Jailing is not the answer, no, but throwing in "[m]arijuana may not even harm fetuses" is not the kind of message we want to be sending. One of my professors is a leading expert in cannabis research in Canada, and he is currently studying the effects of cannabis on fetal development in rats. They and previous studies are finding/have found increased anxiety and decreased cognition and sociability in rat pups exposed in utero, with worse effects in females than males. Other studies have found some physical deformations I believe, but I'm not so familiar with their research. My professor is studying this specifically because of the extent of its use in pregnancy and his concern with the long-term and large-scale effects of this. Cannabis is a drug and should not be used – without exception – in pregnancy until its safety and efficacy is established. I sympathise with women in a tough situation, but it's simply not fair to the children. I just think throwing in these kinds of phrases is dismissive of rational concerns, even if the responses to these concerns are irrational.
THE POLICE PROBLEM
The police problem is that police are policed by the police. Cops are accountable only to other cops, which is no accountability at all.
99.9999% of police brutality, corruption, and misconduct is never investigated, never punished, never makes the news, so it's not on this page.
When cops are caught breaking the law, they're investigated by other cops. Details are kept quiet, the officers' names are withheld from public knowledge, and what info is eventually released is only what police choose to release — often nothing at all.
When police are fired — which is all too rare — they leave with 'law enforcement experience' and can easily find work in another police department nearby. It's called "Wandering Cops."
When police testify under oath, they lie so frequently that cops themselves have a joking term for it: "testilying." Yet it's almost unheard of for police to be punished or prosecuted for perjury.
Cops can and do get away with lawlessness, because cops protect other cops. If they don't, they aren't cops for long.
The legal doctrine of "qualified immunity" renders police officers invulnerable to lawsuits for almost anything they do. In practice, getting past 'qualified immunity' is so unlikely, it makes headlines when it happens.
All this is a path to a police state.
In a free society, police must always be under serious and skeptical public oversight, with non-cops and non-cronies in charge, issuing genuine punishment when warranted.
Police who break the law must be prosecuted like anyone else, promptly fired if guilty, and barred from ever working in law-enforcement again.
That's the solution.
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Our definition of ‘cops’ is broad, and includes prison guards, probation officers, shitty DAs and judges, etc — anyone who has the authority to fuck over people’s lives, with minimal or no oversight.
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RULES
① Real-life decorum is expected. Please don't say things only a child or a jackass would say in person.
② If you're here to support the police, you're trolling. Please exercise your right to remain silent.
③ Saying ~~cops~~ ANYONE should be killed lowers the IQ in any conversation. They're about killing people; we're not.
④ Please don't dox or post calls for harassment, vigilantism, tar & feather attacks, etc.
Please also abide by the instance rules.
It you've been banned but don't know why, check the moderator's log. If you feel you didn't deserve it, hey, I'm new at this and maybe you're right. Send a cordial PM, for a second chance.
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ALLIES
• r/ACAB
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INFO
• A demonstrator's guide to understanding riot munitions
• Cops aren't supposed to be smart
• Killings by law enforcement in Canada
• Killings by law enforcement in the United Kingdom
• Killings by law enforcement in the United States
• Know your rights: Filming the police
• Three words. 70 cases. The tragic history of 'I can’t breathe' (as of 2020)
• Police aren't primarily about helping you or solving crimes.
• Police lie under oath, a lot
• Police spin: An object lesson in Copspeak
• Police unions and arbitrators keep abusive cops on the street
• Shielded from Justice: Police Brutality and Accountability in the United States
• When the police knock on your door
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ORGANIZATIONS
• NAACP
• National Police Accountability Project
• Vera: Ending Mass Incarceration
Besides, think of the tolerance break (only sorta /s)
Does South Carolina have a method to distinguish illegal marijuana metabolites from totally legal hemp metabolites? If not, how can the state prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt?
If you read the notes from the National Institute of Health that I linked below, they say they recommend women abstain during pregnancy.
"Within the literature there is an overall lack of good-quality research on cannabis use in pregnancy and postpartum. For obvious reasons, there are no randomized controlled trials on cannabis use in pregnancy."
In all of the three major studies, the women used alcohol as well as cannabis. "pregnant women who use cannabis are more likely to be underweight, have less education, and have a lower household income, and are less likely to take folic acid, compared with nonusers."
In 2019, 7% of pregnant women admitted to using cannabis within the last month. The actual number is probably higher.
CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/marijuana/health-effects/pregnancy.html
NIH: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7021337
"In utero exposure to cannabis has been associated with long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes that persist into young adulthood. Pregnant women should be counseled regarding these risks and encouraged to abstain from use." But without studies with control groups who don't use alcohol and other drugs you could not conclude that the findings are caused by cannabis.
If 10% of pregnant women are using cannabis, some to treat nausea, and the CDC and NIH just recommend that pregnant women abstain, but don't use stronger language or have scientific proof of harm, then I don't think women should lose their freedom for cannabis use. People should have the right to choose. Having a mother live in jail or prison isn't good for the fetus's health. Fighting and poor nutrition and lack of access to health care will all effect the fetus.
Sad to see people advocating for jailing pregnant women because they used cannabis.