Anthony Papa (in Counter Punch) on Punishing Addicts
http://www.counterpunch.org/papa07012006.html
[One of our national ironies is that we outlaw the use and sale of substances that kill no more than about 3,000 people (by overdoses) each year, while permitting alcohol which one way or another (such as drunken driving or murders while drunk) does in at least 150,000. Tobacco gets nearly 500,000 more with horrible slowed deaths. Anthony Papa points to one such well-known case of a tortured individual being imprisoned for an addiction -- the bulk of our prisoners particularly in NY being in this category. I served on several grand juries -- one targeted at drugs. It was manifest that the big timers never get caught and that we routinely are imprisoning people who are either addicts or desperate for income -- or both. Anthony Papa who works for reform in this area served 12 years of a 15 year drug sentence before being pardoned: http://www.15yearstolife.com/ Ed Kent]
P.S. Some of those out begging on our streets are funding their habits -- some are ex-veterans given dishonorable discharges for drug abuse or ex-cons virtually unemployable for that reason. No one favors the distribution of the addicting drugs. The issue is what we are to do with their victims?
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
--
Ed Kent 718-951-5324 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
http://BlogByEdKent.blogspot.com/
http://www.bloggernews.net
[One of our national ironies is that we outlaw the use and sale of substances that kill no more than about 3,000 people (by overdoses) each year, while permitting alcohol which one way or another (such as drunken driving or murders while drunk) does in at least 150,000. Tobacco gets nearly 500,000 more with horrible slowed deaths. Anthony Papa points to one such well-known case of a tortured individual being imprisoned for an addiction -- the bulk of our prisoners particularly in NY being in this category. I served on several grand juries -- one targeted at drugs. It was manifest that the big timers never get caught and that we routinely are imprisoning people who are either addicts or desperate for income -- or both. Anthony Papa who works for reform in this area served 12 years of a 15 year drug sentence before being pardoned: http://www.15yearstolife.com/ Ed Kent]
P.S. Some of those out begging on our streets are funding their habits -- some are ex-veterans given dishonorable discharges for drug abuse or ex-cons virtually unemployable for that reason. No one favors the distribution of the addicting drugs. The issue is what we are to do with their victims?
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
--
Ed Kent 718-951-5324 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
http://BlogByEdKent.blogspot.com/
http://www.bloggernews.net
posted by Ed Kent at 5:37 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home