THE WAR ON DRUGS: A WAR ON LIBERTY AND COMMON SENSE

"Once the principle is admitted that it is the duty of the government to
protect the individual against his own foolishness, no serious
objections can be advanced against further encroachments."

- -- Ludwig von Mises, "Human Action," 1949

Finally, the Emperor has been declared naked: "After 40 years, the
United States' war on drugs has cost $1 trillion and hundreds of
thousands of lives, and for what? Drug use is rampant and violence
even more brutal and widespread." ("U.S. war on drugs has met none of
its goals," Associated Press, May 13th.)

Should the production, distribution and use of drugs be legal? Most
people would answer with a loud and resounding "No!" Well, you are
about to read a minority viewpoint.

Drug laws create black markets, which are always accompanied by
certain conditions. Let's look at some of them:

A Proliferation Of Organized Crime. When people desire a particular
commodity, someone will step in to provide it for a profit. Should the
government choose to outlaw the honest businessman's right to do this,
the thug will do it instead.

Consider the 18th (Prohibition) Amendment: "The effects of Prohibition
were largely unanticipated. Production, importation and distribution of
alcoholic beverages--once the province of legitimate business--were taken
over by criminal gangs, which fought each other for market control in
violent confrontations, including mass murder." ("The Volstead Act,"
Wikipedia.)

Sound familiar? And while Al Capone shot up the streets of Chicago
over alcohol, what kind of occurrences does Chicago experience today
over drugs? "Drug-related gang violence, particularly homicide,
increased in Chicago in 2008. According to the Chicago Police Dept.,
gang-related murders in Chicago, often resulting from drug-related
disputes, increased 36.3 percent from 2007 (168) through 2008 (229)."
("Chicago high-intensity drug trafficking area drug market analysis
2009," Justice Dept., 2009.)

High Crime Rates. Because today's black market drug dealers run the
risk of large prison sentences for the commission of their "crimes,"
they charge prices commensurate with that risk--prices far beyond the
typical person's income. The answer? Robberies and burglaries to
acquire the necessary funds. And identity theft, the fastest-growing
crime in the country? Ask any cop what drives it: drug prices, which
would drop to a fraction of their current values in the absence of
criminalizing legislation.

Bribery And Corruption. The enormous profits to be made from drug
sales mean that traffickers have money to burn--and they burn lots of
it on "influencing" the legal structure. Regarding Prohibition, the
Wikipedia article continues: "Enforcement was difficult because the
gangs became so rich that they were often able to bribe underpaid and
understaffed law-enforcement personnel and pay for expensive lawyers."

Sound familiar? "Several studies and investigations of drug-related
police corruption found on-duty police officers engaged in serious
criminal activities, such as (1) conducting unconstitutional searches
and seizures; (2) stealing money and/or drugs from drug dealers; (3)
selling stolen drugs; (4) protecting drug operations; (5) providing
false testimony; and (6) submitting false crime reports." ("Law
enforcement: Information on drug-related police corruption," USGPO,
1998.)

Destroyed Productivity. Yes, drug use reduces productivity. That
lost productivity, however, is a drop in the bucket compared to what
it costs to support the war on drugs. In the last 40 years, the AP
article continues, the taxpayers have spent: "$20 billion to fight the
drug gangs in their home countries...$33 billion in marketing 'Just Say
No'-style messages to America's youth and other prevention
programs...$49 billion for law enforcement along America's borders...$121
billion to arrest more than 37 million non-violent drug offenders...$450
billion to lock those people up in federal prisons alone."

And the results? Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron, quoted in the AP
article, puts it mildly: "'Current policy is not having an effect of
reducing drug use, but it's costing the public a fortune.'"

Socially and economically the war on drugs is a disaster, but the real
price tag has to be measured in terms of our liberties: drug use is a
personal health issue not a political one, and is, therefore, outside
the scope of law--at least in a free country. A "free country" is
defined as one in which the citizens have the right to act in any
non-aggressive manner they choose. Do you think any of those "37
million non-violent drug offenders" would characterize our society as
such?

For the sake of liberty and common sense, our drug war needs to end;
and when it does, all the problems associated with it will cease as
well.

Bradley Harrington is a former United States Marine and a free-lance
writer who lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming.