DRUG WAR FILLING PRISONS

In every society, in every era throughout history, there has been a class
of hard-core sociopaths who have habitually preyed upon others. Sometimes,
with a helping hand from the law itself.

Take Prohibition, for an example. It sought to outlaw a personal
predilection among consenting adults and wound up simply driving drinkers
underground into the notorious "speak-easies" of the 1920s, which tended to
be owned and operated by gangsters. After all, no legitimate business could
sell alcohol. So, the criminal element filled the void.

Thus did this federally sanctioned policy line the pockets of petty
criminals and crime kingpins alike. They were people who in many cases
thought nothing of thieving, killing or shooting it out with the cops. So,
merely breaking another law by selling liquor was of little consequence to
them. Sure, some went to prison from time to time, but it was worth the
risk as they lined their pockets.

Similarly, today's criminal element is reaping untold wealth from the drug
war. Once again, because a personal predilection of consenting adults has
been deemed criminal, those who partake are turning to those who are
willing to meet their needs.

And, like yesterday's beer and rum runners, some of today's drug runners
are pretty dangerous people. Plenty of them, like their forbears during
Prohibition, wind up doing time. Ohio has its share.

Hence, the tug of war over the soaring incarceration rate and what to do
about it.

Build more prisons, some say. They point to the long-run decline in the
overall crime rate, statewide and nationally, and note how it has
paralleled a general stiffening of sentences over the years for a wide
range of crimes.

Others, however, counter that prison crowding is a needless result of the
war on drugs and the broad net it has cast over "victimless crimes." Drug
use by consenting adults is at worst a social ill and not a crime, they
say, and should be addressed with measures such as counseling - not more
jail time.

Both sides make compelling arguments.

We've argued ever more pointedly over the years that drug use seems no more
or less a social ill than the use of alcohol and in principle should be
regarded similarly. Indeed, all of the ill-effects of alcohol consumption
on society at large arguably overshadow those of drug use. Yet no one
seriously suggests a return to prohibition.

Still, we must acknowledge that among those doing hard time on drug-related
charges aren't just users who were penalized for their personal
predilections, but also many habitual criminals who took advantage of
drugs' illegality to prey upon society, often violently, and make a fast
buck. They're the same sort who'd burglarize your home, steal your car or
stick up your neighborhood liquor store (ironically). Not because of drugs
but because they have no intention of making an honest living.

In other words, they're the same people who would violate the lives,
liberty and property of the law-abiding in any event. And not all of them
are committing those crimes just because they're hooked on some addictive
drug and need to pay the freight. No, plenty of those jailed over the drug
trade are the shiftless opportunists who've always afflicted society.

Make no mistake, the war by every level of government on drug use, sales
and distribution is creating a golden opportunity for society's dropouts.
So government has only itself to blame for enriching and empowering them.
And it's a safe bet that ending drug prohibition would deprive them of that
cash cow.

Yet, so long as we already have many of those habitual criminals behind
bars - those who'll seek out another racket when the drug war finally is
over, and someday it will be - what do we do with them?

No question, the costly and unwinnable drug war has us in a jam. But how do
we find our way out?