# Why imprison drug users?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-imprison-drug-users/57242>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [March 8, 2001, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-imprison-drug-users/57242 "2001-03-08T17:50:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2001, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-imprison-drug-users/57242/21 "2001-03-09T13:47:47Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Zoff \*  
> \*\*As you can see, there is still a debate on why we punish. Some of these codes emphasize deterrence, some don’t. I don’t doubt that most theories incorporate at least a small deterrence aspect. But we don’t live in a pure deterrence theory system. Crime is an important and emotional topic and many people disagree on the very purpose of punishment. \*\*

and it goes deeper than that, too **Zoff**. Each change of administration in the locality will bring on new ‘tactics’ by the new person. A nearby county recently elected a new sherrif, based on his election promises (among other things, of course) to ‘get tougher’ on the inmates by changing the TV rules. He made it a big point to not allow the SuperBowl to be telecast.

So, not only has society not decided how they stand on ‘revenge/rehabilitation/deterrance/containment’ ideas and ideals, changing administrative and front line staff can have very divergent effects as well.

and, as I pointed out in another recent thread on the general topic, because of these rapid changes, we don’t even have time to see if any of the particular differences in philosphy have an **effect** , let alone determine if it’s the effect we desire.

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