I never understood this logic

rehabilitation instead of prison..

And not only is the first part necessarily the worst, but once you’re in the system they make it hard to get back out by throwing all sorts of arbitrary requirements on you to fulfill, with little to no flexibility. 10-week class that occurs right in the middle of your work-day? Fuck you. It all serves to essentially keep you in the system as it keeps on fucking with your life. Not to mention prison/jail, which brands you with a permanent scarlet letter that bars you from even working at many jobs even after you’ve gotten out.

The logic is deterrence.

I mean it's stupid, but that's what the supporters think.

The thing they are missing is that no one commits a crime thinking they will get caught. So ever increasing the deterrence doesn't help.

Drugs is a public health issue, no really criminal. Prohibition doesn't work with things done at scales like drugs and alcohol. You're just feeding the criminal gangs.

That's because it's not logic - it's propaganda. The war on drugs was always built on a solid bedrock of oppressing minorities, black people in particular.

It's perfectly circular, like this man's dome.

Don't forget that drug laws are often racist e.g. cocaine possession carries a lesser punishment than crack, cannabis is a schedule 1 substance, etc. This goes some way to explaining the legal rationale.

Regan's administration started the war on drugs. Convicting drugs users of a criminal crime has the effect of taking the right to vote away from people who tended not to vote for the Republican party and allowed them to be legally used as slave labour. At least one member of that administration has explicitly stated that this was a strategic decision to win elections.

Makes more sense when you consider that the "justice" system profits greatly from the war on drugs.

I'm from the city this cop was from and if I remember correctly he was shot in the head and survived but obviously not the same. Maybe he died I don't really remember.

I'm not a fan of the police but on a human level some awful stuff happened to this guy.

Edit: looked it up because I was curious he underwent brain surgery and survived.

Fuck the police as a whole tho

If only it was like in Portugal…

ACAB

Just a reminder that cops exist simply to uphold the status quo! Our first police squads were created to hunt down escaped slaves! Fuck - and I really mean this - the police.

Cops do not, never have and never will "protect and serve" a regular person. They protect and serve the elite.

There is a good reason we say ACAB, fuck the police and call them class traitors

Taps the sign that says "The Cruelty Is The Point"

"They'll ruin your life cause I'll ruin your life!"

It didn't say what mechanism would be used for the drugs to ruin your life. Prison works just as well as turning tricks for smack as far as life ruining goes.

Conspiracy to enslave the poor.

I'm all for caging money making dealers that kill when they are threatened with prison. I've seen too many people get killed because some cunt that already has enough money is scared to get caught.

Well someone somewhere still believes that prison is about rehabilation and not punishment

self fulfilling prophecy

It's the same logic as when Republicans claim Government doesn't work....

It's not ignorance or stupidity, it's a mission statement.. Republicans are trying to make Government not work and Cops are actively trying to fuck you over

I believe the legal repercussions are part of that "can ruin your life", not just the addiction and/or health concerns.

Though that still makes it an entirely artificial consequence that does not need to and should not exist.

I am once again asking everyone to read Alex Vitale's End of Policing

Logic is prison slave labor=$$$

You don't go to jail (if there isn't evidence of you selling it) in my country. Because it's not a penal crime, but an administrative one.

JUSTICE

Drug dealers aren't jailed because they're "ruining their lives," they're jailed because they ruin the lives of others. Addicts are a drain on resources that generally contribute far below what is required of them to maintain society.

Failure to enforce drug prohibition resulted in Qing China having a nationwide addiction epidemic for British opium, resulting in the opium wars, the country's bankruptcy, partial European colonization as well as the so-called "century of humiliation". The effects of this addiction epidemic are still being felt nowadays, e.g. in widespread racism towards Asian people as well as the current opioid epidemic where Chinese-made fentanyl is exported worldwide with the unofficial sanction of the Chinese government.

This is the reason why drug prohibition is a thing, and why many Asian countries have death sentences even for simple possession of narcotics.

You do know it's not police who make these laws, right? It's the politicians that get elected by the people who create these laws.

It's supposed to be rehabilitation, but also it's to stop you from ruining other people's lives

The logic, whether or not you agree with it, is that drugs in general are hazardous and can kill or disable you, and they contribute to a black market and all the related crimes of drug trafficking and addiction. So punishments aren’t for drug use but for possession and trafficking.

Edit: to all the downvoters, I’m not advocating for draconian drug laws, I’m just answering OP’s question on why cops and lawmakers have such a policy and the logic behind it.

You only get life-ruining time for distribution. Distribution ruins other people's lives, often minors and people who have it rough in life.

All Dealers Are Bastards

It's called making an example out of someone.

Edit: Lots of people not understanding how that's exactly what cops and shitheads in power think about sending people on drugs to jail. That's scary.

They are more than happy to send your ass to jail for decades because of minor charges that don't hurt anyone but yourself. You're just a number to these assholes. They will make an example out of you if they can.