The Unwinnable War

IT'S TIME FOR A NEW APPROACH TO DRUG POLICY

For 70 years the government has waged a war against drugs.

After 70 years and nearly a trillion dollars spent, this war has
accomplished nothing other than imprisoning innocent people based on
the personal choices they make regarding what to put into their own bodies.

The drug war has not stopped people from wanting drugs or getting
drugs. Yet, when faced with the undeniable failure of the drug war,
supporters say we need to throw more money at the problem. Haven't we
spent enough money? Haven't we destroyed enough innocent lives? How
much longer does this have to go on before we recognize the failure
and try a new approach? The war on drugs has never worked and never
will work. Human nature leads people to seek pleasure and novelty,
and laws of economics dictate that when a demand exists, a market
will rise up to supply that demand. An attempt at prohibition ignores
those two fundamental principles. It should come as no surprise that
drug prohibition has failed. History provides a clear case of the
devastating effects of prohibition: the alcohol prohibition of the
1920s. The alcohol prohibition wasted taxpayers' money, ruined
innocent lives and created a black market that put people at risk of
injury or death from impure or poorly made products. The prohibition
was actually responsible for the rise of organized crime. After many
years, the mistake was realized and prohibition was repealed. Why
have we not learned from this history lesson?

Some people fear that legalization will be viewed as condoning drug
use. This is not the case. One can support legalization while still
condemning drug use. Supporting legalization simply means recognizing
that the war on drugs is costing us more money than the drug problem
itself. Does that make any sense?

Suppose a problem in society is costing us one billion dollars per
year, and I have a solution that would cost two billion dollars per
year--would anyone support my solution? I think not. What if I then
said my solution could work if we just spent even more money? Most
people would consider me insane and would disregard anything else I
had to say. Yet, when politicians take that very stance with the drug
war, they receive praise and awards.

Most people agree that violence resulting from drug gangs and drug
dealers is a problem. I, as much as anyone, would like to eradicate
that problem, and there is a simple solution: legalization. If drugs
were legalized, dealers would be out of business immediately. This is
an undeniable fact. Marijuana is a plant that grows naturally. We
could, if we wanted to, grow as much as we wanted; thus, it has no
intrinsic value. Its value is a creation of the drug war!

The drug war artificially drives up the price, enabling people to
become wealthy by running criminal empires based on selling drugs.
So, in actuality, the drug war has created the very problem it claims
to be fighting! We don't see people making black market beer, candy
bars, or hamburgers, because the notion of trying to compete with
legitimate makers of those products is absurd. And, as Alex Peak,
president of the College Libertarians pointed out, legitimate
companies resolve conflict by lowering prices and improving the
product, not by staging shootouts and gang warfare.

The number of deaths from drug use pales in comparison to almost any
other cause of death, such as accidental drowning, car accidents,
legal prescriptions drugs, or accidental choking. More important,
most drug-related deaths are the result of impure products or
accidental overdose.

Both problems are virtually eliminated with legalization.

A common reason people give for drugs being illegal is that they are
"dangerous." In fact, the drugs are dangerous because they are
illegal, so again, the drug war is actually the cause of a problem it
claims to be fighting.

The United States arrests more people each year for marijuana
offenses than murder, rape, robbery, and assault combined! How does
that make our streets safer? Violent criminals roam the streets while
non-violent drug offenders take their place in our prisons. Once
again, the drug war succeeds in making us less safe.

Many of you might be concerned that legalization would cause
increased drug use. Not only is there NO evidence to support this
claim, but there exists considerable evidence to the contrary. Many
reasons people give for trying drugs relate directly to their being illegal.

Additionally, very few people mention legality as a reason for not
using drugs. Most people who avoid drugs have simply made a personal
choice not to use. There are ways to get high using legal substances
that can be easily obtained, yet these substances are substantially
less popular than any of the illegal drugs.

There is no consistency in the classification of legal and illegal
drugs. Tobacco, caffeine, and alcohol all contribute to various
health problems. There is little evidence to suggest that occasional
use of Marijuana, ecstasy, or LSD would cause serious health
problems. In fact, for decades, the government has ignored scientific
medical research that contradicts the supposed dangers of these substances.

But, even if these substances were very unhealthy, why should they be
illegal? If I want to cut off my finger, I can legally do so.

If I wish to starve myself, no one can legally force me to eat. I am
legally entitled to eat junk food and not exercise, even though that
lifestyle has been shown to lead to diabetes and other serious health
problems. I am legally entitled to drive my car, even though driving
has caused about 1,000 times as many deaths as marijuana, ecstasy,
and hallucinogens combined.

In fact, if I am sick and can be saved by medicine, I am legally
allowed to refuse the medicine, even if I die as a result. It is not
the government's role is not to force people to be healthy. Matters
of health are personal choices that should be left to individuals. A
free society should not infringe upon ownership of one's own body.

The war on drugs is unfair, unjust, and misguided. It costs far more
money than the drug problem itself, and it ruins innocent lives. It
is not working, and it cannot work. It makes our streets less safe
and allows criminal enterprises to make millions, taking tax dollars
away from our government.

I am not saying that legalization will solve all our problems. But,
at the end of the day, we have to ask ourselves, "Is the war on drugs
doing more harm than good?" When considering all the relevant
factors, I think the answer is a resounding yes.