Thinking out loud.

I think discussions of the drug war are an interesting topic. To the majority of people these days, it just seems an intuitive assumption, that goes without question, that drugs are bad and must be outlawed. Years and years of “just say no” and “partnership for a drug free America” and other cute slogans have done an excellent job engraining in our minds how we should set drug policy. Yet I think the dirty little secret is that the drug war has failed miserably.

As a nation, we have spent billions and billions of dollar “fighting the drug war” (over $40 billion per year to be precise, which doesn’t even include the additional billions enforcing drug laws at the local level and incarcerating offenders). So, all included, lets say it amounts to a very conservative $120 billion/year… you could send every adult in America $600 for their contribution to the “drug war”. In other nations, thousands of police, soldiers, and innocent bystanders die fighting over illegal drug enforcement.

All of this is well and good, except that it has done no good. We have increased this spending level every year for the last 30-40 years, yet it is generally recognized that drug use has not changed, at all, over that same period. What the enforcement efforts do lead to are crazy price levels, a lack of tax revenues from not being able to tax the sale of these drugs, and the most dangerous among us as a human race controlling the overall economic trade of a major piece of the global economy.

The bottom line is that just like prohibition all those years ago, the drug war has failed miserably. Let me say that again… the DATA says that the drug war has failed miserably. It is the political jargon that continues to succeed. So to quote an excellent article in The Economist (of all places) that agrees with me, legalisation is clearly the least bad solution. With legalization, we as a society will be much more able to control dangers, eliminate the huge profits realized by the worst among us, create the opportunity to realize tax revenues on sales, and create economic opportunities in our country rather than the areas of Asia (opium), South America (cocaine), and Central America (canibus) that currently realize all of the benefits.

My overall stance… quit doing your thinking based on societal, religious, and parental rhetoric and consider the benefits of legalization. Logical thinking indicates your children will be safer and your country more prosperous while at the same time removing a major infringement on your personal liberties. Please think it over critically before reacting to this post.