FOR SAFER WORLD, LEGALIZE DRUGS

The recent reduction of the harsh mandatory sentencing once common to New
York drug laws makes an interesting combination when thought of with the
concept of legalized, taxable gambling. I say that because the real
solution to the drug problem this country faces has little to do with how
much time some lightweight drug pusher or user is sentenced to spend behind
bars. It is not about finding better ways to get the big guys and put them
where they belong. That's all a waste of time. What we need to do is
legalize all the drugs and face the consequences. That's right. With drug
dealers put out of business, I am sure those consequences would be much
less dangerous - and much less expensive - to our society. Legalization
could not even begin to approach the downside in the illegal dope world -
torture, murder, beatings and sexual exploitation.

Drug money is very nearly the petroleum of the most violent criminal world.
It is the fuel that keeps the destructive engine running. Drug violence
dramatically influences the nature of public health. The violence
perpetuated by drug gangs fighting over turf is one of the bloody burdens
the lower class must bear. The health costs of treating those with gunshot
wounds, whether actual members of the trade or innocent bystanders, must
amount to hundreds of millions over the last 30 years. All those bandages,
all of those operations, all of that rehabilitation, all of those crutches,
prescriptions, painkillers and wheelchairs.

None of it is free.

So while states, including this one, are considering legal gambling as a
way to raise their tax revenues and provide better services for their
citizens, I believe that they should start thinking about the same thing in
the area of illegal drugs. The taxes from drugs alone would greatly deepen
the resources necessary to fight the educational shortages in this nation,
for one.

The impact on crime would be enormous because young men seeking the fast
track to wealth through illegal drug trafficking would have to calm down.
We would save thousands of kids. Who knows? They might even have to take
school seriously. At least they wouldn't be found gunned down on a
streetcorner or in an alley or some dilapidated apartment. Legalizing drugs
would end that. The big drug companies would be quite happy once they were
able to take over the kinds of drugs that have made billions for dope lords.

The other advantage with the big drug companies like Lilly and Pfizer is
that they would be the only ones able to sustain a fight against the
enormous lobby that illegal drug profiteers would underwrite to keep their
product in the shadow world.

We have to face the fact that recreational drugs have made their appearance
and are part of the colossal market of modern entertainment. They are going
nowhere, and it is time for our nation to look at things as they are. When
we do, we can take some giant steps that must be taken.