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Title: Programs for Peace [Ineffectiveness of Drug War]
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URL Source: http://thisiscommonsense.com/2012/07/17/programs-for-peace/
Published: Jul 18, 2012
Author: Paul Jacob
Post Date: 2012-07-18 04:13:28 by Eric Stratton
Keywords: None
Views: 16
Mayor Cory Booker of Newark, New Jersey, calls himself a “social media enthusiast,” and recently engaged Reddit.com’s public, for whom he clarified his stance on drug prohibition: The so called War on Drugs has not succeeded in making significant reductions in drug use, drug arrests or violence. We are pouring huge amounts of our public resources into this current effort that are bleeding our public treasury and unnecessarily undermining human potential. I see the BILLIONS AND BILLIONS of dollars being poured into the criminal justice system here in New Jersey and it represents big overgrown government at its worst. Yes. Recreational drug prohibition has been and continues to be a horrifying example of “big overgrown government at its worst.” My only qualm comes with the good mayor’s next sentence: We should be investing dollars in programs and strategies that work not just to lower crime but work to empower lives. The biggest reduction in crime would come from ceasing to criminalize peaceful behavior; the biggest relief from the drug war’s horrific consequences would be the war’s cessation itself. People “empower” their own lives, through peaceful work and family life. Are more programs really necessary? Wouldn’t individual freedom and personal responsibility be enough? We don’t need “big overgrown government at its best.” We need streamlined, accountable government . . . that protects all peaceful folk. That would be far better. “Bestest.” This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob. Programs for Peace
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