If you have a copy of TIME MAGAZINE with the pictured cover you might want to read the article by Fareed Zakaria on INCARCERATION NATION, costs and statistics of the war on drugs and the total failure of this effort over the last four decades. We have 5% of the world's population and 25% of the prisoners.
All you have to do is follow the money trail in the War on Drugs to realize it is a political issue that appeals to liberals as well as conservatives. State prisons now have a good portion of their prisons ran by private prison companies with powerful lobbyists protecting their interests. These firms are hailed as great for the economy in places with few other options for employment. Money spent by states has risen six times the amounts spent on education. It costs on average $8,600 to keep a kid in college and $45,000 to keep someone incarcerated for a year.
We have spent nearly $1 Trillion dollars on the war against drugs over the last four decades. Nary a dent has been put in the availability traffic and potency of drugs. According to Adam Gopnik who writes in the New Yorker...." Overall, there are now more people under "correctional supervision' in America- more than 6 million than were in the Gulag Archipelago under Stalin at its height."
Currently, the US has 760 prisoners per 100,000 citizens in jail or prison. This is 7-10 times the incarceration rates for any developed country in the world. Japan has 63/100k, Germany has 90, France has 96, South Korea has 97, Great Britain has 153/100k of population. In 2009, 1.66 million Americans were arrested on drug charges.
The result of the war on drugs is we are creating huge numbers of prisoner underclass population at a huge cost to taxpayers all in the name of a war we have already lost by any logical measurement of success. The justice system from arrest to conviction and incarceration costs have created a huge burden for taxpayers.
Canyon County is now looking to build yet more space to incarcerate more of our citizens at a very high cost to county taxpayers. Recently, they shut down the entire 4th floor of the old jail due to a leaking drain pipe that could have been repaired with a Epoxy/fiberglass liner installed in place. (http://maxlinerusa.com/ ) There is nothing like a capacity crisis to give citizens a reason to build more and more jail space.
The world wide numbers suggest we are fundamentally out of line with our approach to the drug war. Yet we continue to throw billions at a losing proposition.
Here's a link on a report on the war on drugs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Commission_on_Drug_Policy
The war on drugs has created an huge tax free cash cow for gangs and cartels who use violence to protect their black market profits.
ReplyDeleteAlcohol Prohibition in the 1920/30 era created the same black markets with all the violence and tax free profits for those in the booze trade.
The real question is: When will taxpayers get a belly full of this useless and expensive nonsense?
I've been around for a good long while and have had a first person view of the entire war on drugs both legal and illegal. You are not going to stop people from self destructive behavior. So start legalizing what is responsible to legalize like pot and let's see how that works for a while.
ReplyDeleteI also have a beef with the issue of not providing terminally ill people with all means available to make their lives as comfortable as possible. Doctors who get prosecuted for prescribing pain killers to these people is just wrong. We all get to die sooner or later and living a life in constant pain is very hard on families of these folks. Let's get more humane with this aspect of medicine. Heroin and any other gold standard for pain management should be given in the frequency and amount that adds a modicum of relief to the terminally ill while they swirl around the drain.
The rise in meth use coincides with Nancy Reagan's "just say no" drug prevention. As the police and drug agencies went after coke & marijuana users the price of the drugs went up. Drug users needed a cheaper product so meth became more popular. Meth production compared to Marijuana has a faster production time, needs less 'real estate', and can be made anytime anywhere. History has always had a drug to ease the mind like weed does, whether it be meed, tonics, elixirs, roots, leaves, or modern day liquors and drugs. Punishing weed users creats a boon in alternative drugs and prison populations.
ReplyDeleteThe culture in this country as is has evolved, has seemed to lead the mainstream into a psychotic belief that anyone doing what they think is wrong belongs in jail. Politicians and elected law enforcement run on programs to get tough on criminals with jail sentences, and are often elected for just that reason with associated costs hardly considered.
ReplyDeleteI have seen this everywhere including in myself as our society seems to demand more government management and regulation of those attributes we do not like, which stifles productivity, free will, AND insures a growing jail population.
A much more enlightened attitude of the general public is in my opinion necessary before much change can be expected.
When the politicians learn to stand up to the inmates and the ACLU and make prison (jail) a very harsh reality we can avoid building "more bed space."
ReplyDeleteInmates get 3-square meals-a-day, free TV (cable or satellite) and free dental, medical and eye care. When was the last time you received these services completely free of charge along with free prescriptions? If they get a job and receive a wage they don't pay taxes, or pay for any of the above. The courts grant them free access as well. When was the last time you visited a lawyer and had a case filed e.g. File an eviction notice with Canyon County the cost is $88.00 plus court costs. Have the Sheriff serve the legal papers $50-$100. The SCOTUS has said inmates are only entitled to court access to work on their case meaning, the matter that put them behind bars. Thanks to politicians who get scared when a lawsuit is mentioned, the inmates have walked all over them and have convinced them they live so poorly in jail.
When a politician learns there is no such thing as prison overcrowding we will have lower costs. Sheriff Joe does it. More tents and more baloney, tuna fish sandwiches.
Have you ever noticed the people who most want to end the ban on marijuana are the same ones who prefer to be stoned all of the time anyway? They also constitute the most paranoid bunch out there.
What an excellent article about the truth of deliberate and engineered waste - I have no doubt it is well orchestrated with the same old create the problem and solution game.
ReplyDeleteI also wouldn't doubt some seized drugs "mysteriously" find their way back on the street into targeted communities, then the "bust" and the seized drugs could be "recycled" while the next distributor is lined up, probably with the same drugs "seized." Could be the private prison programs are owned by the drug traffickers themselves and everyone else on the take.
Drug trafficking is nearly always tied to crimes of sex trafficking, Satanic and child ritual abuse, pedophilia, and gambling industries such as horse racing. Look for the sexual deviates and their secret lives and methinks you will find most of the drug trafficking, as well as the hidden kingpins and their evils. I think the "need" for more prison space also has something to do with "harvesting" certain targeted males for some very sadistic multiple agendas which take place behind prison walls.
The drug problem is at the lower end of the pyramid, and serves other crimes. The "war on drugs" was just another deflection of that. Follow the ladders that climb toward the top.
Keep your kid and teens off the streets, off the internet which is an evil and insidious hook into them. Don't let them go places alone, teach them to listen to their God-given instincts. There are far too many unsolved murders in Idaho.
Anonymous #3 hit the nail on it's head, it's all Nancy Reagan's fault!
ReplyDeleteThe War on Drugs started with the Nixon administration. The exact date escapes me but it was around 1970. The Hippies, long hair and war protesters were just too much for the Repubs of the day to tolerate. The debacle of the Chicago 7 and the Democratic Convention of 1968 in Chicago and all the unkempt people screaming all manner of epithets against the Vietnam War and the government was not to be tolerated. More or less open use of LSD and just about anything kids could get their hands on rattled parents and the "establishment" to the core.
ReplyDeleteThe Age of Defiance, Free Speech, Freedom Marchers, Dr. King, and student protests at major universities was determined to be rooted in the illegal use of "drugs". Don't let me forget the killing of students at Kent State University in Ohio by the National Guard. The Boomers rose up against virtually everything their parents and society stood for. The Vietnam War along with the Civil Rights movement lit the fuse for mass civil disobedience. The War on Drugs was a political distraction from what really needed to happen in that time frame and we never shut it down or declared victory, it just kept escalating with mass casualties on both sides of the issue.
Having tried Hashish in the 1960's just to see what the fuss was all about. It made me slow and unfocused for about a day. I was over my curiosity, didn't get "hooked" and thought it was much ado about nothing.
DeleteHere's a link to Wikipedia on the War on Drugs... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Drugs. In the final analysis it has been a big waste of time, money and resources and created an underclass of convicted users who have had all manner of opportunities for education and employment cut off due to this blemish on their records.
In regards to the old jail, the smartest thing they did was close it down. It was a money pit plain and simple. Not only was it a rusting behemoth of the old days requiring constant fixing and upgrades, it required more manpower to staff because of it's outdated design. It took 3 deputies to manage three floors holding about 70 inmates. By way of comparison, one deputy can manage the same amount or more number of prisoners in the new jail. Don't believe me, ask Paul. He worked at the jail and he know's how many cells are in each cellblock. Add to this problem the cutting of the Sheriff's budget which has forced him to leave, as of my last check, about 30 positions unfilled, most of them in the jail. An astronomical number of petty offenders have been diverted to these new alternative sentencing programs to alleviate overcrowding. I say give the Sheriff back his payroll, hire those 30 workers back and put them all in alternative sentencing jobs. It seems to be working and is more economical than building more jails.
ReplyDeleteThe old jail and the beds therein are worth what it costs to send inmates out of county for housing. The last time around Sheriff Smith shut down the old jail and managed to spend $300,000.00 for out of county jail bed rental. The question is: What is that space really worth against the options, not how many people one deputy can manage. When the costs of running it exceed out of town rent or a defined payback to taxpayers is demonstrated for building more jail space (and there won't be a payback), then it is time to consider more jail space.
DeleteYour observation about alternative sentencing is a good one. Keep low level offenders in alternative sentencing and it it take more manpower to offset to costs of more brick and mortar I say go for it.
Actually, that section of the facility was adversely affecting overall costs for the rest of the facility. If the old and new jails were evaluated separately, you would find the costs in the new jail to be lower and the costs in the old facility higher. The costs of the two averaged is what we the taxpayer gets to see as the costs revealed to us. Number of deputy's required to manage inmates is a huge factor when considering costs to run a facility. In fact 85% of all costs to run a facility are directly related to staffing making it a prime consideration. Any way in which more prisoners can be managed with less staff is a good thing for the taxpayer. Subsequently, anytime low risk offenders can be diverted to alternative sentencing programs not requiring incarceration at taxpayer expense is also a good thing. I say keep that old facility closed, expand the alternative sentencing programs ranks, and add some new features like drug and alcohol counseling, good parenting skills, and we might have a good role model for other communities to follow.
DeleteSheriff Chris Smith thought he was the tail wagging the dog. It was his way or the highway on a new jail design. He tried a cram down approach rather than follow the guidance of the citizen committee he tried to influence and direct.
DeleteI, for one am thankful the voters shot down all of the new jail proposals, otherwise we would now all be paying for a jail we don't need nor can we afford to operate. Put the right people in jail and the rest on the road crew.
The Sheriff's Dept. is nearly a third of the entire county budget.
Ummmm.....actually I think you need to replace the name Chris Smith with Dave Ferdinand and then you might have it right. Smith was in no position to cram anything down anyone's throat. He doesnt get to decide anything. The commishes do. He can tell them what he would like but that's about it. He got stuck in the position of if you want to get a jail, any jail, to handle your overcrowding problem you will get behind our plan and help sell it. I think Smith has regretted that decision ever since. He should have let the three musketeers make fools of themselves and stayed uninvolved. It's their responsibility to provide the facilities, not his. He can tell everyone what he needs as far as facilities to handle his overcrowding all he wants. He can even show us the best design from his standpoint. Still the fact remains, nobody wants it, nobody thinks its needed, and there is no money to pay for it.
DeleteThe three musketeers have squandered our valuable tax dollars in the process of trying to find a solution to the lack of jail space while at the same time trying to convince us all they are "on our side" and were trying not to spend tax dollars. Let's get real people. Growth is inevitable. It has already happened. In fact it happened faster than anyone anticipated. We now are faced with a dilemma of our population growth outpacing the availability of the limited resources we have to deal with offenders. I think our community is saying we need to increase the availability of resources to deal with these problems but we don't want the only answer to be "Jail". We want something better, more cost efficient and that actually cures the problems rather than creates more.
I clicked on a link to the Supreme Court ruling today on strip searches in jails. The reporter mentioned one of the Justices comments about 13 million people each year booked into jails!
ReplyDeletehttp://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/02/10982324-supreme-court-strip-searches-in-jail-ok-even-for-minor-offenses
I find it hard to justify any new jail in Canyon County. From the looks of Caldwell, everyone must be so broke that there is no one to rob! The robbers and burglars in Caldwell must be starving to death! Can the robbers and burglars qualify for unemployment? I think I can finally see the genius of Mayor Nancolas and the City Counsel. Tax everyone to the hilt so the robbers and burglars have no one to rob or burgle and are then put out of work! No robbers, no new jail needed, GENIUS!
ReplyDeleteThe individual who remarked about the issue of population growth has an excellent point.
ReplyDeleteOne can only put so much air in a balloon before that balloon pops. Setting limits to growth and development and making sure those little hands of developers and contractors are kept in line is a good place for Canyon Cty. citizens to start putting into place.
Just as humans have to inhale and exhale as part of a natural and healthy balance, as the tides roll into the sand and recede, the same natural balance is necessary to keep a community healthy and balanced.
Citizens have the power to set those limits to growth and keep a keen watch.
Idaho now has nearly 8,000 people in State Prisons. This works out to 533 per 100k of population based on 1.5MM people for population. This number does not include those in local jails.
ReplyDeleteGreat articles and great layout. Your blog post deserves all of the positive feedback it’s been getting.
ReplyDeletedrug abuse facts