Incarceration of offenders

I feel if someone is arrested for a non-violent crime they should be treated differently as far as consequences go for many reasons. First of all it costs us, the tax payers a huge amount of money to send someone to prison and the jails and prisons are already so overcrowded and out of control to begin with. We live in a society where crime is very high due to many reasons such as the economy, being poor and desperate and lack of jobs. Breaking the law is breaking the law and committing a crime is just that, committing a crime. There has to be a consequence for breaking laws and committing crimes for anyone. However, there is also a big difference between a non-violent crime and a violent crime. Someone who is arrested for drug possession verses someone arrested for murder is like night and day so should they be punished alike for such different crimes? I think the whole drug epidemic needs to be overhauled and corrected. Rather than put these people in jail where they just sit till they get out why not have a different type of jail where they are housed and rehabilitated with appropriate treatment and awareness? Statistically when a person is rehabilitated for a crime such as being arrested for drugs I would think they would get something out of being treated and educated on the cause and effect of this type of life style. I feel the same about the prostitution angle, to me that is not a violent crime, although it is against the law it's still not violent. Again, these people can benefit from going into a program that can assist, inspire and change these offenders into becoming law abiding citizens.

There certainly is a difference between violent or hate crimes versus nonviolent crimes. The issue is if they can be educated, taught and trained about the consequences of these behaviors perhaps they would comprehend the dangers and become productive members of society. Throwing them in jail with violent offenders will not help them; it might even make it worse. However, saying that I also feel if someone is being arrested over and over again for the same type of behavior does not constitute it being ok even if the crime is nonviolent. The people sitting in jail for violent behavior belong there because they are a danger to society, but even they could benefit from education and counseling. Sometimes people get off to a wrong start in life probably due to their upbringing and surrounding so they act out in a negative way because that is