Bethshean

Administration & Law

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We are creating a unique experience, bethshean is a unique community. Some would consider us prosperous. But, we that prosperity is a relative thing. Some of my best times have been when I had very little money but lots of freedom and time to follow my intrests. The individual must find for themselves the balence of having and needing in their life. Some needing is a good thing, it keeps one moving forward.

one needs to be their own leader and not a blind follower. If you follow blindly, you will spend your time and money fulfilling a strangers dreams and needs

Observations 1

I was watching the television program "Cops" a couple of weeks ago. A group of police officers in Florida set up a sting where some of their members posed as drug dealers on a city street corner selling $10 bags of marijuana. When a pothead drove up, and purchased some dope they would arrest them, and confiscate their possessions, including their automobile. The police officers then told the marijuana purchasers that their car would be put up for auction as seized properties, and that they could buy their car back at auction. They managed to keep $50 worth of marijuana from being sold, and also found two small pieces or rock cocaine on one of the marijuana purchasers "for a friend".

Everyone would agree that a community has the right to make certain behaviors illegal, and has the right to enforce the those laws. The point is not that marijuana use should be decriminalized. The point is the ultimate misuse of a law created with the best of intentions.

Several years ago a law was created in the United States that gave law enforcement the right to seize property used in the trafficking of illegal drugs. The intent was to  take some of the profits out of drug trafficking, and some of the tools. If you used a plane to fly cocaine from South America to the United States, and you were caught, law enforcement agencies could take your plane, and sell it. The logic is good. You lost your plane, you lost your drugs, you lost your profits, you do time in jail... One more smuggler out of business.

In the final analysis of what the Florida police officers accomplished we see:

Cost

• 7 or so officer's salary for the day
• Court costs for the handling of 5 possession cases
• Vehicles etc. used in the operation

Positive effects

• 5 marijuana users prevented from purchasing weed.
• 2 Rocks off the street
• Approximately $4000 Revenue for the local government.

I think the revenue was the most important thing and may or may not be a good return on their investment. I don't think this is how the people who created this law intended it to be used. That is the problem. Sometimes a well intended law can be interpreted in a way the creators never intended. 

My Conclusion...

When a community adopts a law, careful attention should be given to the possible misuse, because it is human nature to do just that.

References:

External Links:

• Cops: The Official Homepage