Legalization of Drugs

Every society has some controversial issues on its agenda that are peculiar only , or mostly , to its specific culture and traditions . In this way , what is of paramount importance for one nation may be quite insignificant from the point of view of others . However , this is definitely not the case with one issue , the virtually all countries of the world , and which is recognized as one of the most pressing international problems . This is the problem of drugs abuse , addiction , and related consequences that drugs have for individuals and societies in general . Still

, for different cultures different aspects of this problem may be of the uttermost concern . For the United States , the drugs problem today has assumed shape of the debate about whether drugs use should be at least decriminalized , if not legalized at all . In this debate emotions all too often rule , when appeals to the conservative values of the nation and to the common good of the society or our children are made by the adherents of the continuation of the current "War on Drugs (Inciardi , 1999 ,

.128 However , as we shall see the reason dictates that some quite significant benefits can be obtained from the legalization of drugs , and from the shift from the drugs-related prosecutions to a widely implemented harm-reduction policies . Moreover , this thesis is not merely a theoretical assumption , but a fact supported by relevant foreign experiences . Let us explore this issue in detail by investigating such points as the extreme criminalization of illegal drug market and futility of attempts to fight drug trafficking , the benefits of adoption of policies aimed at harm-reduction , especially in light of the AIDS spread , ignorance by government of recommendations from studies by scientific commissions , and the considerations about admissibility of drugs prohibition as such

One of the strong arguments for legalization of drugs stems from the inadmissibility of the continuation of the current state of affairs when hundreds of thousands of people are arrested every year and kept behind bars for possession of illegal substances for personal usage , and not for sale (Inciardi , 1999 ,

.133 . At the same time , realistically looking at things we have to confess that even under such a harsh regime , there has not occurred a significant reduction in drugs use , and there seems to be no perspective for such reduction at all . Indeed , the real problem with drugs is that for many people they have a unique ability to satisfy one of the fundamental human aspirations that lies in the need to escape from the numerous unpleasant aspects of our reality even though doing so in a perverse way that may finally only aggravate the problems that we are trying to get rid of . If we understand this and if we have enough courage to acknowledge that our society , and any other for that matter , is far from being perfect , and probably will never become completely satisfactory for all people , then we have to concede that drugs , in one form or another , are to stay with us perhaps forever . In this light , the disputable successes that proponents of the maintenance of the criminal status of drugs use allude to when they defend their position may be misleading or outright outdated . For example , drug adversaries often refer to the 1980s when drugs abuse by teenagers peaked , and then reduced by half by the 1990s due to the effective anti-drug war . As the drugs abuse among teenagers again began to grow , Republican candidate Bob Dole in frames of his 1996 presidential campaign was referring to this disturbing tendency and comparing it with the drastic drop during previous Republican administrations . The reaction of Clinton was slack , probably because he himself viewed the level of drug use by teenagers as the main indicator of success or failure of a drug policy , so he was defending himself by the fact that the existing drugs abuse was nevertheless much lower than in 1980 (Inciardi , 1999 . But in the beginning of the 1980s there were no such things as crack , a cheap cocaine in smokable form , or epidemic of HIV-AIDS for which unhygienic drug injection was one of the main vehicles of transmission . Already in ten years both of these phenomena have widely spread in American cities , and for this the prohibitionist state of public opinion with its unconcern towards the human aspects of the drug war is largely to be blamed

Indeed , the measures of criminal prosecution and compulsory rehabilitation of drug addicts substitutes one evil for another as they only add to the unhappiness of people who depend on drugs by intensifying in them an atmosphere of psychological tension that may actually contribute to the drug-oriented behavior and addiction (Zimmer and Morgan , 1997 ,

. 36 . Moreover , the illegal status of drugs is the single greatest boon for the criminal narco-mafia , which has become a proper symbol of evil to be fought with . Is it not ironic that the very situation when drugs are being prohibited actually enables the drug trafficking organizations to reap enormous profits by becoming virtually the sole source of some of the much coveted drugs ? In this situation the narco-mafia is in fact the single most interested party that would do everything to maintain the ongoing war on drugs and prevent their legalization

At the same time , attempts to prevent the overseas production of certain drugs and their subsequent transportation to United States have turned out to be futile , as illegal drug business is growing due to the fact that the opium poppy , the coca plant (the source of cocaine , and the mother plant of hashish and marijuana cannabis sativa can grow in many parts of the world . The programs to instigate the poor population of the countries of the Third World to cultivate legal crops are fundamentally ineffective , because it is hard to rival the potential profits from drugs enabled by prohibition laws (Inciardi , 1999 ,

. 132 . Thus , while crop substitution eliminates production in one region , new sources of raw material for drugs emerges in other places . The similar situation is with the international efforts to destroy trafficking organizations and their routes , whose effect on the availability of drugs in the United States is minimal . But even if drug supplies from abroad could be ended the drug consumption in the USA would hardly diminish . First of all alcohol and tobacco are the leading source of drug-related problems in the United States (and in many other parts of the world as well Secondly , significant amounts of marijuana , hallucinogens , amphetamine and other illegal drugs are produced within the country . Therefore , such drugs , and probably some new ones , would quickly take the place of foreign heroin and cocaine

Considering the above-mentioned , we may infer on sound grounds that the current state of affairs regarding policies towards drugs abuse are often based on superficial understanding of the essence of the phenomenon they are aimed against , so they often lead to ineffective and even damaging consequences . Just consider the resolution which Congress passed in 1988 to proclaim the intent to make American drug-free by 1995 . In fact , experiments with prohibition are definitely well known for the United States , one has just to recollect the 18th Amendment that in 1919 outlawed the production and sale of alcoholic drinks . Needless to remind that criminal activity quickly peaked . Moreover , as illegal alcohol was of dubious quality , many of its consumers suffered , were blinded , or died . In the end , the 18th Amendment was abolished in 1933 to remain one the most convincing examples of the consequences of criminalization of drugs . Finally , efforts to keep drugs illegal are not cheap . The federal budget for drug control went from 1 billion in 1980 to 18 billion in 1998 , plus almost two times of that figure allocated for state and local budgets and law enforcement agencies (Maguire and Pastore , 1999 . If we combine these figures with the great number of people arrested for drug law violation , we can see the outcomes of overly extensive reliance of drug policies on methods of criminal justice , and of blind adherence to treatment aimed only at abstinence Apparently , in this situation a sound cost-benefit analysis is badly needed

So , while drugs are a grave problem for society with many associated individual tragedies , the methods of the current war on drugs have only worsened situation . But what can be done to improve the situation ? To answer this question we have to contemplate a policy that would encompass the recognition that drugs will inevitably persist in society and will make its aim to find the best ways to minimize their harm . This policy will have to shed an obsession of reducing drug use by prohibition that adds additional burden to drug addicts , but rather will have to concentrate on reduction of crime and suffering that drug abuse can cause . The basis for such a policy should be found not in the ignorance and prejudice towards the problem of drug abuse , but in adherence to human rights , scientifically justified recommendations , and common sense . And for a successful implementation of such a policy a legalization of drugs is needed . Considering successful experiences of other countries , this task is not impossible in the United States as well . Indeed , methods of Asia and Latin America in their supply-reduction solutions are of no help for American drug problems while the harm-reduction policies adopted in Europe and in Australia and even in some parts of North America , are promising . These policies include the realization of the facts that initiatives aimed at supply-reduction are principally flawed , that criminal justice measures are counter-productive and expensive , and that society completely free from drugs is impossible in reality . And while the initial interest in drug use in both children and adults must be discouraged , harm-reduction policies will address those who already use drugs and cannot , or do not want to , abstain from them . In most respects , countries that have adopted harm-reduction strategies as the main principle of dealing with drugs-related problems are quite similar to the United States and also have a close interdependence between drugs , crimes , and other social and economic problems of the modern world . And as in the United States , drug traffickers are prosecuted there with the full force , parents are concerned with the possibility of their children getting involved with drugs , and politicians voice the familiar principles of drug war . But what makes these countries different is that public health is given priority , and authorities in this field can influence the drug policies Police treats the use and sale of drugs like something reminiscent of prostitution - a phenomenon that cannot be exterminated , but only efficaciously controlled (Inciardi , 1999 . Correspondingly , there is a lesser focus on undisputed intrinsic harmfulness of drugs , and a bigger focus , from the side of politicians as well , on the task to deal with drugs and addiction in a humane and pragmatic way

The struggle to slow the epidemic of HIV by itself constitutes one of the strong arguments for legalization of drugs . The real threat of quick spread of HIV among those who illegally inject drugs and use common needles became clear already in the beginning of the 1980s and was one of the leading reasons that instigated governments in Australia and Europe to test harm-reduction policies . Holland , where there was previously an epidemic of hepatitis spreading via the same means of transmission , was the first to openly inform addicts about the risks of using common needles , to provide sterile syringes through drugstores and to adopt methadone programs in frames of public health services Governments in other European countries and in Australia soon joined , so that those countries which required a prescription for buying a syringe abandoned this demand , and in Germany , Switzerland , and some other European nations there were installed machines for 24-hour needle exchange . In some places in Europe , drug addicts can even obtain clean syringes at police stations without the risk of being prosecuted Prisons practice similar approaches to prevent the spread of HIV among prisoners , as drug consumption cannot be stamped out even during incarceration

The harm-reduction methods can be mainly narrowed down to programs to distribute sterile syringes to drug addicts organization of sterile injection rooms which would remove the danger inherent to mass injections in public places or in the so-called "shooting galleries to allowing doctors to prescribe methadone to treat heroin addiction when this is justified , and even to provision of drugs for those addicts who are not willing to be treated and would in any case search for drugs in illegal ways . In this case , the quality of drugs will be attested by the authorities and will not depend on criminal drug dealers (Inciardi 1999 ,

.88 . More generally , policies aimed at the minimization of the health risk must underlie all related community strategies . But while some of these policies are partially implemented or are being contemplated in some parts of the United States , they do not reach the extent present in increasing number of foreign countries . Of course , the mentioned initiatives were not free of controversy in other countries as well as many of conservative politicians claimed that syringes provision programs implicitly approved immoral style of life , and that policies of government should return to punishment of users of drugs , or compelling them into abstinence treatment . Still , the aggravation of the situation with HIV spread by the early 1990s was probably a bigger problem than even drugs abuse as such , as any chance to halt the epidemic of a deadly incurable disease could not be wasted . At the same time , programs aimed at exchange of syringes generate only petty costs , in contrast to costs of treating people infected with HIV (Inciardi , 1999 , pp .166-168 Unfortunately , US governments of different levels mostly for political reasons were not ready to easily accept similar harm-reduction programs even despite the suggestions from numerous scientific studies , which confirmed the effectiveness of exchange and distribution programs , with their positive influence on the health of drug addicts and the lack of corresponding increase of drug abuse . As a result , such an overly conservative stance has definitely lead to numerous infections of tens of thousands of people with HIV , infections which could be avoided . At the same time , it seems that the general public is already aware of the immediate benefits of harm-reduction policies , as polls show that a majority of American citizens would support syringes and needles exchange programs . In this situation , the political prejudice cannot justify suffering and death from AIDS , in presence of effective countermeasures that are easy , secure , and cheap

Another problem of the current drug policies is highlighted by the situation with marijuana , a leading illegal drug in the United States which up to a third of Americans confess to have tried . Marijuana 's use peaked around 1980 , then gradually decreased by the early 1990s , and until now has been growing again . Being not completely safe , especially for children , and for those who smoke it too often or combine it with driving , it is for sure one of the least harmful drugs in wide use . But although this fact was acknowledged by numerous scientific studies by governmental commissions and scientific organizations that offered sound guidelines for marijuana policy , as with the case of syringes exchange the US politicians have mostly disregarded their recommendations (Maguire and Pastore , 1999 . Of course , not everything is yet clear about the long-term effects of marijuana , but there is the growing realization of the fact that in any case , the existing policies towards marijuana are to a large degree exaggerated . This situation serves as a good example of the prevalent attitude in government to evaluate recommendations of independent commissions according not that much to reason and logic , but according to political expediency

Finally , there are more philosophical considerations regarding the inadmissibility of drugs prohibition . For instance , supporters of Libertarian philosophy claim that all drugs should be legalized because government cannot interfere with individual freedom of choice . While somewhat anarchic , this attitude has some merits , as it correctly points out that governments are quite cynical in prohibiting drug consumption while giving legal status to alcohol and tobacco , for which there is an enormous demand and which are therefore very profitable . Imagine political perspectives of a politician who would advocate illegal status for alcohol and tobacco . Instead , substances like marijuana , ecstasy LSD , etc . are objects of persecution often used by politicians who do not want to risk their reputation by proposing the possibility of legalization of drugs (Sloan , 2005

As we can see , it is hard to deny that there are immediate benefits that can be obtained from legalization of drugs . While the proponents of the continuation of the current drugs prohibition sometimes also offer some reasonable arguments , their basic mistake lies in their reluctance to acknowledge that the reasons for drugs use lie so deep in human psychology , that there is hardly any hope for extermination of this vicious habit . Therefore , the call for legalization of drugs is not about opening access to them for everyone , but about reducing the unnecessary and avoidable harm that they are inflicting . And in this case it may become easier to deal with the roots of the drug addiction as such

Sources

Inciardi , James A (Ed . The Drug Legalization Debate . SAGE Publications , 1999

Maguire , K (Ed , and Pastore , A .L (Ed . Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics 1998

United States Government Printing , 1999

Sloan , Sam . All Drugs should be Legalized . Ishipress , 2005 . 12 July 2005

p Zimmer , L . E , and Morgan , J .

. Marijuana Myths Marijuana Facts : A Review Of The

Scientific Evidence . Lindesmith Center , 1997

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