drugs and crime a new approach was re if drugs should be legalized wdstarr athena mit edu william december starr writes in article apr msuvx memst edu kebarnes msuvx memst edu said i m for creating a class of noncommercial drugs which would include the currently illegal ones which would be legal to possess grow produce but not to sell bomb the pushers back to the barter age and tax production too um why what s wrong with the act of selling recreational drugs even for mercenary reasons e g getting rich note by selling i mean selling the product to a consenting adult at a mutually agreeable price i point this out in an effort to pre emptively prevent this thread from getting sidetracked onto a flamefest about pushing drugs to schoolchildren or the like and why should the users be subjected to special taxation william december starr note this is a repost of my earlier response to mr starr which was not properly formatted apologies to those who ve seen the following before to explain my position on the war on drugs i offer this drugs and crime a new approach by ken barnes given that the trade in illegal drugs is responsible for much of the crime which afflicts our nation people who want drugs particularly people who are predisposed to addiction will find a way to get them whether or not they are legally available despite current law enforcement efforts drugs are readily available to those who want them addiction to drugs both legal and illegal is responsible for a significant drain on the productive resources of our country and this occurs in a variety of ways from the cocaine addicted babies who are unable to learn to the spread of disease among addicts to the tragic consequences of alcohol abuse and tobacco smoking a general economic principle of government is that whatever is subsidized you get more of and whatever is taxed you get less of to be most effective in confronting the nation s drug problem some way must be found to utilize these additional powers of government to make drug dealing and drug use less attractive while this country s current efforts to combat legal drugs have succeeded in some respects there is a greater awareness of the health consequences of smoking and designated driver programs have helped reduce drunk driving for example the same cannot be said for the war on illegal drugs there remains a core group of illegal drug users which support international networks of smugglers pushers growers processors kingpins and gangsters these networks and their marketing activities which include drive by shootings corrupting law enforcement authorities and smuggling weapons are directly or indirectly responsible for a large proportion of the crimes committed in our country every day clearly illegal drugs and rising crime are linked it takes only a moment s reflection to recognize how they are linked the link is money as with this country s failed effort to prohibit alcohol consumption a black market has been created in which greedy local monopolies like the gangsters of a bygone era have profited enormously from their illegal trade the victims of this trade include not only the innocent people unfortunate enough to be caught in the crossfire but i would argue the drug users themselves were it not for the black market and the violent monopoly of the drug lords drug users might not be the thieves robbers prostitutes and murderers they have become in order to pay the high prices the drug lords demand in the absence of the drug lords most would be i believe simply people with a problem either a moral problem or a medical problem but not a criminal problem let me be clear however i am not advocating that we let the criminals who have been preying on our society for these many years of prohibition off the hook on the contrary the new approach i advocate is one which would not result in either the government or private industry getting into the business of promoting crack cocaine or any other presently illegal drug for that matter neither is it an approach which sees law abiding citizens handing over more and more of their freedom and privacy in an effort to track down illegal drug users until the land of the free and the home of the brave looks like a police state here then is my proposal possession and use of all presently illegal drugs is decriminalized but buying and selling them remains illegal potheads can grow their own marijuana as many already do today other drug users can legally import their poison of choice as long as they pay the tariffs and a barter economy of drug experimenters develops because of the barter economy which supplies the drug users the black market profits that have so enriched the drug lords dwindle if these drugs can be obtained for free or next to nothing why buy them nevertheless there will be those who will seek to sell these noncommercial drugs even at relatively low prices therefore law enforcement activity is concentrated on those individuals who continue to buy and sell and also on the crimes committed by drug users too poor to afford even low prices but here is where the strategy begins to differentiate between the drug dealers the victimizers and the drug users their victims upon arrest for any crime suspects are permitted to choose whether or not they will undergo a drug test those who choose to cooperate are informed that upon conviction for the crime they are accused of if they are found to be a drug user they will be institutionalized until they are clean and only then will they begin to serve their sentence if they choose to cooperate and are already drug free they can begin to serve their sentence right away those who choose not to undergo the drug test and are convicted face stiffer fines and serve longer sentences institutionalization of drug using criminals serves several purposes drug using criminals and this includes drunk and or stoned drivers are separated from their sources of supply thus reducing the total number of drug users in society at large and consequently decreasing the demand for drugs on the street putting more of the remaining drug dealers out of business institutionalization provides an incentive for drug using criminals to straighten themselves out before becoming part of the general prison population while helping protect society from crime institutionalization could also serve to deter drug users from becoming criminals since drug using criminals unlike other criminals would be delayed prior to serving their sentences by the additional time it takes for them to sober up institutionalization of drug using criminals separate from the general prison population would also provide a closely monitored pool of addicts who could volunteer for research studies of new techniques and treatments for addictive disease with the potential to benefit both themselves and others dealers in illegal drugs are generally not drug users themselves and this is particularly true of the drug bosses or kingpins running large illicit organizations under this proposal dealers would be more readily identifiable since upon arrest they would presumably pass the drug test or else decline to take it in order to avoid having to explain why they are in possession of drugs when it is apparent they do not use them declining to take the test they would of course face stiffer penalties while each case of attempted sale of a noncommercial drug would have to stand on own its merits the outcome of a suspect s drug test could provide additional evidence for the prosecution just as cigarette taxes have contributed to the decline of smoking in our country by making cigarettes more costly while at the same time providing revenue for anti smoking campaigns noncommercial drugs should be taxed and the money generated should be used to combat their use enforcement of this tax should be on a voluntary basis however and should not be used as an excuse to infringe on the rights and privacy of noncommercial drug users since to do so would have the effect of reintroducing prohibition instead drug users will be encouraged to pay the tax by reminding them that if untaxed drugs are ever found in their possession during the course of routine police operations they will be required to pay the tax immediately or else forfeit their untaxed drugs to be destroyed if drug dealers are found to be selling noncommercial drugs on which taxes have not been paid they will face additional prosecution for evading the tax the strategy of adding tax evasion to drug dealing charges is already in use in some jurisdictions but its effectiveness is currently limited by the illegality of drug possession revenue from drug possession taxes and import tariffs would be used to fund anti drug advertising campaigns and provide support to private sector drug treatment programs for those unable to afford treatment taxpayer subsidies to all drug producers must be ended federal support of tobacco farming is both immoral and wasteful in this era of tight budgets and the marijuana crops grown illicitly on federal lands in many states must likewise be eliminated while my proposal would have the effect of permitting the use of what are now illegal drugs it would hold the users of all drugs responsible for their actions and i believe would reduce the harm drugs have on our society particularly the crime caused by the illegal drug trade so long as we remain a free nation with relatively porous borders and freedom for our citizens to travel we will always have a drug problem whether it takes the form of heroin addicts dying in abandoned buildings drunk drivers killing and maiming others on our streets or emphysema patients struggling for breath after a lifetime of smoking the results are the same needless suffering and death as a society we must recognize that while our society permits us to harm ourselves with drugs as we are already doing regardless of the drug laws we must take a stand against the harm that drugs and drug users cause to others we must particularly oppose the vicious and violent cartels which prey on the weakness of drug users by taking the profits out of their deadly trade my proposal goes a long way towards shutting down these powerful criminal organizations the question of whether drug use is a moral or medical problem depends on which group of drug users you re talking about different drugs have different effects and some are more addictive than others the addictiveness of a drug also often varies between individuals and so we have some people who can drink alcohol in moderation while others find they cannot resist the bottle nicotine which former surgeon general c everett koop declared to be as addicting as heroin is a legal drug with known harmful effects and while some people can stop smoking by willpower alone others continue to smoke even after treatment for lung cancer for those individuals who can stop taking drugs on their own we may argue that because they have chosen to use them this represents a moral failure on their part or an unwillingness to face the difficulties of life but for the addicts while they may have chosen to use drugs the first time by the time they discover their addiction it is too late we cannot hold them responsible for their disease any more than we would blame someone who is drowning for an inability to swim perhaps they should have known not to go near the water or perhaps someone should have warned them of the danger but in their present circumstances warnings will not help neither does it help for the drug dealers on the shore to be tossing them weights standard disclaimer x dna ken barnes lifesci bldg conservative libertarians kebarnes memstvx memst edu for pro balance memphis tn compuserve com i find television very educating every time somebody turns on the set i go into the other room and read a book groucho marx
