Some are seeing the light.
Letter below from Jennifer Loftus in regards to my drug plan (My plan is to attack the demand and not the supply!!!!)
Why aren't we drug testing the men who are...
1) responsible for the safety of WB (police chief)?
2) responsible for the management of WB (Mayor)?
3) responsible for adjudication of justice (Judges, Magistrates, DA office, County Detectives)?
Employees at the "Dollar store" or a "Turkey Hill" store are monitored more closely!!
Note: Despite the incalculable damage done to our city... G Dessoye and Leighton would be treated compassionately under a plan like mine.
STOP THE INSANITY OF "THE WAR ON DRUGS."
WE HAVE LOST!!!
from Jennifer Loftus...
You're talking dangerous stuff, here, aren't you? Sounds sensible enough to me, though. I really thought when I read this, it was going to annoy me because you began talking about drug testing. It's a sensitive issue, as far as I'm concerned, because it involves unreasonable search and seizure.
Having said that, when you followed up with the radical suggestion that the disease then be treated, I was more interested. THEN, you took the next logical step and discussed maintenance, which is something most people can't wrap their heads around. You are right on that point as well.
There are a few countries who have taken this tack with heroin users and have had reductions in crime that were unbelievable. Need I remind anyone reading this that there is NO needle exchange in PA, and therefore we have extremely high rates of Hepatitis C? Sure, the idea of Hep C might stop some folks from using a used, filthy needle.
But it obviously doesn't deter enough of them, and anyone that has been through addiction can tell you why. So, overall, if there is no criminal element involved and the treatment is available, that sounds reasonable to me. I'm still not happy with all the testing, but I understand what you're going for. Personally, I have been a fan of testing in some circumstances, particularly airplane pilots and people doing stuff like that.
Do I really care if the man who prepares my salad has smoked a joint before he did that salad? Not at all. Do I care if my doctor is performing surgery on me while under the influence of anything even mildly intoxicating? Absolutely I do. Do I care if the person at the grocery store has taken something before or during work? Depends. You get the idea. Obviously there are instances that are more dire than others.
But it's amazing that you'd be willing to state such radical things in public. I kind of get the idea that you are used to that by now, though. Decriminalization and treatment will be the keys to "winning the war on drugs", but as we have seen so far, the lucrative business of locking people up sometimes gets in the way, of many things.
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