KHQA recently wrote an article on the "war on drugs," and how it is handled in Quincy, IL. The article is troubling right from the start.
The article states: "The Street Crimes Unit of the Quincy Police Department patrols Quincy's streets, looking for any small violation, such as a license plate light that's out. That gives the officer a chance to pull the car over and see if there are any drugs in the vehicle or if any of the occupants are wanted on outstanding warrants. This is just one of the new ways QPD is fighting the war on drugs."
Of course, this is not just endemic to Quincy, as it happens everywhere in America. It is outrageous that police drive around looking for any excuse they can find in order to harass the citizens in their community.
The Chief admits, "Locking people up does not solve drug abuse. It never has, and it never will." The article goes on to say, "But that doesn't mean Chief Copley is going to tell his officers to stop arresting drug dealers and sending them to prison."
It is not just drug dealers that they are arresting and sending to prison. The overwhelming majority of arrests for drug related "crimes" are for simple possession, and the largest portion of those arrests are for marijuana.
Copley is admitting that the "war on drugs" is futile and will not stop drug sales or usage, so then, what is his reasoning for wanting to continue arresting people for a non-crime and throwing them in a cage? He does not say. One can only speculate. Perhaps revenue, power trip, or my favorite 'I'm just doing my job.' The Nuremberg defense is no defense at all.
The "drug war" is senseless. Drug use is not a crime in any real sense. It is only criminal because some politicians decided to try to legislate morality, and wrote it down on a piece of paper. People should be able to ingest anything they want into their own body with out fear of armed thugs harassing and imprisoning them. The United States has waged a war against its own citizens, and it needs to stop.
Comments