Pubdate: Fri, 18 Mar 2005
Source: Technician, The (NC State U, NC Edu)
Copyright: 2005 The Technician
Contact:  http://technicianonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2268
Author: Isaac Tripp
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)

NO MORE DRUG WAR

In 1971, President Nixon declared that drugs were America's No. 1 enemy. 
This date is considered to be the start of the "War on Drugs." Since that 
time, the War on Drugs has grown to be a costly, ineffective, and damaging 
policy that has created a tremendous crime problem, sapped federal funds, 
and imprisoned millions of Americans, all while doing almost nothing to 
solve the problem of drug abuse.

It is imperative that America stops deluding itself into thinking the drug 
war is effective and begins to enact serious changes.

At the bare minimum, medicinal marijuana should be legalized nationwide. 
Furthermore, minor drugs (e.g. marijuana) should be decriminalized or 
legalized completely.

The drug war has been an area of U.S. policy that has done far more harm 
than good. The total cost of the drug war in the year 2000 alone was 
estimated to be $136 billion.

Despite the ever-increasing amount of tax dollars we spend on stopping drug 
use, the percentage of the population who has used illicit drugs increased 
from 31.3% to 41.7% in 2001. Much of the money spent on the war on drugs 
would be better spent if diverted to education and other areas of the 
budget that are starved for funding. In addition, the taxes gathered from 
regulation of drug sales would increase government revenue in a time when a 
balanced budget is thing of the past.

Not only is the drug war costly and ineffective, but it has been a huge 
detriment to the civilian population of the United States. In 2003, 1.6 
million people were arrested for drug abuse violations. Fifty-five percent 
of federal inmates were sentenced for drug violations. The cost of these 
incarcerations totals $3 billion every year. However, the costs to society 
are many times greater.

Those incarcerated are no longer able to work, leading to broken families 
that must look to government welfare for support.

Furthermore, those who come out of prison are not likely to be 
rehabilitated. Around one fourth of those initially imprisoned for 
nonviolent crimes are sentenced for a second time for committing a violent 
offense.

In other words, you go into prison a drug user, and you come out a violent 
criminal.

While many people erroneously believe that drugs have caused a large amount 
of crime, it is actually the drug war that has caused a large portion of 
that crime.

Gang wars, police shootings, and many other aspects of criminal behavior 
associated with drugs occur because of the situation created by 
illegalization, much as Prohibition in the 1920s led to a boom in crime.

In fact, if you examine the number of homicides committed during the last 
century, similar spikes in the homicide rate coincided with both 
Prohibition and the drug war. Numerous studies have hypothesized that 
legalization of drugs would decrease violence associated with drugs.

Proposition 215 to legalize medicinal marijuana was passed in 1996 by a 56 
percent majority of California voters.

This is more California votes than governor Schwarzenegger received when 
elected.

Nine other states have also voted to legalize medicinal marijuana.

However, the federal government has done everything in its power to impede 
this democratically enacted policy.

Marijuana is a drug that has so many medicinal benefits that it is 
difficult to go into much detail here. Suffice to say that it can be used 
as an effective treatment for conditions including asthma, glaucoma, 
tumors, epilepsy, arthritis and nausea. The fact that many prescription 
drugs remain legal while having many more adverse side effects than 
marijuana is just one example of the hypocrisy of U.S. drug policy.

Complete legalization of medicinal marijuana is the first step that should 
be taken in creating a sound and sensible drug policy.

As I can almost hear my inbox filling with responses from the right-leaning 
portion of our readership, I'd like to point out that decriminalization of 
marijuana actually fits within political conservative ideology.

When I say that, I am not talking about moral conservatism, but in the 
basic conservative tenet that government interference in the lives of 
citizens should be limited, and that people should be responsible for their 
own choices.

Legalization is a victory for small government and personal responsibility.

Many arguments will immediately be raised to my position, so I will try to 
address some of them here. Most prevalent will be the claim that 
legalization of drugs sends the message to the populace (especially 
children) that it is OK to take drugs.

Furthermore, legalization would increase access to drugs and therefore 
increase drug use. While some drug use may increase, especially in the 
short term, this theory is largely untrue.

Moreover, legalization of soft drugs like marijuana would most likely 
decrease the use of harder drugs.

This has been the case in the Netherlands where rates of cocaine use among 
cannabis users are much lower than in the United States.

Decriminalization of minor drugs has all the potential to benefit the 
United States and little chance of causing serious harm. The illegal drug 
trade and all the crime associated with it would be severely diminished. 
The prison system would no longer be overloaded and many homes would no 
longer be broken.

The government would be able to track and regulate drug abuse in an 
economic market.

Taxes raised from drug sales and diverted tax dollars from the drug war 
would be put to use funding other areas of the government. All of this 
would occur with relatively little increase in drug use and the potential 
to actually decrease abuse of hard drugs.
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MAP posted-by: Beth