I'm all for reducing the severity of sentencing for nonviolent crimes; however, sentence reduction requires several caveats to be satisfied. First, the bill cannot be soft on drug dealing or drug production. Second, the bill cannot leave the poor in an environment of perpetual theft, which is as much a threat to their economic well-being as lack of opportunity, skills, or education.
Normally, I'd over-liberalize and then let the legislature amend, but allowing thieves and dealers to prey on low-income citizens is too much. Prop 5 doesn't look goo enough to me.
Not all drug dealing is equal. A working class student who sells cannabis out of his dorm room in order to help pay for books is a lot less harmful to society at-large than is Phillip-Morris, which sells a highly addictive, dangerous product with the full legal sanction of the United States government. In light of that, demanding that the law be tough on drug dealing, without any caveats, is a recipe for mass incarceration.
It's funny that you should say that any such bill would have to 'not leave the poor in an environment of perpetual theft' in order to get your support. The fact of the matter is that the poor are poor
because they are perpetual victims of perpetual theft. That their employers pay them far less than the value that their labor products is a testament to that.