Entrepreneur Richard Branson has leaked a U.N. document that speaks of intentions to decriminalize illicit substances. Something like this would lead to the "war on drugs" that the United States has been waging to end and usher in new policies of treating drug addicts not as criminals, but as people needing medical assistance. After all, the billion dollar effort to crack down on drug dealers/users hasn't done much for lowering drug use rates and keeps our prisons chock full of people that need a doctor more than a jail cell. And I'll not even begin to discuss the unfortunate implications of people of color making up the majority of drug arrests while not being the majority of drug users.
This could be a landmark achievement in international drug policy if most nations choose to follow through with this. For too long, the police have had too much money poured into them to the point of militarization all in the name of locking people up over dimebags. In the long run, decriminialization will take money out of the pockets of drug lords, which is something we can all approve of.
SOURCE: http://mic.com/articles/127002/richard-branson-says-the-u-n-is-going-to-ask-governments-to-decriminalize-all-drugs
This article was very well written. I believe that most of these people do need help and officers of the law also never investigate or take into consideration peer pressure or other emotional/physical challenges that could lead to drug use. This is a good movement to fight for.
ReplyDelete-Heather Hatch 8th period