Quote:
Originally Posted by mineistaken
Just found this comment:
Having worked inside a prison I can attest to the following.
1. We incarcerate 7x more than China and Russia.
2. The majority of inmates are non violent drug offenders.
3. They are treated exactly the same as rapists and murders.
Under this article:
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/05/24/wo...bastoy-nicest/
Basically talk is about rehabilitation, that when people have nicer conditions they tend to rehabilitate more.
My question/idea is about #3 of that comment - why not have separate systems/conditions for violent and non violent offenders? |
I look at a country like Portugal as a great example of how things could work. They have basically decriminalized drugs. If you are caught buying or using drugs or in possession of drugs you don't go to jail. Instead you talk to a group that helps you make better decisions. You are offered free rehab and other things that can help you. What they have found in doing this is that since 2001 the number of addicts they have in the country has been cut in half. The number of drug users they have is no among the lowest in the EU and the number of drug related illness like STD, Hepatitis etc are falling fast.
They have learned that if you treat those who have actual drug problems as if it were a medical issue and not a criminal one you can have incredible success. Just throwing people in jail does no good. All it does is make them better criminals and it further alienates them from society.