Choice

The prisons and jails were crowded so criminals were let out after serving one tenth of their punishment time. They violated their paroles and were not put back in jail because there wasn't enough money to pay for their keep in the prisons. The worst criminals committed crimes like rape, murder, kidnapping, child molestation, armed robbery and setting fires or using bombs to destroy property. Prisons were also full of people convicted of having illegal drugs or selling drugs to undercover policemen.

Society was frightened. Streets were not safe. Judges and police felt frustrated and insecure. Even the crooks were unhappy living in a world where the law was not functioning well.

A group of people formed a club to study the problems. In their research they learned that many of the crimes involved alcohol and illegal drugs. When people got high they were more likely to break the peace. People dealing in drugs were using guns to protect themselves from the authorities and from each other. Drug dealers were fighting over territory in the various parts of the city. Many people were killed in the fighting and some were murdered.

It was easy to find problems but solutions were difficult to find. People came up with ideas to solve the problems but the ideas were argued back and forth between club members and there were no perfect solutions. One thing they agreed on was that the drug problem was the most pressing and the easiest to start work on. They decided to stop putting people in jail for selling dope. They decided to encourage addicts to grow and manufacture their own drugs.

It took time but gradually things began to change. Drugs became very cheap and many of the crooks couldn't make a living selling dope anymore. The gangs stopped fighting over street corners where they formerly sold drugs. Jails and prisons began to have more room for prisoners because fewer crimes were being committed. Less tax money was needed for the war on drugs.

With drug profits down, dope became hard to find on the street. Many drug addicts died from home-made dope. Gradually the teen-agers learned to fear taking dangerous drugs.