LA LAW

ARE WE WINNING THE WAR ON DRUGS?

According to some figures, federal and state funding for drug enforcement is over $41 billion dollars this year.  I am not sure how that figure was arrived at or who did the analysis, but let's assume the cost is high.  The question is - has it been worth it?  I hear characterizations of the war on drugs as "dismal failure", "the war is lost", etc. but the evidence presented by the proponents of the "lost war" is often fuzzy, and based more on emotion than hard facts.  Their position is often justified by statements such as:  "Drugs are still available and widely sold, so we obviously are not getting the job done - therefore, we have failed".  This is often a favorite assumption for those who advocate legalization.

The 2006 U.S. Department of Justice National Report on Juvenile Offenders and Victims reports:  From the late 70's and early 80's until the early 90's drug usage among high school seniors, dropped significantly.  For all three grades (8^th, 10^th and 12^th), past-month alcohol use in 2004 was at or near its lowest levels since the mid-1970s.  Marijuana use among these age groups also declined significantly from 1997 – 2004.  Granted, this does not tell the whole story.   However, it does give us some hard data in which to make some judgments as to the government's success with the war on drugs.

A few points to ponder:

1. Marijuana generally is used for the sole purpose of getting high.  Alcohol is often used socially with no intention of the user feeling the effects.
2. Does it make sense to legalize a drug that is obviously destructive physiologically, psychologically and socially?  The destructive nature of this drug is consistent with most all of the recent objective research: (http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofacts/marijuana.html).

3. Has the drug problem diminished in countries where drug usage has been legalized?  Research shows it has not - in fact drug related problems have increased (http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/debate/myths/myths4.htm,  http://www.reason.com/news/show/36178.htm.) In the international Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia – Drug Policy of the Netherlands, they state: “Hence, the soft drug policy, by failing to address the issue of supply, has made the Netherlands the main centre for hard drug trafficking in Europe.”

4. Alcohol abuse is already a significant challenge, why should we advocate the legalization of a substance that will create another potential problem?  Proponents are not advocating criminalizing alcohol; they are asking that another destructive substance be decriminalized.

Whether you feel the war on drugs is successful or not; whether you feel legalization will take the incentive and the profits out of drug marketing; make sure you have all the facts and the facts are objectively researched.