>The general move towards "crime is no big deal" and "should not impact you later in life" is quite disgusting.

Depends on the crime, doesn't it? Like most things, it's a spectrum. I would agree with you on murder, rape, arson, etc. Not so much on most drug charges. Political posturing has made drug charges, which were typically petty crimes, into felonies. You would be amazed at what are felonies today.