“All people make mistakes. All of us are sinners. All of us are criminals. All of us violate the law at some point in our lives. In fact, if the worst thing you have ever done is speed ten miles over the speed limit on the freeway, you have put yourself and others at more risk of harm than someone smoking marijuana in the privacy of his or her living room. Yet there are people in the United States serving life sentences for first-time drug offenses, something virtually unheard of anywhere else in the world.” PeopleIfsWorldFirstsStatesDoneFactsLawUnitedRoomsMistakeUnited StatesOur LivesRiskWorstDrugTenLimitsFirst TimeSentencesSpeedHarmCriminalsMilesSmokingPrivacyMaking MistakesSinnerServingMarijuanaOffenseWorst ThingsLiving RoomUnheardFreewaysSpeed LimitsPeople Make Mistakes Book:The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness Source: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
“There's a romance to danger. There's a romance to drinking, to drugs, to petty crime and to heartbreak and loneliness. All of those things can be used to make the story of our lives better.” StoriesRomanceUsedOur LivesCrimeLonelinessDangerDrugDrinkingPetty Author:Joey Comeau
“I think everybody should have the choice [with drugs] the same as helmets. You should be able to say whether you want to wear one or not. By making drugs illegal, the government is intervening into our lives a little too much.” ThinkingWantShouldLittlesGovernmentAbleChoicesToo MuchOur LivesDrugShould HaveIllegalHelmetIntervening Author:Sonny Barger
“A lot of rappers want somebody to always sing on their records. If you can hold a note, they're gonna' ask you to come and be apart of their creativity. At that time, they were eager and on the streets selling drugs or in the studio making music. That was a big part of our lives were I grew up.” IfsWantBigsAsksCreativityRecordsOur LivesStreetsGrewDrugGrew UpNotesStudiosSellingRapperSelling Drugs Author:Nicki Minaj
“We [people] have a teacher! The teacher is ourselves! We already know everything we need to know - our challenge is to discover that we know it. Turning to gurus, I think, we become guru-dependent, no different from drug-dependent, alcohol-dependent - needing an outside force to control our lives.” PeopleThinkingKnowsNeedsDifferentForceChallengesTeacherOur LivesDrugAlcoholDependentGuru Author:Richard Bach
“We can develop a social vaccine (Self-esteem). We can outgrow our past failures - our lives of crime and violence, alcohol and drug abuse, premature pregnancy, child abuse, chronic dependency on welfare, and education failure.” ChildrenSelfPastSocialOur LivesViolenceCrimeSelf EsteemDrugAbuseAlcoholEsteemWelfarePregnancyChild AbuseOur PastVaccinesDependencyPrematureDrug AbusePast Failures Author:John Vasconcellos
“I think so many times we feel like we're lacking something in our lives and we try to fill it with the wrong things. Sometimes it's drugs, sometimes it's a relationship you shouldn't be in.” ThinkingFeelsTryingSometimesOur LivesDrugLackingWrong ThingsLacking Something Author:Stacie Orrico
“The Latin American drug cartels have stretched their tentacles much deeper into our lives than most people believe. It's possible they are calling the shots at all levels of government.” PeopleBelieveGovernmentLevelsOur LivesCallingDrugShotsDeeperLatinLatin AmericaLatin AmericanTentaclesCartelsDrug CartelsCalling The Shots Author:William Colby