Legalize Drugs?

A report released this week by the United Nations Commission on Drug Policy stated the war on drugs has been a worldwide failure. The report went on to recommend a moderate approach to drugs that would encompass treatment and health care for addicts.

The idea the war on drugs has failed is nothing new to us addicts. For years and years we’ve known the so-called war on drugs had no chance of success. Like all efforts to suppress social crimes the war hasn’t succeeded. In fact, if one looks at incarceration statistics in the United States we see a vast population of people who are incarcerated for mostly drug related offenses. We have the example of prohibition: it did nothing to stop people from drinking. And it made millionaires out of mobsters.

So, someone might ask, do I advocate the legalization of all kinds of drugs? Of course I do. While this might seem hypocritical to those who are familiar with TLC I have good foundation for making this kind of statement. The reality is that drugs have been de facto legal for many years. If anyone has doubts, just go to any major city or rural community. Start looking for different kinds of drugs. If your approach is right you'll probably have drugs in your hands within an hour. There are drug dealers all over our country. The only way to put these folks out of business is to make drugs legal, to compete with them, to collect taxes that could go toward treatment and health care for those who suffer from addiction.

One of the arguments we hear against legalization from the moralists is that we will be encouraging people to use drugs. Again, the reality is that people need no encouragement to use drugs. If children are raised right they might not gravitate towards drugs or alcohol. But for those raised in bad circumstances or who have a genetic predisposition, then gravitating towards drugs and alcohol is natural. Addiction is no more a moral issue than is cancer, heart disease, or tuberculosis. Sometimes those who take the moral stance look at addicts as evil people instead of sick people. True, addicts and alcoholics do illegal and immoral things, but this is primarily a result of their substance-abuse rather than an indication of their character.

Although I doubt if this pronouncement by this United Nations commission is going to make any difference in the short term, at least they have put their position on the record. And with all the other changes going on throughout the world, who knows? Maybe our world will change in this area, also.