Pubdate: Fri, 02 Jun 2000
Source: Fresno Bee, The (CA)
Copyright: 2000 The Fresno Bee
Contact:  http://www.fresnobee.com/man/opinion/letters.html
Website: http://www.fresnobee.com/
Forum: http://www.fresnobee.com/man/projects/webforums/opinion.html
Author: Derek Springer, A resident of Laton

LEGALIZATION IS BEST DEFENSE AGAINST RAVAGES OF DRUGS

With the war on drugs raging and drug wars between rival gangs killing our 
youth, solutions to our drug problems have been in high demand.

Proper solutions, however, always have been a scarce commodity. From the 
bloodletting of the sick to brain surgery for the mentally ill, the help of 
good-hearted people has, at times, backfired.

This seems to be the case with our drug problems. Traditional responses 
often have called for stricter sentencing or a greater police presence, but 
these have neither stopped the drug dealers nor quelled the bloodshed on 
the street.

Sometimes the unorthodox solution can be the best. Though it may seem to 
increase our problems, the legalization of drugs in reality would lessen 
them by reducing the consumption of drugs, the number of gang-related 
deaths and the occurrence of drug-related crimes.

How does legalizing drugs benefit us in these ways? The immediate advantage 
in legalizing drugs is the reduction of crime. The crime of selling or 
using drugs would no longer exist. Its legalization would allow other 
crimes to be enforced by the police. Users harm their own bodies and minds 
but a person must always be held accountable for their actions. Should 
someone under the influence of drugs break the law, charge them for the 
crime itself, not for the drugs. The police are supposed to be here to 
serve and protect, not to enforce a victimless crime.

Drugs may not directly harm people but their high cost results in many 
other crimes. Gangs get involved in drugs and compete for territory to sell 
them. When conflict arises, innocent people sometimes get caught in the 
crossfire. Prostitutes work street corners to pay for their drug 
addictions. Homes are burglarized and stores are robbed to supply the money 
needed to feed a user's addiction. Making drugs illegal causes their value 
to soar.

The law of supply and demand explains why when you make drugs illegal -- 
limiting the supply -- the value and demand for it increases. The 
legalization of drugs, however, makes drug sales profitable. With no profit 
to be made, drug dealers would be put out of business. With cheap drugs and 
high availability, many other drug-related crimes would diminish. Crack 
addicts need not sell themselves on the street to feed their habits and 
heroin addicts can afford fixes without burglarizing or holding up liquor 
stores. Traditional methods of combating the drug problem, and the crimes 
related to it, only feeds its growth. Drug busts only decrease the supply 
of drugs and guns on the black market and increase their value. It's simple 
economics.

Victimless crimes

The costs of these popular approaches and their failure in the fight on 
drugs can be seen in our overcrowded jails and high crime rates. Reports 
from the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons said the 
percentage of inmates sentenced to federal prison for drug offenses 
increased from 16.3% in 1970 to 58.9% in 1998. California alone holds more 
than 43,000 drug felons, according to California's Department of 
Corrections. The cost in taxpayers' money to house these offenders is 
overwhelming. Those inmates held on drug charges are there for victimless 
crimes and taxpayers are paying for their meals, housing, lawyers and 
guards, and all they are doing is filling up the jails, making it hard to 
keep real offenders in them. The money would be better spent on drug 
prevention and self-help programs.

Police support the traditional approaches because they provide increased 
staffing and money through seizures of property. This is just an easy 
alternative to seeking out the real criminals in Fresno.

Money can be made in other ways once we legalize drugs and clear the jails 
of needless prisoners. The government could sell and tax drugs to provide 
money for government programs. A whole new industry would need to be formed 
and jobs would be made. Profits from this new industry and the redirection 
of funds spent to convict, and imprison drug offenders, would help the 
economy to flourish.

Drug use may not be something we can stop, but we can reduce the incentive. 
Without the pushers on the street selling the drugs, some kids may be saved 
from drug use altogether.

Do we really want to fool ourselves into believing that there is only one 
way to solve our problems, or are we ready to try a different approach? If 
you were the patient being told the only way to get better was to bleed it 
out, you'd want a second opinion, too.

Derek Springer is a resident of Laton.
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