How Efficient is our Current Justice System?

Let me begin by saying yes, I do believe wrongs deserve to be punished. However, I am certain that there are more efficient, fair and cost effective ways than the methods currently in place. For example, I personally could care less about the number of years a drug dealer or suspected drug dealer is sentenced to. In my opinion, if people are dumb enough to use drugs than that's their perogative. I don't consider them victims but rather weak individuals. I'm an advocate and firm believer in survival of the fittest. My view differs in the case of the underaged but that is all. These days a murderer can walk free due to lack of evidence but someone can name another in a drug crime and cause that person to miss out on a quarter of his life, no evidence needed.

I also am against the prison system as a whole. The United States makes up about 4.5% of the world's population yet we house a quarter of the world's prison population. In my opinion prison is a breeding ground for violence and may cause a person to act on urges that are unnatural for him or her. My proposed solution is simple. Being that our country is currently in an undesirable situation, use convicted criminals to perform jobs that cost the citizens of this country. Persons who commit more serious crimes such as rape and murder should definitely suffer a worse fate but not at the expense of taxpayers. Lock them up somewhere that is completely funded by them.

Lastly, there has to be some form of primary prevention. There are too many young men and women who see a life of crime as their only option. We have got to find the time and gather the resources to mentor our youth. We should seek to rid the world of prisons as aggressively as we do cancer and diabetes because like these prisons are a disease.