LEGALIZE DRUGS TO BREAK STATE'S PRISON DEPENDENCY

We have an unprecedented budget deficit in Wisconsin. I have a plan to
rectify that. One-third of all prisoners in the US are held on drug
charges. It's estimated that it costs around $40,000 a year to house a
prisoner. Oshkosh Corrections estimates it costs $80,000 per year to
house a sickly prisoner. Prisons are about the only growth industry in
Wisconsin.

Let's release all the non-violent druggies and free up all this money.
It perturbs me that we have a bunch of people lounging about, being
properly fed and medically cared for, reading, watching TV and, no
doubt, fornicating on my dime. It's disgusting that we have allowed
this to happen. Get these people out working, providing their own
medical care and paying taxes.

The US needs to move towards legalizing, regulating and taxing the
drug trade. The US has been fighting a war on drugs for decades, yet
drug usage has not been curbed - it's just made undeserving people
wealthy at our expense. The primary source of terrorist money comes
from illegal drugs. Also, prohibition has caused profitable black
markets, increased crime, increased overdoses due to unregulated and
unsafe drugs, increased corruption, broken families and devastated
communities.

The war on drugs is a useless and futile waste of police resources.
Legalize and take away the huge profits of the cartels. We put Al
Capone out of business when we elected to legalize and regulate
alcohol. We will do the same to the drug cartels and organized crime
when we end drug prohibition. Crime, violence, disease and death will
be greatly reduced.

Once we legalize drugs, we will solve the drug war problem. But
legalizing addictive drugs such as heroin, cocaine, etc. could have a
negative impact on society in the same way they do now when illegally
obtained. Regulating these drugs could still lead to dependency and
addiction. However, I think a crucial question is, "If we legalize
drugs, would there be substantially more drug addiction?" I think the
answer is "No." When alcohol was prohibited, there wasn't a sudden
decrease in alcoholism, and when it was legalized there wasn't a
sudden increase. All those who are prone to addiction are addicted now
on drugs supplied by drug cartels. Funds currently wasted on trying to
control drugs can be used instead for social programs to eliminate
societal issues that lead people to abuse drugs, and to educate them
about what drugs can do to their body and to rehabilitate.

Look at the facts: A relatively low budget education campaign has
resulted in a significant decline in US consumption of tobacco during
a period when we have a costly and intensive war on drugs which has
resulted in increase usage. Is there a lesson to be learned here? Of
course, people have rejected tobacco, not because we've outlawed it,
but because of our honest education program. On the other hand, we
have not been forthright with drug usage. We tell people marijuana is
addictive, but it's not. We say cocaine is "bad, really, really bad',
but we don't give scientific details. How much will cause a stroke?
What per centage of users suffer a stroke? How much use will cause
cocaine addiction? We can't treat US citizens like they just fell off
the turnip truck.

Perhaps the way to move forward is to do it in steps; first, make the
production, possession and use of marijuana legal. Have it regulated.
Alcohol and marijuana should be treated the same: with age
restrictions and criminal punishments for misuse such as DUI laws.
It's not the usage that's wrong, it's the misusage.

Demand for drugs is little different than the demand for booze; it's
unlikely to dry up or dwindle. Whether to find God, heighten sexual
arousal, relieve physical pain, drown one's sorrow or simply feel
good, people throughout all of history have sought out mood and mind
altering substances.

Treat drugs like alcohol and tobacco -legalize, regulate and tax. We
have to view drugs as a public health problem, not a problem for the
criminal justice system.