"I cannot think of a criminal justice strategy that has been more unsuccessful than the Rockefeller drug laws."What we've come to like best about this Governor is his determined objectivity in assessing so many of the state's problems and policies. He talks about what works, and about what doesn't, with a candor rare anywhere in politics, but especially in New York.-- Gov. Paterson
Now that Democrats control the State Senate, we may hope that the Rockefeller drug laws, shown by experience, so abundantly, to have been a ludicrous and malignant mistake, will be repealed.
Our citizenry probably isn't ready for the step that really makes sense, which is to cut the heart out of crime, and the cost of fighting it, by legalizing and regulating narcotic drugs. (Yet in a social and political context where gay marriage is even debatable, does legalizing drugs seem so far out?)
At least repealing the Rockefeller drug laws offers improvement across the board.
We'd have liked Paterson's State of the State speech if for nothing else than his literate augmentation of the official text.
We'll discuss the good sense of so many of his fiscal proposals in future posts. For now we'll say that if David Paterson, against all odds (meaning the predispositions of nearly every member of the state legislature and the determination of the unions that bought them) can translate his principles into policy changes, there's a chance to move this -- the most reactionary of states -- in the right direction
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Our citizenry probably isn't ready for the step that really makes sense, which is to cut the heart out of crime, and the cost of fighting it, by legalizing and regulating narcotic drugs.
But if they were, what a great step forward it would be. Also, it would turn a loss (the expensive imprisonment of potentially productive and non-violent people) into a gain (via taxation of drugs and keeping drug users and dealers as taxpayers instead of criminals).
Amen, Rotters!
I used to have a different view on this. Recently, however, I learned of the vast number of prisoners who are incarcerated solely for non-violent, drug-related crimes.
In today's world, where the cost of government is nearing (or beyond) the breaking point, spending money on a drug war and turning thousands of non-violent persons into criminals, who must be jailed at great expense, simply makes no sense.
It's time to consider the alternative.
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