<story><title>Seattle has stopped charging people for personal drug possession</title><url>https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/no-charges-for-personal-drug-possession-seattles-bold-gamble-to-bring-peace-after-the-war-on-drugs/2019/06/11/69a7bb46-7285-11e9-9f06-5fc2ee80027a_story.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>throwawaysea</author><text>Seattle is a city that has made a lot of bad decisions. It is suffering from rampant drug abuse, property crime, and gross mismanagement under the current city council, which seems obsessed with following an ideologically-motivated progressive agenda instead of common-sense good governance.&lt;p&gt;The policy of not enforcing laws, not prosecuting (either certain crimes or certain cohorts of offenders) has caused the city&amp;#x27;s problems. There are two sets of laws - one is for law-abiding tax-paying residents who are just trying to live their lives without disruption, and the other is for everyone else, who somehow are seen as victims through a twisted social-justice lens, instead of malicious actors. The law-abiding tax-paying residents should not have to give up their public spaces, safety, property, or contribute more taxes in order to accommodate the huge rise of permanently-homeless service-refusing people that want nomadic or drug-centric lifestyles.&lt;p&gt;Those people do not contribute to society and are making society worse for those who do want to contribute. And yes, there has to be a consequence for that, in order to deter such behavior and lifestyles and not attract an influx of them into the city. This article does not make real the frustration experienced by most residents of Seattle, as it has deteriorated towards SF 2.0 in these last 4 years.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>voxl</author><text>The only thing I&amp;#x27;ve learned from this thread is that there is a vocal group of regressive, probably rich (software developers), complaining about homeless people not being jailed.</text></comment>
<story><title>Seattle has stopped charging people for personal drug possession</title><url>https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/no-charges-for-personal-drug-possession-seattles-bold-gamble-to-bring-peace-after-the-war-on-drugs/2019/06/11/69a7bb46-7285-11e9-9f06-5fc2ee80027a_story.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>throwawaysea</author><text>Seattle is a city that has made a lot of bad decisions. It is suffering from rampant drug abuse, property crime, and gross mismanagement under the current city council, which seems obsessed with following an ideologically-motivated progressive agenda instead of common-sense good governance.&lt;p&gt;The policy of not enforcing laws, not prosecuting (either certain crimes or certain cohorts of offenders) has caused the city&amp;#x27;s problems. There are two sets of laws - one is for law-abiding tax-paying residents who are just trying to live their lives without disruption, and the other is for everyone else, who somehow are seen as victims through a twisted social-justice lens, instead of malicious actors. The law-abiding tax-paying residents should not have to give up their public spaces, safety, property, or contribute more taxes in order to accommodate the huge rise of permanently-homeless service-refusing people that want nomadic or drug-centric lifestyles.&lt;p&gt;Those people do not contribute to society and are making society worse for those who do want to contribute. And yes, there has to be a consequence for that, in order to deter such behavior and lifestyles and not attract an influx of them into the city. This article does not make real the frustration experienced by most residents of Seattle, as it has deteriorated towards SF 2.0 in these last 4 years.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>imperialdrive</author><text>In response to the &amp;#x27;dead&amp;#x27; reply, you make some points that stick.  I&amp;#x27;m curious what kind of solution could exist to address the issue(s) you describe.  Hoping to hear more thoughts.</text></comment>