I believe throwing people in jail for getting high is a reprehensible act, especially when you consider what it does to their family members, so I believe being a police officer requires you to commit reprehensible acts. Your mileage may vary.

> I believe throwing people in jail for getting high is a reprehensible act

Are you actually required to do that as a police officer? Would it not be up to the discretion of the officer as to whether it was in the public interest to make an arrest or not? Here in the UK it would be pretty unusual for someone to be arrested for getting high unless they were causing a public nuisance, property damage, or similar.

This is the case, and if it were as common as described, there would be many many examples available. The cops are likely not even to roll out for "someone getting high" unless they're really bored or something else is happening.

Tens of thousands of people in the USA are currently incarcerated for possession.

And if you become a cop, you can choose not to arrest those people.

Cops don't have to follow orders from a chain of command? They get to still be cops after refusing to follow orders from management?