Yeah what is this "war on drugs" thing anyway? How long have we been fighting it, and in what way ARE we fighting it? I spent a few months doing data entry of criminal records and I can tell you that most of the people going out are coming right back. Prison does nothing to solve drug addiction and nothing to solve poverty - two of the main reasons people find themselves in prison (over and over again). I seriously believe that some people are in situations so desperate that crime is actually the most rational response.

Our prison system is clearly a failure. We should expose them (as you said Mia) and open them up to public scrutiny. I think we should assume we know nothing (fair bet really) and take a fresh look at the situation - ask ourselves who ends up in prison and why? Then be willing to consider new solutions, and my guess is that we ought to focus our attention on "rehabilitation" much more than we are now.

Of course, the other possibility is that the prisons aren't failing at all - they just aren't aiming at correction. Are prisons just a place to throw away segments of society that might be a problem for institutions in power?

-- ErikaKrystian - 29 Jan 2008