SF Mayor Gavin Newsom: War On Drugs Is A Failure

http://cbs5.com/topstories/local_story_277214611.html

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom proclaimed the nation's war on drugs a total failure and insisted the crime rate would go down if the government spent money on treatment as opposed to jailing people with drug problems.

"If you want to get serious, if you want to reduce crime by 70% in this country overnight, end this war on drugs," he told reporters at City Hall on Thursday. "You want to get serious, seriously serious about crime and violence end this war on drugs."

The mayor maintained local jails are overcrowded with people incarcerated for drug offenses, taking up room that could be used to hold more violent criminal offenders. He said violent criminals with lengthy felony records are being turned loose, too often.

San Francisco Sheriff Mike Hennessey, who has run the county jail for 28 years, told CBS 5 that 60 to 75 percent of the 2,000 inmates currently held are there for drug crimes or have underlying substance abuse problems.

in the early nineties reports 'trickled down' to europe about more black males being in prison, than in college. This hasn't changed, it's only become worse.

In Amsterdam, we have to deal with some 2% die-hard users (out of total population). We supply them with methadon and small amounts of heroin (doesn't cost shit, since the police 'lose' 160 kilos per year). They don't make any trouble at all, except for the occasional carstereo-theft.
We get the biggest trouble from hard-drinking English stud-night idiots. They will start fights over drugs, with dealers no less, and then get kicked into a canal or three.

It's the same with drugs as it is with alcohol. Prohibit the stuff, you get Al Capone. Legalize it, you'll get revenues.

and someday maybe we, as a society, will figure that out.

keeping the price of drugs artificially thus criminalizing a significant portion of the lower classes, providing a convenient soapbox for politicians, while maximizing profits for criminal syndicates and government black ops organizations

Huge revenues and budgets the way things are now.
Not so much if drugs were legal.
It's nothing but a scam.

exert by jailing hapless drunks & potheads--classes to which I have occasionally belonged.