Drugs

The inspiration for this piece was an idealistic young man who was collecting donations for an organization called Law Enforcement Against Drugs, or L.E.A.D. for short.  (Let me say right now that the goals of L.E.A.D. are 1000% admirable, prevent youngsters and teens from being trapped by drugs).  Now, I admit I like to argue, and I am not above pontificating, so I approached this young man, and I began thus: laws against drugs are a cure that is worse than the disease.  We tried Prohibition and it didn’t work, so we repealed it.  Laws against drugs discriminates against minorities, because the drug of choice of middle- and upper-class white America is alcohol.

But here are a bunch of old arguments against the criminalization of drug use.

• Not only did Prohibition not succeed in its goal of eliminating alcohol consumption, an unintended consequence of Prohibition was the production and sale and consumption of “moonshine,” alcoholic products that were often toxic and sometimes deadly.
• Surely, the criminalization of marijuana in particular is overzealous as marijuana is less addictive than cigarettes, less addictive than alcohol, even than sugar and fats.    It also does less lasting harm to the user than any of the above-mentioned addictions.
• Decriminalizing marijuana use has overwhelming support of the American people.
• Criminalizing marijuana as a “gateway drug” depends on a “slippery slope” argument, and a slippery slope argument is a “logical fallacy.”
• Criminalizing drug use criminalizes behavior that harms no one other than the user, a victimless crime.  Criminalizing drug use makes law breakers (outlaws) out of people with an addiction, a health problem.
• Criminalizing drug use because it will surely lead to other criminal behavior to pay for the drugs is another slippery slope argument.  This secondary criminal behavior only occurs when drugs are expensive, which in turn is only true when drugs are illegal.
• If all (harmful and addictive) drugs were legal, the prison population in the USA would be cut in half.  Legalizing drugs would bring immense cost savings to taxpayers: fewer prisons, fewer police, fewer judges, fewer courts.  Legalizing drugs could in addition be a source of revenue to the states (like taxing cigarettes and alcohol).  If drugs were legal, Supply and Demand would make them near dirt-cheap.  Pushers would disappear because there would be no profit in it.  Drug use would cease being "cool."  And the job of prevention would be left to parents and schools, where it belongs.
• In 1996, National Review, the first great magazine of conservative political thought in America, devoted an entire issue to the repeal of ALL drug laws.  Indeed, true conservatism tries to avoid regulating personal behavior (true liberalism would do the same).

But, in my research of this old topic, I came upon the following argument that I admit hit me like a ton of bricks.  Two-thirds of prison inmates in the USA are awaiting trial; that is, they are not guilty of any crime.  They are in prison, awaiting trial, often for months, because they can’t afford bail.  $1000.  Poor people don’t have bank accounts.  Poor people don’t have $1000 to pay for bail.  Many of these people have jobs, most of these people have living quarters.  These people will lose their jobs, these people will be evicted from their homes.  Unintended consequences, my foot!

Stop enforcing drug laws, stop throwing people into prison for no good reason.  Repeal the drug laws and permit (evil) drugs to be bought and sold.  The cost savings to society will surely pay for rehabilitation.  Those who believe that prison is the proper solution should be thrown into prison themselves.

Drugs are not the problem; drug laws are the problem.

P.S.  From what I have read about L.E.A.D., their aim is prevention and community support, not imprisonment of drug users.  At a time when police behavior is suspect, anything police can do to interact with their community is a march in the right direction.  I suspect L.E.A.D. and I have very few differences.  In the end, my encounter with this young man inspired me to put into words what I have long believed about the War on Drugs, which is another thing entirely.