Woj, could you possibly dial back the hostility a bit? Its really getting tiresome having to argue with someone on the left in the same way I have to deal with the rest of the world!
With respect to the above: that was NOT my "comment". that was a question from me (see below). I even prefaced it with a "Correct me if I am wrong":
[below is my post referred to by wojtek above]
> correct me if i am wrong, but isn't the answer simple and well known?
> drug laws. aren't 50+% of those in US prisons there due to non-violent
> drug related offences?
now, even if i am wrong abuot the 50+% number, and about the "non-violent" part, from the numbers quoted in various responses, it seems that the answer to the question i pose above is that a significant % (30?) of inmates in the US are there due to drug laws. so, perhaps it is true that drug laws account for the difference in incarceration rates between the US and other nations (the question doug posed)?
> So what is it exactly that you are trying to tell me - that the drug dealers
> are "prisoners of war" which was my tongue-in-cheek statement with which
> ravi took issue? Or that the 'war on drugs" is one of the most stupid
> policies ever pursued in this country - which I already know? Or what?
huh? did i? i don't ever remember reading a post from you about 'prisoners of war', nor do i remember responding to anything like that.
*if* 30-odd % of prison inmates are there due to drug laws it makes sense to examine their validity. and see if the violent crimes related to drug trading are a result of them (the drug laws) and other accompanying factors.
--ravi
-- If you wish to contact me, you will get my attention faster by substituting "r" for "listmail" in my email address. Thank you!