Pubdate: Mon, 28 Nov 2005 Source: Western Standard (Canada) Section: Face-off Copyright: 2005 Western Standard Contact: http://www.westernstandard.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3448 Author: Karen Selick and Michael Coren Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin) SURRENDERING THE DRUG WAR A former police chief admits that narcotics laws are unenforceable. Is it time we stopped trying? From: Karen Selick To: Michael Coren Date: November 7, 2005 9:40 AM Subject: Legalization of all drugs Bravo to former Seattle police chief Norm Stamper, who made headlines in October by calling for the legalization of not just marijuana, but all drugs--cocaine, heroin, et cetera. The war on drugs has been waged for decades without making any noticeable dent in drug consumption. Instead, enormous damage has been done, both to the troubled individuals who use drugs and to society as a whole. Addicts and occasional thrill-seekers die suddenly due to adulterated drugs or drugs of unknown potency. Many are imprisoned for what is really a medical problem, emerging as hardened criminals. Drug dealers thrive on the black market profits, making the world a seedy, dangerous place for everyone else. Children are recruited as mules or lookouts. Innocent citizens die in gun battles between rival traffickers. Cops are corrupted. These things aren't a result of drug use. They're the result of drug criminalization. The costs of the drug war heavily outweigh the benefits. It's got to end. From: Michael Coren To: Karen Selick Date: November 7, 2005 10:56 AM Subject: Re: Legalization of all drugs Norm Stamper makes headlines. Precisely. The police darling of the liberal establishment in the United States once again delivers a controversial statement and is lionized by the usual suspects. As to the issue itself, it's too important to be played with like some ideological game. We don't know exactly what would happen if all drugs were legalized, but we do know that in the Netherlands, for example, permissive drug laws have led to a massive drug culture and have not reduced drug-related crime. Opium was legal in Edwardian Britain but still created an entire criminal underworld. There are arguments to legalize what "might" do you harm, but not for what "must" do you harm. The libertarian proposition is based more on an obsession with expunging state authority than with dealing with a complex issue with legal and moral nuances. From: Karen Selick To: Michael Coren Date: November 7, 2005 2:38 PM Subject: Re: Legalization of all drugs It's pretty hard to have productive debates with you, Michael, when you keep making up your facts. Dutch rates of drug use for marijuana, cocaine, heroin and inhalants are all less than half of U.S. rates. Meanwhile, the per capita murder rate in the Netherlands is only one quarter that of the U.S. So the country with lenient drug laws has less drug use and lower crime rates than the place with harsh drug laws. Still love those harsh laws? Your comment on Edwardian Britain is utterly illogical and of highly suspect veracity. There certainly are arguments for legalizing substances that are admittedly harmful--namely, that the harm arising from criminalization is even greater than the harm arising from drug use. Your perpetual put-downs of libertarianism show you have never grasped the distinction between protecting individuals from coercion (a valid function of the state) and protecting individuals from themselves (not valid). Drug wars fall into the second category. From: Michael Coren To: Karen Selick Date: November 7, 2005 3:21 PM Subject: Re: Legalization of all drugs Karen, are you OK? I can only imagine that your rudeness is a result of some inner pain and I'd like to help. Or perhaps it's the state smothering you with magic rays! OK, the facts. The Dutch boast of their liberal drug laws and the fact that so many of the population use drugs. Dutch MPs and cabinet ministers not only admit to having used drugs in the past, but are still using. As for murder, of course the U.S. has a worse situation. If you seriously think this is all about drugs, I don't really know what to say. Do you believe that Detroit and New Orleans are anything like Rotterdam and The Hague? Reality cries out to be heard. These are fundamentally different countries, one with a massive underclass and profound racial problems. As for my British example, instead of addressing the argument you attack the arguer. Sad. Hey, have a smoke.