusing on stopping minorities for traffic stops. After all blacks are more likely to be carrying drugs, the cops figure. The old lemon cars that the law gets to seize might put a small dent in the high cost of the drug war. They don't call it racial profiling but if it looks like a duck, it's not a turkey. A few years ago, I was crawling around in an old cave. We found a number of stills that were used to make moonshine during the Prohibition Era. Alcohol Prohibition Was A Failure. The law still can't find them stills. The only thing the war on alcohol did was set off a huge crime wave that was bad that prohibition was repelled. The Government officials should heed the lessons of Prohibition. These lessons are pertinent not only to the debate over the war on drugs but also to the mounting efforts to declare battle on the users of tobacco. The 37 million dollars used to incarcerate the citizens of the West Virginia Welfare community would be better spent to support business and industry development in that town, This would create opportunities for these people so that perhaps they would not be enticed by the vices in the red light district. Personally, I don't indulge in alcohol, tobacco or altering chemical. That is my choice. If someone chooses otherwise that is their business. A smoker should not have to pay two dollars and fifty cents worth of taxes for forty cents worth of cigarettes. Granted, the Surgeon General has declared Cigarettes hazardous to ones health. Life is eventually terminal one way or the other. If a cop needs more easy busts, all he has to do is park his bubble gum machine outside the bar and wait. Pick a car. Any car. The driver doesn't even have to be drunk. A few drinks and he's over the limit. More money for the justice system. I was amused when I was required to take a "think test" for a minimal wage job. I would have passed the drug test without even studying for it, I flunked the "think test' because they asked "Alcohol is the not the same as Marijuana? Agree? Disagree?" At first, I tried to figure out how a conservative would answer the question. Technically, there are more untimely deaths because of alcohol versus marijuana. Is there any proof that moderate off-duty marijuana use compromises workplace safety? How many thousands of dollars are spend doing drug tests before one drug user is finally identified. The War on Drugs should be abolished because it blatantly targets against minorities, the poor and young people. It encourages crime and does absolutely nothing to stop drug addiction. The money would be better utilized for urban and business development. Working in prisons should not be the best job in West Virgina or Beyond. ------------ About the author: Bonijean Isaacs is a freelance writer and Astrologer in West Virginia. Email: inez4liberty@gmail.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
