From WRTA.com
The Drug War Is Disaster, Practically Speaking
By John McGinnis - Altoona, PA
Jun 25, 2007, 06:22
Mr. Irvin’s main complaint against my opposition to the war against drugs (which is really a war against people) seems to be that I’m too idealistic. He could not be more wrong.
My opposition to the war on drugs is entirely practical and moral. Practically speaking, the drug war is almost all cost and no benefit. Drug use is little affected by its criminalization. Even drug warriors like Tom Corbett regularly say, “We can’t win this war on the supply sideit’s ultimately a demand problem.” (Of course, that prompts the question why he is expending so many resources on what he deems an ineffective strategy, but he’s probably calculating we’re too stupid to understand the logic of his position and will happily vote for him when he runs for governor.) Yes, criminalizing drug use does raise its price to users, but most users will pay the price no matter how high so the reduction in use is quite small. And the high profit margin in an illegal market is a perfect environment for gangsters of the worst sort to operate. It wasn’t an accident that murder rates tripled during alcohol prohibition only to decline to previous levels after its repeal. And it’s not an accident that murder rates have again increased dramatically since the war on drugs was declared and implemented over 35 years ago. It is the furthest thing from idealism to note that drug criminalization results in crime rates going up, law enforcement becoming corrupt, and various other social pathologies becoming exacerbated for no useful purpose. And, sad to say, it was perfectly predictable that the drug problems of the big cities brought about by criminalization were going to be expanded to the hinterland as we’ve seen the past 20 years or so in our own area.
I’d ask Mr. Irvin to address this question directly: If the prohibition on the sale of alcohol (its production and consumption were still legal remember) with a Constitutional mandate resulted in such destruction to our society, why does he think an un-Constitutional war against the sale, production, use, and possession of other drugs is going to do any less harm? And please, Mr. Irvin, don’t give me any idealistic nostrum like “when a society legalizes a behavior, they are, by default, actually condoning that behavior.” That clearly is NOT the case. There are a zillion things that are legal that society is not condoning, including bad logic in support of the drug war and other mistakes in judgment.
Another reason it is practically important to legalize drug use is that its criminalization undermines the notion of limited government. Our Republic has MUCH more to fear from government abusing its power than we do from isolated individuals amusing and/or abusing themselves. It is positively scary for me to read that Mr. Irvin thinks government’s job is to control people. Maybe in a totalitarian society, but not in the nation founded by the likes of Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Mason, and company. Government’s only legitimate purpose is the protection of life, liberty, and property. The war on drugs is a manifest encroachment on liberty and property that results in increased death and violence. It’s not idealism I’m appealing toit’s survival and freedom and the very principles for America’s existence.
The opinions and ideas expressed in this essay are those of John D McGinnis and should not be considered representative of WRTA.com, any institution with which McGinnis is associated, or anyone else. He can be contacted at john@wrta.com.
© Copyright 2004-2005 by WRTA.com