LECTURER SPEAKS ON AMERICAN DRUG POLICY

University Philosophy Professor Douglas Husak attended Tuesday's Philosophy
Club meeting to speak about American drug policy.

Husak opened the lecture with a statistic. Approximately 130,000 people in
the United States are currently serving jail time for drug related crimes.
This number is on the rise despite legislation limiting the possession of
specific drugs, he said. One can conclude that, Husak said, "Laws are
counterproductive and ineffective."

According to Husak, if a drug were decriminalized, possession of the drug
would bear no penalty. Husak said he feels that the government has been
unable to supply a legitimate reason for the criminalization of drugs and
therefore they should be decriminalized.

Possible reasons that drugs remain illegal include the health and safety of
children, the health of the general welfare, the correlation between drugs
and antisocial behavior segueing into crime, and morality issues, Husak said.

Husak attempted to refute each of these reasons. "Marijuana, the most
popularly used illicit drug, has never been proven to have long term side
effects."

Drugs do not cause people to commit crimes, Husak said. If the country
would legalize and regulate drugs then prices should drop considerably, he
said, and the lower price would ensure that no person would kill or steal
in order to satisfy a physical addiction. Husak also suggested that the
American penal system is racist toward arresting minority drug violators.

"Eighty to 90 million people have admitted to using an illicit drug for
recreational purposes in this country," Husak said. Since the government
cannot possibly arrest everybody, only some of the violators will get
arrested. On average Caucasian people use just as many drugs as Hispanics
and blacks do, said Husak, but the minority races are much more likely to
be arrested, convicted and receive harsher penalties, he said.

At one point, someone asked if purchasing illegal drugs was unpatriotic.
Husak explained that local demand would not have to support foreign
imported drugs if the country could legally produce a domestic supply. In
an attempt to illustrate the possibilities of a domestic supply Husak said
that, "50 percent of all marijuana used by Americans is domestically grown."

Lasting over an hour and an half, the forum was a "source of inspiration
and knowledge," said John van Schaick, a Rutgers College first-year student.

"We need more discussion like this one in order for people to learn the
truth about drugs and their consequences," van Schaick said.