"Three strikes you are you" (three felonies and life in California state) is no longer law in the United States, this occurred a couple months ago.... This was one of the major points during the Obama admins's changes to the mandatory min laws. Not saying one is better then the other but to suggest that one is highly preferable to another is pushing it imo. To be honest, I really do not see that huge of a difference between US and AUS drug laws.
Like I said in another thread, US drug laws are harsh and more so then some western EU countries for sure. But to act like the US has the harshest drug laws in the world is a big longshot. Our prison industrial complex is a major issues, but that has more to do then just our drug laws.
For the record, I have had friends get caught with drugs by officers and just let go. Really, it comes down to the cop here. Of course, other things come into play, location, race, ethnicity, type of drug etc.
Like I said, we are more similar then different.
Man that shit just ain't true, I admit some states are better than others but the US overall is fucked for drug laws compared to Australia.
There was an article in this forum recently about a dude given 20 years in Louisiana for his 4th time being caught with cannabis (15 point something grams iirc), where I live in Australia if I am caught with up to 50 grams twice I wont even have to go to court, I guarantee I could get caught twice more and unless I had convictions for other shit I would not be seeing gaol. I know people caught selling weed 3 or 4 times (more than one, and I feel obliged to point out they typically came from a lower socio economic background, something which from my observations increases the odds of you being fucked legally in the States) who never did any time, tell me how many states in the US that shit is going to fly? You could argue that is one case in one State, and that is true, but to me it still says a LOT. That shit would never ever EVER happen in Australia period in any way, shape or form. To me it says a lot about a country's legal system, whether or not it is the norm. I would say someplace you have to really be working hard to see gaol for cannabis whatsoever compared to a place you might see 20 years and/or lose your car is much, much less favourable.
I have seen episodes of cops set in Florida where they set up fake drug corners to sell (yes, the cops were selling to users to bust them, unbelievable!) cannabis to random motorists. Every single person who bought some was buying like a gram or two, every single person had their vehicle seized as a result of this bust. This type of thing does NOT happen in Australia, it just doesn't. I have never heard of anyone losing their car or anything for anything less than dealing, and even in these cases I think it was only because they couldn't prove they acquired the car through legitimate means, which means that I could get caught dealing and because I can prove I paid for my car with other money they can't touch it.
I have never even heard of somebody getting time for dealing in Australia the first time they got caught doing it (referring to hard drugs this time, not weed), and again, I have known a number of people to be caught up in this, a good number with minor prior convictions for assault or theft or drug possession to boot. Not saying it doesn't happen but I would venture to say from my experience that a suspended sentence is typically the most they would be facing for a less than commercial quantity.
There was an article printed I think last year in The Herald Sun or The Age that claimed about a quarter of people convicted of large scale commercial cannabis (as in like million dollar crops) growing do not see gaol time. I am having trouble finding that article now but I distinctly remember showing it to my mum in an unsuccessful attempt to get her to let me grow a few in the backyard. lol
You really have to be working hard to get much time at all in Australia, even rapists often only receive a few years or so. I think in many ways our prison system is too lax, it is just fortunate that this same thing applies to drug laws as well. I don't really like the fact they give child molesters and violent criminals suspended sentences and/or otherwise short prison terms but it is the reality here. I am sorry but Australia and the US drug laws, and laws in general, are like night and day, that isn't always for the better in Australia's case but for drugs it is 100% unquestionably better.
If you are dealing in drugs that are perceived to be hard like cocaine or heroin in large quantities then yes the difference between the US and Australia is probably lessened significantly, however I still think the US would take the cake on harshness in these cases without even trying. Still though, we will throw draconian over a decade sentences at people for a few kilograms of hard drugs, of that there is no question. This is a minority of cases though, and as a recreational drug user I think someone would have a hard time arguing that one would be better off legally in the States than in Australia, there might be a handful of States that are not any worse than here but a handful of States out of fifty is a huge minority...
You also have to consider the environment you are doing your time in, there are definitely hard facilities in Australia but I wouldn't say they are the majority, although I admit I could know more about our prison system than I do, I really don't think they compare in violence to a lot of the facilities in the US and gangs are nowhere near as much of a problem. I personally know where I would rather do my time.
I admit most of my knowledge and experiences is based in Victoria, which is relatively lax even by Australia's standards as I understand it, but shit really isn't much worse in the rest of Aus. I think Western Australia and Queensland are the two worst but even then I believe these states implement cannabis cautioning systems and people are very unlikely to see gaol for their first or second offence on a drug crime so long as it isn't major.
