In 1933, the Congress of the United States passed the 21st Article to the U.S. Constitution, repealing the prohibition of alcohol. In doing so, they recognized that rather than reduce the use of alcohol, by making it an illegal substance they had only exacerbated its influence on society. Instead of making this country a safer place for the citizens, prohibition had created a whole new class of criminals, namely, ordinary citizens who wanted nothing more than a relaxing beverage at the end of a hard days work. In addition, by outlawing the manufacture and sale of alcohol, the U.S. government had helped usher in an era of black market hoodlums who sought only to line their pockets and elevate violence through territorial claims on the liquor market. Religious moralists who sought to control an individual’s right to consume a product that created an altered state of consciousness, something that they claimed went against the rule of God, preceded the passage of prohibition in 1919. As an after thought, they also claimed that the use of alcohol was the cause of crime, poor health, and wreaked havoc on the family structure. While the latter elements of their position had some merit, it was the religious element of prohibition that helped gain passage of the law. But in outlawing its use, the prohibitionists only succeeding in increasing public consumption, increasing crime, and increasing the governments restriction on individual freedoms.
Today we have the War on Drugs. Though not enacted through a constitutional amendment, our prohibition on the use of some drugs has had the exact same result as the prohibition on alcohol, only more so. According to the Federal Prison Bureau, nearly 60% of convicted inmates are serving sentences for non-violent drug offenses. According to the DEA, nearly 40 million Americans use some type of illegal drug each year. In 1995, the federal government spent over $13 billion just for enforcement of the nations drug laws. This figure does not include the costs of incarceration, treatment programs, or arrogant foreign policy. Nor does it take into account the number of families torn apart by the arrests of people whose only crime is ingesting something into their own bodies for their own sense of pleasure. Despite these draconian figures, drug use has remained fairly constant, with the only real negative effects being those caused by the laws themselves Obviously, there is something seriously amiss in these policies.
I could write pages and pages regarding the historical and political machinations that have been employed to create the current state of drug laws in this country, but several good works have already documented these facts. (You can find some of this yourself at www.druglibrary.org or by reviewing The Emperor Wears No Clothes by Jack Herrar, among others.) Instead, I will discuss how the current anti-drug regime contradicts the notions of common sense governing and inhibits personal responsibility and freedom. Suffice it to say that the War on Drugs has become a marriage between religious morality and big business and is more about maintaining money and power than about public safety. Drug laws are arbitrarily applied and lacking the scientific and practical evidence necessary to back up the claims used to maintain their illegality. In fact, the current regime of drug laws creates a self-perpetuating cycle by making criminals out of ordinary citizens for the purpose of rationalizing their very existence. And the economic windfalls realized by private incarceration, treatment programs, defense lawyers and testing centers exert pressure on the politicians to maintain the status quo.
Why then do we allow the current drug laws to remain? Study after study shows that the application of drug laws is unevenly enforced. Sentencing of drug offenders is not commensurate to the act, especially when compared to the penalties given to violent criminals. Our overburdened prisons and overtaxed public finances can’t keep up with the demands created by these drug laws, and the loss of otherwise productive citizens from the social and economic grid creates staggering consequences for families and business alike. Further, potential harmful effects of drug use are infinitesimal compared to the harm caused by legal drugs like alcohol, nicotine, and pharmaceuticals. While I can concede that on an individual level, drug abuse can have grave consequences for the user and their close family members, on a societal scale, drug use is of no concern to a free nation, except when it causes great harm. In that context, the real criminals are the drug laws themselves.
The only logical answer is to follow the same course that ended the prohibition of alcohol. From both a social and political standpoint, the eradication of the War on Drugs provides a way to strengthen moral values without legislating them, while reducing the drain on government funds and the strain on society.
From a social standpoint, decriminalization of drug use and sales would put an end to the scourge of broken families that incarceration creates. The stigma surrounding drug use would lessen and the user would no longer have to feel threatened or need to hide from society because their actions would no longer carry criminal penalties. Similarly, drug manufacturers and sellers would no longer stand to make great profits through the underground market, thus eliminating the criminal element from the economic side of drugs. Society benefits through the reduction of street gangs vying for territory and market share, creating safer neighborhoods for everyone. The absence of criminal status would further reduce the instances of people using drugs simply because they were taboo, because the element of danger would be eradicated as would the so-called “coolness” factor that accompanies such actions.
On the governmental level, the amount of tax money saved by the reduction of enforcement, prosecution, and incarceration costs could be funneled into educational efforts that provided honest information to students regarding the effects, uses, and potential problems associated with drug usage, as well as providing a proper social context for their use. Further, the legalization of drugs would allow for increased tax revenue to be generated by the creation of a new legal product that could in turn be used to fund social programs that benefit everyone. Also, the need for ever increasing prison space would become a non-issue, allowing for violent criminals to be kept incarcerated until such time as they could be rehabilitated rather than releasing them back into society due to lack of prison space.
For those who claim that legalized drug use would lead to an increase in crazed individual’s who would be more likely to commit crimes to support their drug habits, I would support strict criminal penalties for anyone who commits a criminal act while under the influence of a drug, much like we do today with the alcohol laws. Through increased public education, without the propagandized scare tactics, citizens would grow up knowing that drug use as a recreational endeavor is not an excuse for unacceptable or dangerous, anti-social behavior. Finally, by allowing drugs to be sold in the open market, society could regulate the quality, potency, and purity levels of a given drug, much like we do with alcohol, tobacco, and the legal pharmaceuticals today.
While the use of drugs may seem morally unacceptable to some people, that is not reason enough to maintain a legal prohibition. The War on Drugs has proven itself to be ineffective at preventing drug use, financially unsupportable and wasteful of tax dollars, and constitutionally questionable with regards to personal freedom. It has created a violent sub-culture of distributors and manufacturers and has caused otherwise productive citizens to become a drain on the social coffers. Never mind the implications of legislating individual morality; these reasons alone are enough to put an end to it.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 9th, 2005 at 8:30 am and is filed under Common Sense, Crime, Drug War, Government, Justice, Politics.
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February 9th, 2005 at 12:53 pm
I couldnt agree more.
A very good read, please keep them coming.
I believe my son would be alive today if our society adopted your suggestions because the best that we can tell (it’s an unsolved case) he was murdered by someone looking for drugs.
Did my son have drugs? probably.
But what if the assailant been able to just go to the pharmacist or for that matter just purchase what he wanted over the counter.
My son may have been spared, the killer might be at his job, instead of looking for the next victim, money would be circulating through our system.
I vote, just say “YES”
February 9th, 2005 at 6:06 pm
(response to Johnlaw)
The anguish of your sons death is more than I can imagine, and I am truly sorry for your loss. Although my essay focuses on the social and econimic aspects of the misguided War on Drugs, the real victims are people like you and your son, who was needlessly killed over a simple substance.
Along with the financial gains to society realized by decriminalization, there are hundreds of thousands of people whose lives would not be prematurely cut short. These lives could enrich us all, not just by their economic input to society, but also with their thoughts, ideas, and contributions to the world.
The idea that government has any role in determining what goes into our bodies, beyond advising us of its properties and possible effects, is more than absurd. Provided that people have accurate information regarding the possible effects of ingesting any kind of substance, we should leave the decision to them about whether or not they want to use a product.
Thanks for stopping by.
February 10th, 2005 at 4:13 am
Legalization, or to the lesser degree simply ending the war, is a good idea. We ain’t winning it anyway. There is an inherent problem as where there is demand, there will always be some crook there to supply, no matter the cost. If we legalize some of the minor drugs, say pot, we could tax the hell out of it and decrease the national debt.
Thanks for the post.
February 10th, 2005 at 11:17 am
POP-UP’S SUCK.
February 10th, 2005 at 4:16 pm
Hello Ken,
Excellent article.
I agree with you 200%.
Marie
February 10th, 2005 at 11:48 pm
Your hitting your head against a titanium wall. As long as Bush is in office there will be a war on drugs so his cronies can make even MORE money that they couldn’t POSSIBLY spend in one lifetime.
Until the Bush regime is out your pissing in the wind. On top of that you’re going to bring covert attention to yourself. The Patriot Act has a provision that covers the “war on drugs” since Bush decided to make a connection between illegal drug sales and the Taliban.
Keep a low profile.
February 10th, 2005 at 11:58 pm
p.s.
My sister-in-law has MS. We know for a fact that marijuana helps MS symptoms not to mention it increases appetite. Loss of appetite is a big issue with MS. But New Mexico doesn’t have a medical marijuana law so she suffers without the benefit of marijuana.
Why? Because some rich bastards want to get richer.
February 11th, 2005 at 4:30 am
Great post, i’ve been saying the same thing, less eloquently than you do, since I was 10. I still don’t like the pop-up.
February 11th, 2005 at 4:48 am
(response to various comments)
Windspike, Maria, Biggaysam, and Meesher~
It’s nice to hear from others who share these opinions regarding the “War on Drugs.” I know that there are many people in this country on all sides of the political spectrum who have become tired of the wastefulness that this legislation has created in both lives and money.
Marijuana has been in use for hundreds or thousands of years by various indiginous people for a variety of spiritual and medicinal uses, yet in the past century, our government has managed to label it an evil substance and export that viewpoint across the globe through a variety of disingenuous means and outright political threats. It is clearly time for a change and the way to effect that is by pressing our politicians for change or by electing those who share this viewpoint.
Funky Fresh Freddy & Meesher~
I’m not sure what you are referring to when you say “pop-ups.” To my knowledge, I haven’t included any kind of ad pop-ups or other pop-ups intentionally, so if you could clear this up for me, perhaps I can find a solution. Or does “pop-up” refer to something other than what I am thinking it may be?
To all-thanks for stopping by.
February 12th, 2005 at 7:35 am
Every time I come to this site on Blog Explosion, a normal annoying pop-up appears. It doesn’t happen on other BE blogs.
February 13th, 2005 at 1:19 am
(response to Meesher)
Sorry to hear that you are experiencing this pop-up issue. I have visited my blog on several other computers other than the one that I post from and have not had this problem. Nor have I had other complaints, save for one other comment in this same article.
Perhaps there is some adware on your system? Do you have a pop-up blocker installed? I would be interested to hear if this is a problem for others visiting my blog.
Thanks
February 13th, 2005 at 3:30 am
I’m glad to see so many well-grounded people understand the ills of prohibition. Good work bringing this to the table, and for staying up in the radar too. We’re right there with you. Bush does benefit from these ridiculous laws, but we have to be ready to “right them” as soon as we get an opening.
February 14th, 2005 at 2:42 am
I do have a pop-up blocker and I almost never get them. Bizarre.
February 14th, 2005 at 11:20 pm
Take a look at this:
http://biggaysam.blogspot.com/2005/02/bush-regimes-new-blunder.html
February 15th, 2005 at 5:39 am
(response to biggaysam)
A troubling thing to be sure. Thanks for the link to your post and the link from there. But if there is one thing that holds true in politics and society, nothing has to stay the same forever. If these actions continue, we can fight for their reversal or remove those from office who make these ill-fated decisions.
Click my link on the right column under the clock to learn what you and others can do to show the pols it’s time for a change.
October 3rd, 2005 at 4:27 pm
Really interesting adware post. I’m the webmaster of an adware 5.0 website, feel free to grab info from there for your next posts.