My biggest problem with the US social system is there is nothing of substance between "kicked out of school" and prison.
We need more intervention programs for kids in trouble. It used to be the army but that is not politically viable these days.
We should also stop the stupid drug war but stupid "wars" seem to be a habit with us (ignoring the current mess in the middle east ... please)
We have "wars" on poverty, crime, alternate lifestyles or whatever is the current political football. They never work.
The drug war may be the dumbest, Say what you will about drugs, criminalizing them does nothing but fill the street with gunfire and jam prisons with people whose only crime is using or selling the wrong drug. On the other hand if you are using the right drugs (something you bribed a doctor to sell you) you are just taking medicine, even if it is the same drug. Alcohol and nicotine are billion dollar businesses.
We learned nothing from prohibition, in spite of the direct parallels. Legalize drugs and tax them. Turn a $500 million dollar expense into a $500 million windfall revenue increase and the number of addicts will probably stay about the same. At least we could treat addiction as a medical problem, not a crime.
If you think I am crazy, answer this question
Which drug kills the most people in this country, causes the most lost productivity and has the most addicts ... hint, it is legal. We even have an open thread about people trying to quit right here.
