Of course it's not going to stop. But decriminalizing drugs would make it grow exponentially. Personally I don't care to turn our society into a place where I have to live in a fortified compound with broken glass cemented into the top of my wall.
How much personal experience do you have with people who have chronic drug problems? People whose lives revolve around drugs and are unable to function?
Putting the substantial criminal effects aside, if you're lucky enough not to have that experience, check out the A&E TV series intervention to give you an idea of the havoc drugs wreak on families.
My mother's immediate family all had this (all of her siblings, not her) in one way or the other. I disowned them the day she died. Jail didn't help, money didn't help, nothing helped. Their kids turned out like hell too except for the ones that the father (married my mother's sister) got custody of but single fathers usually kick ass if they have custody in my experience. I suspect they're on all on the dole now. No one could help them.
#RESIST
This is the bit that I like to ask people who complain about how many people are in jail on "non-violent drug offenses". I always ask them what the arrest record of those people are, what charges were initially brought vs. the ones that were actually disposed of in court, etc. They usually look at me like I have three heads because in most cases they are completely unaware of how the criminal justice system actually works.
Low hanging fruit gets picked and tons of legit charges get negotiated away or just dropped in favor of the charges that are easy to prosecute or get a plea deal on.
3/15/2016
Humans have been abusing substances as long as we have found things to abuse. Much of the control is based on societal norms. The key is for society to consider things "bad". Look at Cigarette use over the years. We are paying a price for booze every year. Things have gotten better with more serious punishment for DUI.
There is no easy answer, but non enforcement and coddling and treating folks who are dope abusers like they have the flu is not the answer. The only thing I have seen work to get people off drugs is for them to hit rock bottom. Everyone has a different rock bottom. A few have no bottom except death and these are the folks living in a filthy cardboard box. For a whole lot of folks, jail and prison is their bottom, unfortunately by the time they get there they are no longer drug users who need to be cleaned out, they are dirtbag criminals who have plea bargained to a dope charge.
Just a Hairy Special Snowflake supply clerk with no field experience, shooting an Asymetric carbine as a Try Hard. Snarky and easily butt hurt. Favorite animal is the Cape Buffalo....likely indicative of a personality disorder.
"If I had a grandpa, he would look like Delbert Belton".
I have no clear cut propositions other than that we should dial it back a bit on certain drugs. I absolutely realize that I am an ignorant bystander speaking with professionals on this. Most of the reason why I injected the drug war bit into this thread is to point that cops have to enforce the laws that others pass so why focus on the police?
#RESIST