Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
More U.S. arrests for pot than violent crimes: rights groups [View all]
Source: Reuters
U.S. | Wed Oct 12, 2016 | 2:20pm EDT
More U.S. arrests for pot than violent crimes: rights groups
U.S. police make over 1.25 million arrests a year for drug possession, more than twice the number for violent crimes, and about half of the arrests are for marijuana, two human rights groups said on Wednesday in a call for sweeping drug decriminalization.
The 196-page report by the American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights Watch said the "war on drugs" was a failure, with rates of drug use unchanged since President Richard Nixon launched the campaign more than 40 years ago.
States and the federal government should decriminalize the use and possession of drugs for personal use and focus instead on prevention and reducing harm, the report said.
“These wide-scale arrests have destroyed countless lives while doing nothing to help people who struggle with dependence,” Tess Borden, the report’s author, said in a statement.
The report said nearly half of all drug possession arrests in 2015, or more than 574,000, were for marijuana, based on Federal Bureau of Investigation figures.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
More U.S. arrests for pot than violent crimes: rights groups
U.S. police make over 1.25 million arrests a year for drug possession, more than twice the number for violent crimes, and about half of the arrests are for marijuana, two human rights groups said on Wednesday in a call for sweeping drug decriminalization.
The 196-page report by the American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights Watch said the "war on drugs" was a failure, with rates of drug use unchanged since President Richard Nixon launched the campaign more than 40 years ago.
States and the federal government should decriminalize the use and possession of drugs for personal use and focus instead on prevention and reducing harm, the report said.
“These wide-scale arrests have destroyed countless lives while doing nothing to help people who struggle with dependence,” Tess Borden, the report’s author, said in a statement.
The report said nearly half of all drug possession arrests in 2015, or more than 574,000, were for marijuana, based on Federal Bureau of Investigation figures.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-drugs-report-idUSKCN12C2B8
1 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read