Democratic Primaries
In reply to the discussion: Biden Says Marijuana Might Be A Gateway Drug [View all]Celerity
(43,382 posts)anyone in our Party will follow, I fear. Why even bring this shit up with such a ham-fisted answer I do not know. Also, from most all I have seen, weed as a gateway drug is basically a RW trope nowadays.
OF all the golden oldies for Biden to recycle, 'Joe as arch drug warrior' is not a good one to trot out, re-tune/de-tune slightly and spit-shine for the 2020's. It is not helpful at all for our general election chances.
Joe Bidens long record supporting the war on drugs and mass incarceration, explained
Biden was a major Democratic leader in spearheading Americas war on drugs during the 1980s and 90s.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/4/25/18282870/joe-biden-criminal-justice-war-on-drugs-mass-incarceration
At the Democratic debate on Wednesday night, Democratic candidates ranging from Cory Booker to Julián Castro hit Joe Biden for his long, punitive record on criminal justice. Bidens record puts him at sharp odds with where Democrats are today: He has one of the most punitive, tough on crime records on criminal justice issues within the 2020 field more so than even opponents Kamala Harris or Amy Klobuchar, both of whom have also been criticized for their records. In fact, Biden was at the center of building federal policies that escalated the war on drugs and mass incarceration.
Quite frankly, the presidents plan is not tough enough, bold enough, or imaginative enough to meet the crisis at hand, he said. He called not just for harsher punishments for drug dealers but to hold every drug user accountable. Bushs plan, Biden added, doesnt include enough police officers to catch the violent thugs, not enough prosecutors to convict them, not enough judges to sentence them, and not enough prison cells to put them away for a long time a direct call for more incarceration.
As the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the late 1980s and early 90s, Biden did not just support the war on drugs and mass incarceration; he wrote many of the laws that helped build a punitive criminal justice system. That included measures that enacted more incarceration, more prisons, and tougher prison sentences for drug offenses, particularly crack cocaine.
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sigh
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden