Before the Harrison narcotic act in 1914 there was never such a thing as an "illegal drug" there were laws about adultering products with poison but the concept of illegal drugs or a "war on drugs" didn't exist before 1914 in the US.
I am not sure how addicts were treated by law enforcement historically but would be curious to hear about that. Just my own intuition says they probably were treated under existing vagrancy laws "Vagrancy laws took myriad forms, generally making it a crime to be poor, idle, dissolute, immoral, drunk, lewd, or suspicious."
Think about all the industries that profit from drug enforcement, incarcerating otherwise harmless citizens committing victimless "crimes". And where would hand-me-downs from the federal armed forces go!? Lots of cash cows...
Commercial for profit prisons are a huge problem. Huge. There is a whole lot of sentencing and prison reform that needs to be taking place, particularly for non-violent crimes.
The focus on "for profit" prisons is such a disappointing distraction.
The prison guard union is one of the most powerful lobbyist groups in California (and significant in the US as a whole) and has all the same perverse incentives as private prisons.
If you want to really address the problems, the prison guard union and police unions are literally 100x more powerful and impactful to laws and policies, and their PR teams love it that the internet stays distracted by the 8.2% of prisoners who are housed in privately-run prisons.
100% agree. Correctional Corporations of America and its prison wage labor model are just terrible. It obviously incentivizes excessive law-making to fill cell beds while those who are part of the establishment such as judges and lawyers become a separate social class with more power which is backwards.
I am not sure how addicts were treated by law enforcement historically but would be curious to hear about that. Just my own intuition says they probably were treated under existing vagrancy laws "Vagrancy laws took myriad forms, generally making it a crime to be poor, idle, dissolute, immoral, drunk, lewd, or suspicious."