How to End the Violence: Legalize Drugs

How to End the Violence:Legalize DrugsBy Heidi SchweizerMarch 27, 2009

THE WAR ON DRUGSThe purpose of this presentation is to give some information about the War on Drugs and provide a basis for discussion.

Unfortunately, many things were left out of this presentation due to time constraints. But feel free to email me at hschweizer@hillsdale.edu with any questions, comments, or suggestions. 1Current RelevancyMexicos drug related violence has killed more than 9,000 people since December 2006.Medical Marijuana is legal some states, like California, but is illegal on the federal level. Many public officials have used illegal substances. Everybodys doing it(just kidding).

Mexicos government has offered $2 million for info leading to the arrest of Mexicos 24 top drug lord. One of the reasons that Mexico has currently become so violent is that President Felipe Calderon has cracked down on drug trafficking, where former president Vincente Fox was more tolerant.

Just Wednesday a Judge delayed the sentencing of Charles Lynch, a medical marijuana dispenser in CA, because of uncertainty about Obamas policy.

Most notably President Bill Clinton (and of course numerous musicians and movie stars)

Also the DARE program, what children learn in school. 2UsersDrugLifetimePast YearPast MonthAny Illicit Drug46%14.9%8.3%Marijuana40.4%11%6.2%Cocaine14.4%2.5%0.9%Crack3.6%0.7%0.2%Heroin0.16%0.2%0.1Hallucinogens14.6%2%0.5LSD10.4%0.4%0%PCP3.2%0.1%0%Inhalants9.7%0.9%0.3%

So then who uses?

This chart is provided by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA). Many different types of people in the United States have used drugs. In 2002 46% of people 12 and older have used a drug at some point in time. Also, we can see that marijuana use does not inevitably lead to hardcore substance abuse.

The next graph depicts global drug use. Note that problem drug use is only 0.6% of people. People who use and people who abuse are not necessarily the same thing, much like someone who drinks alcohol is not necessarily and alcoholic. The UN report also shows that about 5% of people in the world annually use drugs. The 2008 report states that drug use has stabilized around 5%. So drug use is rather constant.

3Common MythsIf drugs are legalized, more people will do drugsFalse: There is no correlation between the harshness of drug laws and the incidence of drug taking (The Economist).All drugs are bad. False: Many drugs, especially marijuana, have medical uses.

4What we can learn from Prohibition

Prohibition led to binge drinking

Prohibition Increased the consumption of hard liquor.

While total alcohol consumption declined, the number of alcoholics increased.

Thousands of people were blinded, paralyzed, or killed as a result of drinking contaminated bootleg alcohol.

The price did not rise as much as we would expect

Prohibition led to the rise of organized crimeWhat we have learned from the past:Aside, drugs and alcohol are not exactly the same, but they are very comprable.

Prohibition led to binge drinking people consumed alcohol less frequently but more heavily. Alcohol was actually used more irresponsibly than before.

Prohibition increased the consumption of hard liquor because hiding distilleries was not, easy so bootleggers attempted to maximize their space. Brewing beer requires more space in production and distribution, which makes it harder to conceal.

After prohibition, there were more alcoholics and illegal drinking establishments that when prohibition began. This clearly shows failure.

Over 50,000 deaths are attributed to contaminated liquor. It is highly doubtful that this would happen in a country where the production was monitored.

The Price did not rise as much as we would expect. Part of the justification of using law enforcement against distributers of drugs is that they price will skyrocket, however, during prohibition the price of alcohol did not rise as much as predicted.

The most famous organized criminal who rose to prominence during prohibition was Al Capone in Chicago. As a side note, one of the reasons the city of Las Vegas came about because criminals who benefited from the prohibition needed somewhere to launder their money. Luckily, Prohibition was repealed in 1933. But we can see that prohibiting alcohol did not have the desired effect on alcohol abuse and actually had many negative unforeseen effects. Note: the picture is famous from when Masseria was shot in 1931.5The Social Cost of the War on Drugs: Law EnforcementThe U.S. alone spends around $40 billion a year to for law enforcement against the war on drugs.Examples:DEAFBIBorder PatrolLocal Enforcement AgenciesAid money to Columbia and the Dominican Republic etc.

Yet, as we have spent increasingly more money, drug use has continued at the same rate.

The 40 Billion dollars is just the nominal cost for law enforcement, we have no idea what the opportunity cost is, so it is likely that it is much larger than we know.

Drug use has been about the same for approximately the past 20 years despite increased enforcement. It is certainly not for lack of effort. 6The Social Cost of the War on Drugs: Prison and DiscriminationThe U.S. arrests 1.5 million people a year for drug related charges.About 1/3 of those arrested go to jail.Prisoners cost about $30,000 dollars a year each.African Americans and Hispanics are disproportionately represented in prison populations.

This information is from from the Bureau of Justice.

The chart shows specifically state prison charges, but there are also county and city prisons. Also, the number of people in prison for violent crimes is high (this is addressed next).

So we can see that there is a nominal cost to citizens for jailed drug users/distributers, but there is also a cost to the families of those who are imprisoned.

Since the War on Drugs is proactive, many law enforcement officers racially profile people, especially African Americans and Hispanics. The result is that there are more of these minorities people in prison than without the War on Drugs and Discrimination. And not only is this discrimination, but it breeds contempt/hate between races because of these instances. 7The Social Cost of the War on Drugs: ViolenceCitizens cannot use the court system to settle drug related disputes. Drug enforcement crowds out enforcement in other sectors, for example the enforcement of property rights.Law officers cause violence through enforcement.The criminalization of drugs leads to network of organized criminals. TriadsYakuza La EmeMafia.

Drug consumption has not been linked to violence. Criminals and drug use have been linked to violence, but that is not the same.

The crowding out effect leaves other criminals free to, for example, steal your things.

Then, of course, there is also the Sicilian Mafia, Russian Mafyia, the Yardies and the Posses.

Dr. Miron of Boston University has linked the War on Drugs to an increased level of violence, specifically an increased homicide rate in his book War Drug Crimes: The Consequences of Prohibition. 8The Social Cost of the War on Drugs: Violations of RightsYou do not own your body.

Both federal and state enforcement agencies can seize your money, house, cars, etc. simply on suspicion of drug crimes.

Essentially the implications of criminalizing drugs on personal rights. The ones here are simply the most obvious.

The government, and society as whole, dictate what you can put in your own body this essentially tyranny by the government or by the majority because you do not have the property right to do what you would like with your body. It also violates your right to liberty.

Current law says that both federal and state law enforcement agencies can seize and forfeit cash, bank accounts, houses, land, cars, boats, and any asset that they suspect of facilitating drug crimes. Despite the flagrant violation of property rights, these laws also lead to violations of property rights.

Remember that nearly half of Americans have used some type of illicit drug, and yet when we all pay taxes, we are paying some these violations of rights. 9

A Sum of the Costs of the Drug WarGovernment bureaucratic and law enforcement costsOvercrowded prisons at $30,000 per prisonerRacial tension and discrimination

10A Sum of the Costs of the Drug WarOrganized crimeIncreased ViolenceIncreased homicideViolation of liberty Violation of property rights

The Benefits of LegalizationLess Violence

Less crime

Less organized crime

Less spending on law enforcement

More accurate information

More reliable quality

More options available to doctors

Not only will the crime caused by the prohibition be eradicated because the police will be enforcing contracts, but also there will be less crime simply because drug use will not be a crime.

Organized criminals will either move into legitimate business or they will likely be forced out of the market.

Less crime leads to less of a need for law enforcement. There will be less violence and everyone will be safer.

Given that drugs were legal people would have more opportunity to gather more accurate information about certain drugs through scientific studies and alternatives to the government produced information from programs like the DARE program, which greatly exaggerates the harms of drugs.

With more information and free market competition products will become more consistent and likely much safer, because companies will brand and be held accountable to the public.

This will be discussed on the next slide.

Really, after years of failure, it is quite obvious that we should decriminalize and end the War on Drugs. It is important for us to be vocal about the issue since it affects us all, for example through taxes and personal rights. 12Helping the Sick: Medicinal MarijuanaMedicinal marijuana could help people with:Nausea PainMuscle SpasmsGlaucomaEpilepsyMultiple SclerosisAIDSMigraines

The American College of Physicians (ACP) endorses lifting regulations on the medicinal use of marijuana.

A comprehensive study by the Institute of Medicine in 1999 showed these results.

Prohibition makes studying the effects of medicinal marijuana difficult. The American College of Physicians is the second largest groups of doctors in the country, so it is credible that there could be medicinal value in marijuana. I personally am not a doctor, but I would not want to prevent people from getting relief from their pain if it were possible.

States that have legalized medicinal marijuana AK, CA, CO, HI, ME, MI, MT, NV, NM, OR, RI, VT, and WA.

13Negative ExternalitiesExample1: People who drive while influenced could hurt others. We could reallocate the resources spent on pursuing drug users and supplier to preventing DWIs.

Example 2: Drugs harm fetuses.A lack of the availability of clean needles also causes babies to be born with HIV.

Example 3: It would burden the healthcare system. Possibly true, but if drugs shorten the lifespan of people, we could end up spending less than we would have on Social Security and Medicare.

A commonly proposed method of internalizing the negative externalities of drug abuse is to issue a pigouvian tax.

One of the many argument against legalization is that drug consumption can harm third parties. Again, most people who would abuse illicit substances already do it currently.

We could just reallocate our law enforcement resources, to a more legitimate use of government.

We already established that mothers in this situation will probably use illicit substances anyways. But what about reallocating the money not spent on the drug war, and spending it on education?

There is really no way of knowing what it would cost, and what it would potentially save. As it is though, we already pay for the healthcare of these people anyways, so likely it certainly wouldnt cost us more.

Why dont we recoup the cost? We could just use a sin tax. This goal of using law enforcement to fight the War on Drugs is to raise the cost of drugs so high that people dont use them. One could simulate the rise in price that using law enforcement causes with a tax, which is nowhere near as violent, along with creating government revenue at the same time. This could help, although it might not lead to the eradication of the black market, in Italy, for example, there is a black market for untaxed cigarettes. However, it would certainly help and be a step in the right direction. 14What about morality?Prohibition causes violence.

Prohibition allows criminals to get rich.

Prohibition increases the number of children born HIV infected.

Prohibition prevents patients, many of whom are terminally ill, from lessening their suffering.

MORALLY, PROHIBITION IS THE WORST CHOICE FOR ADDRESSING DRUG ABUSE.

Many innocent people, in Columbia, Mexico, and many other places are caught in drive-by-shootings and bomb attacks.

Instead of honest citizens engaging in trade, the drug trade is carries out by black market criminals who do not live by the rules.

Prohibition limits the availability of clean needles.

Again, many people who would benefit from certain substances are not allowed to use them.

Beside what moral superiority can we claim to say that we should restrict something?In addition, assuming that people are rational actors, they take certain substances because they believe it will make them better off. Who are we to prevent them from making themselves better off? If people are not rational, then the afore mentioned reasons still hold. 15Suggested ReadingsThe United Nations 2008 World Drug ReportDrug War Crimes: The Consequences of Prohibition by Jeffrey A. MironOrganized Crime by Paul Lunde

These are some short reads that I thought were interesting and worthwhile to read.

Luckily the idea of legalizing drugs has become more publicized and has been viewed less outlandish than in the past, especially concerning marijuana.

And that concludes the presentation, and leaves time for questions and discussion. 16