True.

The key is NONVIOLENT. If someone robs a convenience store at gunpoint to support his habit, no matter how high he is at the time, lock him up for the crime. However, most drug and alcohol abusers are not violent. A real waste of people and societal resources.

And yet, we still have politicians who run on a platform of fear mongering and how they're going to clean up the problem by enforcing stricter penalties. What they don't tell you in their campaign promises is that this will result in a tax increase to pay for both law enforcement, jury trials and incarceration. And interestingly enough, most of the politicians that play this game with the voting public also run on a stance of lowering taxes. Ironic, huh?

I like how these "tough on crime" right-wingers claim to be in favor of lower taxes and smaller government. I guess prisons, cops, and the military don't count as goverment spending programs, or government biggification.

Just don't expect any "deregulation" when it comes to your own life. Take only the drugs approved by Partnership for a Drug-Free America. Your neighborhood watch officer will be by to collect urine samples in the morning. And there better not be any code violations with your hoo-hoos and ta-tas.