Biden calls for more rehabilitation opportunities, as 'no one should go to jail for the use of a drug'

(Image credit: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images.)

last updated 17 February 2021

President Biden reiterated Tuesday night that he does not want to "defund the police," but rather "put more money in police work so we have legitimate community policing" that keeps neighborhoods safe.

Biden was asked about policing and sentencing during CNN town hall in Milwaukee. It's time to change the laws, Biden said, because "no one should go to jail for a drug offense. No one should go to jail for the use of a drug. They should go to drug rehabilitation." People need to learn skills so they can have a profession when they get out, he continued, and they should not be denied opportunities for housing and education.

Law enforcement officers need to better understand the residents of the communities they serve, Biden said, and vice versa. "Every cop, when they get up in the morning and put on that shield, has the right to expect to go home to their family that night. Conversely every kid walking across the street wearing a hoodie is not a member of a gang and is about to knock somebody off," he said. "It's about education."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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