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DrugPolicy.org: Senator Aragon to Introduce Legislation Calling for Treatment Instead of Jail for Nonviolent Drug Offenders
From 14 July - A National Holiday in France:
"On July 14, 1789, the storming of the Bastille immediately took on a great historical dimension; it was proof that power no longer resided in the King as God's representative, but in the people, in accordance with the theories developed by their philosophers of the eighteenth century. Within two days the Revolution could not be reversed. For all citizens of France, the storming of the Bastille came to symbolize liberty, democracy in the struggle against oppression."
Can we expect this to happen again, in our Country?
And lastly, my favorite quotes:
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
--Albert Einstein
Another by Mr. Einstein:
"Our task must be to free ourselves from the prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty…"
And yet, another:
"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."
"It is not true that the function of law is to regulate our consciences, our ideas, our wills, our education, our opinions, our work, our trade, our talents, or our pleasures. The function of law is to protect the free exercise of these rights, and to prevent any person from interfering with the free exercise of these same rights by any other person."
The Law by Frederic Bastiat, 1850
"O. Ricardo Pimentel, a columnist for the Arizona Republic, draws attention to the movie Traffic, as dramatizing the futility of our drug policies. In that movie is depicted the ultimate invincibility of cash-crop growers who can generate gold from tilling the soil. He seizes on the final sequence in the movie where the futile U.S. drug czar, played by Michael Douglas, asks officials how much money they will need to continue to fight the war. 'More,' answer the officials. 'In this kind of war,' Mr. Pimentel comments, 'the answer will always be 'more,' and it will never be enough.' "
Quoted from the National Review Feb 19, 2001
On the Right - High On Drug-Warring
By William F. Buckley, Jr.
"During Fiscal Year (FY) 1999, the BOP experienced its second consecutive year of record breaking inmate population increases. In FY 1998, the population increased by more than 10,000, and in FY 1999, the increase was over 11,300. By FY 2007, we anticipate a Federal inmate population of approximately 205,000. That is growth of nearly 50 percent over the current level.
"Overcrowding in BOP facilities is 34 percent over capacity system wide. At medium and high security facilities overcrowding levels are at even more dangerous proportions, 55 percent at medium security facilities and 51 percent at high security facilities. We must reduce overcrowding at those facilities for the security of staff, inmates, and the surrounding communities. With the resources Congress has already provided, we are making substantial progress with 22 new prisons funded. (Ed: Obviously a growth industry) However, we need to do more. In the FY '01 budget request we seek funding and advanced appropriations to fund 9 new prisons over the next three years. Advanced appropriations,
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