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decriminalizing drugs would save $46 billion

decriminalizing drugs would save $46 billionfrom st. louis post dispatch: American taxpayers would save more than $46 billion if drug addicts now in prison were instead treated, according to a study released Friday at a national convention of drug court professionals.

Retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey, a former U.S. drug czar, and actress Melanie Griffith joined experts in calling on lawmakers to increase funding for such courts.

“This is not a war on drugs,” McCaffrey said. “This is a problem for our families in America. In order to turn drugs around in this country, we’re going to have to treat those 1.5 million people who are addicted.”…

The study from the Urban Institute in Washington found that about 3 percent of arrested addicts are referred to a drug court, which offers supervised treatment to nonviolent offenders whose records are expunged if they complete the program.

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2 responses to “decriminalizing drugs would save $46 billion”

  1. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    97/28/2011

    You cannot decriminalize drugs especially marijuana because it would be bad for business. Imagine if you make marijuana legal and its distribution controlled by the government. The price would come down as the supply increased; people would stop using the more expensive illegal drugs, whose price would then in turn fall to less than economical rates. The cartels would be seriously hurt or even destroyed. Caannot let that happen because we want to make sure the vested interests get their cut under the table.

  2. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    2011 Part 2

    I forgot about the prison system in the United States. If you decriminalize drugs especially marijuana, the prison populations would drastically decrease, making it economically unfeasible for the growing private control of the prison system. They need bodies in the cells because they get paid by numbers and sentence duration. Many people should not be in prison now, but business is only good when they are.

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