how are laws still so strict in america?

[kushblowin]

i thought where i had i had it the worse but at least if you get caught with a pill or something its not that serious and they just legalized weed. i was about to move to another state and then i haerd something about their laws and its still a felony to have an ounce of weed, or a thc cart, or a single pill of anything. its crazy because in the same state medical marijuana is legal and they sell ounces of weed, shatter, and wax pens to anyone for fistfuls of cash but any other way is illegal.

i thought i found the perfect place and wanted to move but now im worried im always going to be sweating and nervous i never like to go near any type of felony and even if i bring half a xanax with me to loosen up with some friends or something or i have to use the onions or something i always have to be worried. i cant believe in the usa we still have these crazy laws. i use medical marijuana too for my migraines so i just like an edible or some wax to get it out of the way without having to cough my ass off choking smoking a joint

 

[Joey]

There's some similar issues regarding the laws around drugs, their use, and recovery / harm reduction practices too. Federal law differentiates greatly from provincial, and the hairs get split even further as you go further down the line to municipal and individual practices, physicians, facilitators, social workers, etc. There isn't enough cohesion so some places are completely inflexible to anything but flat out propagandization and abstinence only, lock them up and throw away the key, etc. Others a wanting full legalization and safe supply NOW!

The States are similar but are not quite as progressive as Canada on any level, yet. Things like the 10th amendment being ruled as an amendment which gives the States the ability to stand against bills passed federally as their own seperate entity since 1992. Vice versa, I believe that even though Oregon has decriminalized all drugs for low level possession since last year (civil issue vs criminal issue now), it's still possible to get federal charges. Don't take my word 100% on federal in Oregon though, i'm just sure on that part.

The problem is politics are a mess. We're all subject to some talking heads we often don't even know of here as the media is also a massive smoke show. The majority of it.

 

[deficiT]

Yeah, it is a bummer how different areas have drastically different laws. For example, in VA, getting caught with basically any drug is a felony. But in MD, simple possession of anything is merely a misdemeanor. And these states are very close together.

Honestly, more people than you would think are getting tired of the archaic and puritanical drug laws. It's only a matter of time before some more progress is made.

 

[Jabberwocky]

It’s the same in Australia. A lousy 5 g of meth or any other amp will get you a supply charge for which the maximum penalty is $220,000 and/or imprisonment for 15 years. The scale up from 1 g for personal supply which you might get let off for to supply which might put you away for a long, long time is massive.

 

[G_Chem]

Speak with your money.

I moved to Idaho for awhile but refuse to live in a state with a for profit prison system that constantly needs filling. All states around it are legal or medical, but you get caught there and you may be doing some time.

Eventually these states will have no one left and they’ll be forced to change.

-GC

 

[Snafu in the Void]

I moved to Idaho for awhile but refuse to live in a state with a for profit prison system that constantly needs filling.

This. Frankly I think it's absolutely ridiculous that private prisons even exist. There are so many glaring ethical concerns with the concept in the first place.

*Slaps roof of prison*
"I can fit about 4000 nonviolent addicts in this bad boy!"

 

[Mr. Krinkle]

well meth is a really fucked up drug and i think you need harsh laws with that one - don't like it? then go do another drug....or you can go live in one of the beautiful homeless encampments they have in every downtown city in america and smoke away - and then when you don't know what else to do with all that energy because you can't sit in your tent anymore, you can go throw things off the overpass onto the highway during rush hour without much consequence because you live in a far left compassionate city

 

[deficiT]

well meth is a really fucked up drug and i think you need harsh laws with that one - don't like it? then go do another drug....or you can go live in one of the beautiful homeless encampments they have in every downtown city in america and smoke away - and then when you don't know what else to do with all that energy because you can't sit in your tent anymore, you can go throw things off the overpass onto the highway during rush hour without much consequence because you live in a far left compassionate city

Not sure that doing meth causes you to throw things at cars, pretty sure being an asshole is what causes that.

 

[Mr. Krinkle]

Not sure that doing meth causes you to throw things at cars, pretty sure being an asshole is what causes that.

well if you weren't living in an encampment downtown because your previous bullshit wasn't tolerated, maybe you wouldn't have taken it that far

fuck those people - round em up and flush em away

i drove past one the other day that was just closed up that could nearly kill you from the bleach fumes that i guess they try to clean it up with

and then the graffiti - they're so fucked up they cant even create the art that the crack era graffiti brought us

a flamethrower would be the best way to close these encampments

 

[G_Chem]

I have zero problem with meth. Don’t get me wrong I like the stuff, but I’ve played with fire enough to know it’ll burn me if I fuck around. Got like a 100mg in 2018 that I still have some.

People are in encampments for many reasons, yea some of those people are garbage human beings, but some are also truly people down on their luck. We live in some uncertain times, inflation on the rise, it’s understandable many folks are hurting financially.

Fixing the meth problem starts with proper drug education and having many other better alternatives. The area I grew up had zero meth despite being literally surrounded by states with meth problems, it still doesn’t really have any although I hear it’s slowly creeping in with other drugs like heroin becoming harder to find.

The reason my area didn’t have a meth problem? We had every other drug you could imagine, to us meth was what Nebraska farmers did, it was dirty to us compared to high quality MDMA, MDA, Heroin, Cocaine, etc. Is heroin or crack good for the soul? Nope, but we shouldn’t lock people up for drugs, just the crimes they commit to get said drugs like stealing. (If they commit any crimes at all.)

-GC

 

[Mr. Krinkle]

yea you're right...it isn't the drug, it's the user

like it's not the gun its the shooter

but a lot of these ppl are fucked....they were showing this one homeless dude on the news for a while, going through the system, having like 30 charges in 3 years, and then always back out in 24 hours, to the same corners he's always at downtown, tweeked everyday out there acting like a loon....he eventually killed his girlfriend and then he killed himself...

 

[Jabberwocky]

yea you're right...it isn't the drug, it's the user

like it's not the gun its the shooter

but a lot of these ppl are fucked....they were showing this one homeless dude on the news for a while, going through the system, having like 30 charges in 3 years, and then always back out in 24 hours, to the same corners he's always at downtown, tweeked everyday out there acting like a loon....he eventually killed his girlfriend and then he killed himself...

Some of our finer members have had to live in such places from time to time. Some probably will end up there in the future. The reasons they do are not just drugs. Family breakdowns, bankruptcy, untreated mental health problems because they can’t afford a doctor or meds. Drugs often come after those other life problems. They’re not always the cause of them.

But sure. Plenty people land on their ass under a bridge because they are fuckwits who brought it on themselves too.

 

[Mr. Krinkle]

Some of our finer members have had to live in such places from time to time. Some probably will end up there in the future. The reasons they do are not just drugs. Family breakdowns, bankruptcy, untreated mental health problems because they can’t afford a doctor or meds. Drugs often come after those other life problems. They’re not always the cause of them.

But sure. Plenty people land on their ass under a bridge because they are fuckwits who brought it on themselves too.

there's always homeless people but some fat needs to be trimmed - this is an absurd mess right now

 

[TheFrogEffect]

there's always homeless people but some fat needs to be trimmed - this is an absurd mess right now

Best way to do that is for states to shift focus from punitive action to rehabilitative, promote harm reduction, and provide resources to get people off of drugs and out of the camps in the first place. There'll probably always be some people in those positions, but if you give the majority of people the proper tools, they'll use them.

 

[Lil'LinaptkSix]

The US was the spearhead on the war on drugs and has to save face and keep the appearance of being intelligent.
Just my opinion.

 

[Burnt Offerings]

keep the appearance of being intelligent.

that’s one battle they lost long ago

 

[Lil'LinaptkSix]

Ain't that the truth... but still trying to keep the rest of the world thinking they are No 1 in all things public and private: We all know it's lies but, hey, no shame in trying iirc.

 

[Fiori di Bella]

The US was the spearhead on the war on drugs and has to save face and keep the appearance of being intelligent.
Just my opinion.

And that same president, who brought us the effectual War on Drugs, had been the governor of my fine state, some years prior.

He made it his mission to defund my state’s mental health system, which resulted in the release of thousands of the mentally ill, onto our streets. The majority didn’t get up, get a job, and do well for themselves. Instead, we’re still seeing people with obvious mental issues, walking around the downtown corridors of major CA cities.

Like ripples in a pond after throwing in a rock; the waves are still being felt as a result of Ronnie Reagan’s brilliant decisions. A good portion of our homeless remain fraught with mental health issues and they are often forgotten and feared.

 

[TheFrogEffect]

The US was the spearhead on the war on drugs and has to save face and keep the appearance of being intelligent.
Just my opinion.

I don't think that's just an opinion, really. The USA is terrible at admitting our failures and taking accountability for the things we do. At this point our stance on drugs remains so punitive because people don't want to admit to the world just how badly we failed.

With that said, I think the people here are slowly coming around to how badly we've failed in the war on drugs. Oregon decriminalized possession of personal quantities of everything, which should hopefully have the same domino effect that Marijuana legalization in Washington and Colorado had back in 2013.

 

[Jerry Atrick]

well meth is a really fucked up drug and i think you need harsh laws with that one - don't like it? then go do another drug....or you can go live in one of the beautiful homeless encampments they have in every downtown city in america and smoke away - and then when you don't know what else to do with all that energy because you can't sit in your tent anymore, you can go throw things off the overpass onto the highway during rush hour without much consequence because you live in a far left compassionate city

You must live in Austin.

Best way to do that is for states to shift focus from punitive action to rehabilitative, promote harm reduction, and provide resources to get people off of drugs and out of the camps in the first place. There'll probably always be some people in those positions, but if you give the majority of people the proper tools, they'll use them.

This ^ As someone who has been homeless, for one I never used meth when I was homeless. Nor did I use any social services. But once I became housed again, got on my feet, and finished college and grad school, I got a job as a social work case manager in a supportive housing program. Our program followed the Housing First model where they stipulate that the first step in getting a person experiencing chronic homelessness out of that situation is to give them "housing first." Then they have a case manager like I was to help them keep their housing, maintain self-care, and attain some sort of income not excluding Social Security if they are disabled.

Supportive housing really works and research has shown that it is fiscally more affordable to house people experiencing homelessness than it is to allow them to cycle through shelters, jails, prisons, hospitals, psych wards, etc. All of which are tax funded anyways. The problem in Atx is that there are still people who think housing the homeless is not a good idea. NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) is alive and well in this city and legislation to expand into old hotels is being blocked by voters who want the homeless problem to end, but they can't agree on where to send them. Austin may be a "far left compassionate city," but it is deep inside a red ass fucking state.