Redefining Drug Use as Addiction, Not Criminal Behavior
The drug problem has persisted, and in some respects worsened, because we've gone at it the wrong way. The war on drugs isn't working and even if it was, the price is too high. The prohibition on drugs leads to black market prices. It generates crime and violence as dealers fight over turf and sales, and drug users steal to buy illicit substances at inflated prices. The drug laws turn users -- who need treatment -- into criminals. We'd be far better off if drug use were regarded as a health problem. We should legalize at least some drugs and reduce the harm they cause by regulating their sale and treating their victims.
What Should be Done?
Treat drug abuse as a public health problem rather than a law enforcement issue, and eliminate criminal penalties for personal drug use. Regulate drug sales, and permit the use of some, like marijuana, under a doctor's care Expand drug treatment programs, including those in prison. Require insurance companies to cover substance abuse the same way they would any physical illness. The goal should be to provide treatment to anyone who needs it.Restrict drug use among minors by regulating drug sales. Focus enforcement on drug traffickers and drop mandatory sentencing for drug offenses.
Arguments For This Approach
The harm done by drugs is predominantly caused by the fact that they're illegal. A more sensible policy would control their distribution and discourage their use. Prohibition of alcohol didn't work in the 1920s and drug prohibition doesn't work now. Decriminalizing drug use would destroy the illicit drug trade. The war on drugs has done tremendous harm by sending thousands of drug users to prison instead of salvaging their lives and communities with treatment. Drug treatment should be widely available, and stigma-free. Studies show that treatment programs are the most cost-effective way of dealing with the drug problem. Even expensive treatment programs pay for themselves by reducing the costs of lost productivity, crime, and health care. Decriminalizing certain drugs -- such as the use of marijuana -- will permit law enforcement officials to focus on more pressing priorities.
Arguments Against This Approach
Making it easier to get drugs would inevitably make them more widely available. For example, legal prescription drugs are tightly regulated but are still the second most common form of drug abuse.Too many people believe that making something legal also makes it moral. Drug abuse is morally wrong and blurring this fact by calling it a health problem will only compound the problem. Treatment programs are important, but not the whole answer to the illegal drug problem. Many treatment programs have low success rates because so many people relapse.Organized gangs won't simply go away if we legalize drugs. They'll move into other forms of crime, just as the bootleggers did after Prohibition ended.If illegal drugs become legal products, will companies be allowed to market them and promote their use, the way tobacco, alcohol and pharmaceutical companies do? That could make the problem of teen drug use much worse.
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