>With all due respect I would never hire someone who has been arrested for meth and heroin because it screams potential problems.

Is there a term of limitations on that? What if it was 7 years ago? 10? 20? I understand your point of view and it's rational, but as time goes by, do you think it becomes irrational?

Possibly. 7 years or longer I would probably give it much less weight though you can't un-know something like this so it's hard to say it wouldn't affect my decision at all. I guess it depends what the interim 7 years look like.

Non-violent drug offenders being sent to prison is closer to a human rights abuse than a just outcome.

Edit - to be more concise: It's just amazing to me the number of people willing to listen to and preach high and mighty politics while still the world has people willing to work, not do anything to hurt anybody else, and yet they can have such a hard time in a world with so much.

What can be done for this?

I'll be the first to support the full legalisation and regulation of the recreational drugs market. Abuse of recreational drugs needs to be treated as an illness. I believe happy, healthy and fulfilled individuals don't abuse drugs. Drug abuse is a symptom of a deeper malaise in society as well as in the individual. We, as individuals, reflect our environments in our patterns and behaviours. I am also a big fan of universal basic income as it provides a buffer when needed. On top of this we need educational programs that promote upward mobility, self-reliance and adaptability in a ever changing world. IMO we should be doing the opposite of what we are in so many areas of government and policy. It's hard to know where to start. Thankfully, though it may not seem like it, we are moving in the right direction. Public awareness and consciousness is improving with each generation.

> I'll be the first to support the full legalisation and regulation of the recreational drugs market. Abuse of recreational drugs needs to be treated as an illness.

Catch is, a person having an arrest record for drug possession isn't at all evidence of drug abuse, past or present. That's precisely why I believe criminal records shouldn't be publicly available except in certain cases.

Many should actually be, but non-violent drug offences definitely should not even be offences in the first place.

I doubt my record shows this but I've almost been arrested once for carrying an open container. I was driving a friend's car home for him. The officer made me take the breathalyzer test several times. I was not drunk.

In the end I paid the fine because it wasn't worth hiring a lawyer over (and I did have an open container in the car even if it wasn't mine).

What I fear about decriminalization is that it will become a cash cow for local governments (I have much disdain for local and state governments in general but particularly in this case because anything that boosts revenue without increasing taxes is usually seem as a good thing).