14 responses to “Sam Hurd and the War on Drugs”

1. 

   Tsar Nicholas

   April 12, 2013 at 10:07 am

   Decades-High Poverty Rates and the War on Poverty

   California’s ‘Progressive’ Workplace and Wage Laws and its 9.6% Unemployment Rate

   Strict Rent Control and Numbingly-High Rents in Manhattan, D.C., Los Angeles, Boston

   Strict Gun Control and High Rates of Gun Violence in Chicago, Detroit, Philly, San Francisco

   Obviously this is the wrong crowd for that sort of fare, and to expect those types of dots to be connected, but still they’re worth mentioning.

   As far as the Feds’ endless quagmire of the “war on drugs,” indeed it’s among the dumbest thing the Feds have done in memory. A waste of federal taxpayer dollars. A gross misallocation of public resources. A slap in the face of federalism.

   Uncle Fed should disengage from the “drug war” tomorrow. Then cut in literal terms DOJ’s overall budget by 25% over the next 5 years. And tell the US Attorneys’ offices that their first and foremost priority is that of anti-terrorism prosecutions. Common sense for common cents. Which ironically ain’t so common.
2. 

   edmondo

   April 12, 2013 at 10:16 am

   According to your story he did purchase a kilo of coke. At least he actually did something wrong compared to a few of the others who have been chewed up by our prison-industrial complex.

   http://www.salon.com/2013/03/27/taibbi_three_strikes_laws_are_cruel_and_unusual/
3. 

   legion

   April 12, 2013 at 10:19 am

   Still, it’s not obvious to me why he’s facing a minimum of 10 years in prison for, well, not much. Trying to buy cocaine? Hoping to start a drug network? Yes, drugs ruin a lot of lives and drug traffickers facilitate that. But Hurd didn’t actually ruin any lives but his own.

   James, I don’t mean to be rude, but have you lived under a rock for the last 30 years? Using _any_ drug charge, regardless of intent, to utterly destroy people’s lives with no chance of recovery has been the overt philosophy and first-choice anti-drug tactic of every administration since Reagan. It’s what makes federal cops feel like they’re accomplishing something in the absence of any measurable decrease in drug use.
4. 

   edmondo

   April 12, 2013 at 10:21 am

   @Tsar Nicholas:

   And tell the US Attorneys’ offices that their first and foremost priority is that of anti-terrorism prosecutions.

   Yeah, that’s what we need to be afraid of, those terrorists! LOL.

   How about we throw some of those work hours at corruption in both the private and public sector. If a hungry man steals a sandwich, he goes to jail. If a hedge fund manager steals a billion dollar pension fund, he’s an entrepreneur and the federal government covers the loss.
5. 

   anjin-san

   April 12, 2013 at 10:53 am

   Want to know why the war of drugs goes on decade after decade, doing vast harm to society?

   California Prison Academy: Better Than a Harvard Degree

   Roughly 2,000 students have to decide by Sunday whether to accept a spot at Harvard. Here’s some advice: Forget Harvard. If you want to earn big bucks and retire young, you’re better off becoming a California prison guard.

   The job might not sound glamorous, but a brochure from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations boasts that it “has been called ‘the greatest entry-level job in California’—and for good reason. Our officers earn a great salary, and a retirement package you just can’t find in private industry. We even pay you to attend our academy.” That’s right—instead of paying more than $200,000 to attend Harvard, you could earn $3,050 a month at cadet academy.

   It gets better.

   Training only takes four months, and upon graduating you can look forward to a job with great health, dental and vision benefits and a starting base salary between $45,288 and $65,364. By comparison, Harvard grads can expect to earn $49,897 fresh out of college and $124,759 after 20 years.

   As a California prison guard, you can make six figures in overtime and bonuses alone. While Harvard-educated lawyers and consultants often have to work long hours with little recompense besides Chinese take-out, prison guards receive time-and-a-half whenever they work more than 40 hours a week. One sergeant with a base salary of $81,683 collected $114,334 in overtime and $8,648 in bonuses last year, and he’s not even the highest paid.

   Sure, Harvard grads working in the private sector get bonuses, too, but only if they’re good at what they do. Prison guards receive a $1,560 “fitness” bonus just for getting an annual check-up.

   http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704132204576285471510530398.html
6. 

   James in Silverdale, WA

   April 12, 2013 at 11:12 am

   @anjin-san: This sick thing is we would want to pay prison guards well for the work they do, IF the environment was something other than gang and rape factories half-stuffed at least with people who have no business being there.

   It’s going to to be a very tough battle to end the drug war. Greed brooks no buzz-killing.
7. 

   James Pearce (Formerly Known as Herb)

   April 12, 2013 at 12:53 pm

   @anjin-san: I don’t know, man. I’m very uncomfortable with private prisons and California’s penal system is a joke. But none of that seems relevant to Hurd’s scenario.

   But there’s a lot of room between “elite NFL wide receiver” and “aspiring cocaine trafficker.” I read an article about an NFL player who was running a Circle K. Hurd could have tried that. John Elway went into the car business. Hurd could have done that.

   Hurd could have also set up a 501C dedicated to fighting the drug war. He could have done a lot of things.

   But he chose to do the thing that would expose him to a decade in prison. I feel bad for him, sure, but not too bad.
8. 

   James Joyner

   April 12, 2013 at 1:06 pm

   @James Pearce (Formerly Known as Herb): Elway was nationally famous and rich; Hurd didn’t have the same options. But, sure, he could have tried to make an honest living. I just don’t think 10 years in prison is reasonable.
9. 

   James Pearce (Formerly Known as Herb)

   April 12, 2013 at 1:36 pm

   @James Joyner:

   I just don’t think 10 years in prison is reasonable.

   Agreed. It will not help him find gainful unemployment, nor will it reduce the flow of cocaine.

   Still, he should have known better. They killed Pablo Escobar 20 years ago, and law enforcement agencies are even more committed to the Drug War now. As my Mom would say, “Well, what did you think was going to happen?”
10. 

    Doug Mataconis

    April 12, 2013 at 2:28 pm

    it’s not obvious to me why he’s facing a minimum of 10 years in prison for, well, not much.

    You can thank the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which give judges very little discretion to stray from what the guidelines say it should be, something that Federal Judges have been complaining about for years.
11. 

    matt

    April 12, 2013 at 9:44 pm

    @Doug Mataconis: Truth. If hurd was the average drug dealer he’d leave prison better educated in the ways of crime.
12. 

    matt

    April 12, 2013 at 9:46 pm

    I visited my home town the other month. Apparently the war on drugs has been somewhat successful in that area because few people carried pot. Most dealers were only selling meth, heroin tar, coke and such. Apparently pot busts were on the rise so there were fewer people interested in running pot. Most people switched to the way more profitable and easier to hide hard drugs.

    Go team drug war…
13. 

    anjin-san

    April 13, 2013 at 9:49 am

    @ matt

    The war on drugs helped start the 70s cocaine boom in the US. The government had a lot of success shutting down pot smuggling from Mexico, so dealers switched to cocaine. Less bulky, easier to smuggle, more profitable.
14. 

    jimmy john

    April 13, 2013 at 9:36 pm

    legalize it all & once for all get rid of black markets
    This man’s case is one of a number of the tragedies of the war on drugs.
    We don’t need a DEA, we need “Let the buyer beware”