Debtor's Prison in the USA?

[PraXis]

But if you are looking to stop the behavior, what is the penalty?
Fines - with surcharges and fees that double the outstanding amount?

.​

I'm for legalization of everything. There's lots of violence attributed to drug distribution around the country as well. I say fvck it and let people destroy themselves if they want, as long as I don't have to pay for it. I drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes, so who am I to tell anybody what they can/cannot do?

 

[Publius pro tem]

my life was going down a similar path to that of your son.
I had a very bad drug problem which began at age 17...
... until I decided on my own that I didn't want to live like that any more.

I found out what I needed to do to change and did the work necessary.

Yep.

He knows full-well the problem and understands the depth of hazards to freedom, health & safety.
Spent months in jail in countless stretches since he was... well, about 17.
He looks around at his entire (and large) extended family and feels the sting of shame.
We see him sporadically - he eats like a plague of locusts, sleeps for 3 days, gets moody and leaves.

Trust me when I tell you... what is going on with him is not your job to clean up or gripe about.
It's not helping him.

Oh, I know.
He made it very clear that he wanted to do things "his way" and he would accept responsibility.
I got it - I was the same way when I was his age.
But my addiction turned out to be money, and my job as a crane operator precluded substance abuse.
I had quit drinking by the time I turned 21.

His mother had trouble understanding the pig-headed stubborness and self-destructive behavior.
"Someday he will grow out of it," she said.

Or maybe learn to adapt his behavior well enough to stay employed and outta jail.
That's what most of us dumbass young men do, eh?
Not so much a maturity thing, as learning what you can and cannot get away with...

All we could do is hope he would see good examples and emulate them.
Let's just say his role models were a bit less savory - and emulate them, he did.

He's not a bad-ass like he wants everyone to believe - he's too soft-hearted.
And I think he loathes that as much as anything else about himself.

I know you didn't ask for my advice, but the best thing for him AND you is to cut him off financially, and don't let him live with you. (you may have already done this). Easier said than done, but better for everyone.

Easy for ME - I challenged him to either comply with house rules, or defy me and walk away.

He walked.

His mom was still too mired in being a "mommy" to accept that he was a testosterone and drug-addled sociopath.

Then the phone calls from jail began in rapid succession.
He figured out rather quickly that ANY amount of bail was more than we would post.

Let him figure it out.
There's a good chance he will when he's ready, but it won't be because of anything you say or do.

Yep.

I have faith, but not much hope.
As many Wiley Coyote lessons as he has had blow up in his face and dent his skull...

And the ONLY thing about being locked up that he finds inconvenient?
Not being able to get high.
That's it.

So what does he do to pass the time when he is involuntarily clean, sober and healthy?
He replaces drug-centric Gangsta brotherhood with Bullsh!t Stories of Gallant Bad-Assery brotherhood.
He's inspired with a handful of new schemes every time he gets out of Criminal Finishing School.

Good luck.

Thanks buddy!

 

[Roberteaux]

I'm for legalization of everything. There's lots of violence attributed to drug distribution around the country as well. I say fvck it and let people destroy themselves if they want, as long as I don't have to pay for it. I drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes, so who am I to tell anybody what they can/cannot do?

I'm pro-cannabis legalization, but I dunno about certain other things-- most especially methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin.

And here's why: even though I beat meth and booze-- that legal drug that everybody overlooks in the pantheon of dope horrors-- I simply have not yet been able to beat nicotine.

Now, I know guys who have had crank hit them the way nic hits me-- like, they can't live without it. I'm not sure why I was just a chipper and never a true or full time addict, but I do frequently tell myself, "There but for the grace of Bondye, goeth I" when I see some toothless loser collecting tin cans for another hit, or some woman whoring herself out in the name of her god, C10H15N. And yeah: I've seen a bunch of all that stuff happen.

So the follow up thought to all this is: what if I had found meth to be as irresistible as nicotine? I'd be dead already, or in the slammer for a very long time-- that's what.

I am also not sure which is actually worse in the case of those particular drugs... I know how much damage is caused by prohibition, but not how much social damage would be the result of total legalization? For sure, some eggs would be broken. But how many?

Hell, just cigarettes have already turned into some kind of Big Taboo, and I've had people walk up and lecture me while I was puffing a frajo in a public park more than 100' from them. Everybody loves a pecking party, after all-- at least, until you hit 'em back. We humans have a tendency to breed our own monsters, but they always start right between our ears.

And the road to hell is supposedly paved with good intentions. And everybody wants to shoot a zombie.

Crazy shit. Carry on!

--R