One thing I’ve notice while reading the crime reports in the tri-county area is that a large percentage of the arrests are due to drugs, especially marijuana. Often, only a small amount is found, clearly for personal use. Many states have decriminalized simple possession or use of marijuana or even legalized it. One of the big pushes is to legalize it nationwide, partly because millions of people with criminal records due to marijuana would have those records expunged. This affects all ethnicities. While I don’t use it and wouldn’t start and think legalizing it would be a mistake, legalizing it would certainly lead to a big decrease in policing, arrests, court crowding, and incarceration or other punishments. Think how many hours it takes two cops to make a marijuana arrest, take the person to the precinct, write up the report, Show up in court, wait for hours to testify for two minutes, etc. One joint could easily take a total of 16 hours of police time used up, and we pay for that!
Of course, would it lead to better-educated kids? No way! Fewer teenage pregnancies? Not likely! Fewer shootings? I doubt it! But it could save money.
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