WE'LL NEVER MAKE DRUGS LEGAL

We can't fight wars against drugs and terrorism at the same time. Besides,
we've already lost the first one. It's better to give up and redirect our
resources. We're starting to hear that refrain lately, mostly from the
people who always have called for drug legalization. But more Americans may
be willing to listen now, when we have more dangerous enemies to deal with
than drug traffickers.

Don't count me among those people who want to quit. We'll be in for more
trouble if we fall for this simplistic siren song.

I'm not even going to bother to make the moral argument against drugs.
There isn't enough space today. I just want to ask those who push for drug
decriminalization this question: How?

It's not enough to say we should stop arresting people for drug offenses.
It's not so easy. Legalization of drugs would lead to a whole series of
problems; in fact, I contend it could not be accomplished at all.

First, you have to tell me how legalized drugs would be made available.
Would the same street gangs, cartels and producers that supply drug habits
now continue to run the trade? That's hard to imagine. After all, legal
products - particularly those intended for human consumption - are subject
to strict government regulation. They have to meet standards for purity.
Manufacturing processes have to be safe and healthy. Taxes are levied. A
host of agencies would be involved in oversight.

So, major corporations would take over, right? Pharmaceutical companies
might produce cocaine and heroin, tobacco companies might turn out
marijuana cigarettes.

Or not, because the risk of liability would be staggering. The tobacco
industry has been brought to its knees by lawsuits and settlements forced
on it for peddling products that are addictive and harmful to health. So
what corporation would get into the cocaine or heroin business? Think of
the lawsuits for selling addictive substances that, when consumed in
excessive amounts, can kill outright, and that frequently lead users on a
path of self-destruction?

So, if no legitimate company is willing to produce these drugs, that leaves
the market to the same operators we have know - suppliers who will work
outside the legal system and its taxes and regulations.

But even if I'm wrong and lawful suppliers do emerge, despite the
liabilities, there still would be a need for drug laws.

Consider the issue of age. Surely, no one would want to let children buy
crack cocaine or heroin, or even smoke marijuana. After all, one has to be
18 to buy cigarettes legally and 21 to buy a beer. Yet, unfortunately but
undeniably, there would be a market for selling drugs to minors as there is
now. Someone would step up to supply that demand. It would require
enforcement of age restrictions, including arrests and prosecutions, in
order to protect children from drugs.

Then someone would have to decide which drugs would be legal. Certainly,
some drugs would be considered so dangerous that they should be kept off
the market. Even so, there would be a demand for them. So you're back to
enforcing drug laws and arresting people.

Critics of the war on drugs make a strong case that the effort has not met
with clear success. The drug trade is thriving despite enormous
expenditures of money and manpower in the attempt to defeat it.
Furthermore, the war has given rise to crime cartels, fueled massive
corruption and even soured relations with foreign countries. And it has
crowded our prisons with offenders who are less dangerous to others than to
themselves.

But has it been a wasted effort to try to stop the flow of drugs to our
cities and small towns, to our schools and our homes? Can we ever tell how
many Americans, how many young people, have been spared a life of
degradation and despair because of even the threat of arrest and
prosecution for drug offenses? How many lives do we have to save to justify
a war?

I'm sorry. That's starting to sound like a moral argument. I meant to stick
to the practicalities. So, let's get practical. Don't suggest we just
surrender the war on drugs unless you also explain exactly what we should
do in its place.