Often, We Don't Even Think to Punish Them

What criminal gets turned loose, unpunished, more than any other?

Some would say the illegal immigrant, caught at the border, only to be escorted back and turned free. I hear you say it is them and the estimate 10 million illegal immigrants running around America, many of which are well known to their neighbors, but never turned in to authorities.

But, I've got another entry, another group we let loose, scot-free, most every time we find them breaking the law.

I thought of them as I listened to the Enid Greene Show today on KSL Radio, as she discussed a new law in Florida that requires testing for drugs before granting public welfare.

Good idea, the callers said, and I agree with them.

But, I couldn't help wishing I had the show's number so I could call and question why we don't prosecute the drug user whenever we catch them. Part of this would be if we citizens turned them in whenever we saw them smoking pot or shooting up or whatever. But, what I was really thinking of was the pre-employment drug screens.

They test positive, and we set them free. Like escorting the undocumented person back across the border, we often escort them out the building and on their way. No more said.

I think of a news story I saw this week, about how our war on drugs is failing. Someone from that study suggested we should legalize some of the drugs. I guess that's one way to stop crime, legalize it. You'll quit losing if you quit trying.

But, I would suggest one reason we're losing is that we are not taking it serious enough. If we do not prosecute the crime, how do we expect to control it? We listen to those who say we cannot pack our jails with potheads, because we need the jail space for real criminals, and our prisons and jails are simply overburdened.

I'm afraid if we are serious about this crime, we better find a way to enforce it. If that means finding a way to reduce jail expenses for these people, if it means making new-but-cheaper jails, let's do it. We must. How about a low-security jail that is little more than a house with bars on the windows and doors that lock on the outside instead of the inside? How about a low number of jail guards?

Oh, and while we're at it, let's require the prisoners to work. If we are going to round up all the drug users and do no more than put them in free housing and provide them free meals . . . that just doesn't make sense. Put everyone of them on work release, or have work provided in the housing, and let them pay their own way.

That will make tossing them all in jail affordable. And, perhaps it will fit better with the idea the punishment should fit the crime, as we will not be putting them in with more-hardened criminals and not letting them out among the public. Perhaps it will even decrease our nation's chronic unemployment (if only a titch), as we will be placing them in jobs, requiring them to work. I can only wonder that the unemployment rate among drug users is higher than among the general public.