Ed Clendaniel is editorial page editor of The Mercury News.
Unless you have hundreds of dollars a year to waste, and it doesn’t bother you to see lives wasted through treatable addiction, it is time to demand action from Sacramento politicians whose failed policies have accelerated California’s costly plague of retail thefts and functionally abandoned those suffering from drug addictions.
For some small businesses, the cost is far higher — with many businesses now being forced to close, citing the cost of retail thefts. National grocery and pharmacy stores are closing in high-crime areas, meaning many neighborhoods face the loss of vital services, and local communities must make up for the lost tax base with higher taxes or reduced services.
The reality is right now the penalty for speeding is dramatically higher than the penalty for stealing. If you speed, you will face a steep fine, frequently hundreds of dollars. If you do it again, you can lose your license. And that’s not the only problem with Proposition 47. It essentially decriminalized most drug possession, including dangerous opioids. While being addicted to drugs is not something that can be fixed with prison sentences, the reality is that before Proposition 47, the threat of prison sent addicts into treatment. Our laws once allowed most addicts a “get out of jail free card” if, and only if, they sought meaningful treatment for their addictions.Now there is no such incentive.
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