Americans are almost always slow to accept reforms, new ideas "Progressive" concepts. Global warming, irregardless of the cause is an example (LinkHere). Kind of like our military spending. (LinkHere)
I'm curious why that is. Like most things in life I'm sure there are no easy answers. Health care is one example of this. We are the industrialized country in the world that doesn't provide health care for all of it's citizens. And it is not socialist by any stretch of the imagination. It's fair. It's equitable. It's efficient. It will provide savings in the long run. It will, in my opinion prove to be cost effective. I know a good deal about this from my wife's and my own employment in this field. The cost savings that will be achieved are staggering.
I'm curious why that is. Like most things in life I'm sure there are no easy answers. Health care is one example of this. We are the industrialized country in the world that doesn't provide health care for all of it's citizens. And it is not socialist by any stretch of the imagination. It's fair. It's equitable. It's efficient. It will provide savings in the long run. It will, in my opinion prove to be cost effective. I know a good deal about this from my wife's and my own employment in this field. The cost savings that will be achieved are staggering.
But I digress. The similarities between prohibition and our unsuccessful campaign against illegal drugs is staggering. If you disagree, please consult sources of your own that you consider to be unbiased, or refer to the sources I have referenced (shown below). A very large portion of people who are incarcerated are imprisoned for drug-related crimes. Currently approximately 1 in 77 Americans are in the prison. Which is twice that of 25 years ago. Anybody see a correlation between this and the national debt? This rate of growth is not sustainable. Many studies show that there are better, more cost efficient and effective strategies available.
Is anyone listening?
Many criminals revert back to crime after being released from prison, simply because they have no practical alternatives. Not many jobs are available to criminals. What would you do under similar circumstances? We speak proudly in this country about being forgiven in this country after doing your penance. The reality does not support that contention. And please don't interpret this to being support for career criminals or violent criminals or those that commit especially heinous crimes.
CNN: "Former surgeon general calls for marijuana legalization"
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/10/18/former.surgeon.general.marijuana/
Another post I did on this subject (LinkHere)
Wikipedia Article: (Link1Here)
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