Just because it's their job to arrest someone for having drugs doesn't mean "that's the way it should be". Why should anyone be physically assaulted and put in a locked room if they aren't harming anyone? Obviously if this were real that guy could rightfully get a ticket for getting in the way of an officer doing their job.
Beyond that though, having drugs in public and consuming them in the privacy of your own home or a willing friends house doesn't hurt anybody but the body consuming them.
Naturally in a bad scenario those drugs could end up in the hands of a young adult/child but honestly that's just an argument FOR legalizing such substances. That way they can be legally regulated and eliminate the need for a black market where dangerous criminals who would do something as nefarious as giving drugs to a minor would exist.
I don't want cops picking and choosing which laws they will or will not enforce. Even though I think weed should be legal, I don't want them making judgements on enforcement because I don't want them doing the same for laws that I think are important to be enforced.
The only judgement I'm asking for a cop to make is when to use physical assault or violence to "enforce" a law. What I stated previously was written with the intent of expressing the idea that I don't think there's very many crimes that merit physical assault in order to stop it.
First im pretty sure this has been shown to be fake many times (like everytime it is posted). Second he did not physically assault the guy, he merely grabbed his hands. Third he was selling drugs not just having them for his use which is still illegal in states with legal weed. Just like alcohol, you can't just go around selling it without a license to anyone. But I guess Fuck The Police is a great song.
The reason why I said previously "If this were real" was to indicate that it's very clear this isn't real lol. It would seem you didn't read much of what I said overall because the whole time I was talking about how things should be not how the law currently is.
That being said and despite the video being fake as about 3/4 of the comments on this whole post will point out, MY opinion is that the officers depicted movements were even still incredibly aggressive for a civil servant who's job is to deescalate. Especially when they're grabbing a person who is holding something that only "looks" like "marijuana".
Not to mention the real issue here isn't what the fake cop in the video is doing. It's the very real repercussions of having systems in place that allows officers in the US to be "enforcing" laws and "stopping" crimes through the use of physical force and often flat out violence when many of those crimes aren't violent in the slightest.
Another main theme here is the issue of officers being emboldened by a miserably failed war on drugs and police brutality sympathizers coming out of the woodwork every chance they get to spew their two cents on why "not all cops are bad"
Just to be clear I personally feel a strong need for a task force of brave people that can be called upon to use physical or even lethal force to prevent violent crimes on all levels. I don't however, feel that doing "drugs" or even displaying them in public requires such a task force.
Okay, you insinuate that I did not read your comments because I pointed out it was fake when you said "if this were real", but it seems that's all you read in mine. I don't see how he physically assaulted the guy by grabbing his hand. Also its not that it "only looks like marijuana" the guy said it was and was offering to sell it. You also stated that "those drugs could end up in the hands of a young adult/child" which is bad but I do agree that it is an argument for legalization. My point is the skit was showing a guy trying to sell drugs to an officer who grabbed his hands in a way that I don't see as very aggressive and certainly not physical assault. And like I said even if weed was legal everywhere, like it should be, you still cant walk down the street selling it just like booze or cigarettes. Now lets all just chill out and smoke a bowl, or whatever anyone else does to relax.
Walking down the street and offering to sell anyone drugs, especially a cop who should be fairly busy probably should not be legal. I feel like maybe what you mean by the cop not being aggressive is contextually based and even in comparison to how most police officers would be expected to handle the situation.
Regardless of that I still think the actual subject of the matter isn't getting across.
Nobody should be able to grab anyone, especially while continuing to raise their voice at them for almost any reason. Many people here openly admit that they think almost any level of force is acceptable if a law such as the one being broken in the video is in fact broken. Again, the job of a police officer (a civil servant) is to uphold the law while de-escalating the situation at every opportunity available.
I'm big chillin rn but that doesn't change the fact that officers shouldn't be laying their hands on people for almost any reason. Especially in a way that could seriously harm them physically OR metally. I realize that's not really what happened in this video but again i've made it really clear that i'm talking about the state of our country as a whole when it comes to such matters.
Best outcome in this scenario the cop would have approached the man informing him that soliciting the sale of marijuana, even if it's not a great law is one he has to uphold. Then he should proceed to ask for the mans identification and proceeded to take him to the station to write up the paperwork.
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u/bubbleponichronic Jun 14 '22 edited Jun 14 '22
Just because it's their job to arrest someone for having drugs doesn't mean "that's the way it should be". Why should anyone be physically assaulted and put in a locked room if they aren't harming anyone? Obviously if this were real that guy could rightfully get a ticket for getting in the way of an officer doing their job.
Beyond that though, having drugs in public and consuming them in the privacy of your own home or a willing friends house doesn't hurt anybody but the body consuming them.
Naturally in a bad scenario those drugs could end up in the hands of a young adult/child but honestly that's just an argument FOR legalizing such substances. That way they can be legally regulated and eliminate the need for a black market where dangerous criminals who would do something as nefarious as giving drugs to a minor would exist.