Things Go Better With Coke

I am a Libertarian.  And, I support most of the Libertarian platform, including a surrender in the so-called “war on drugs”, which, in reality, has become more of a war on individual rights.

Recently, I have heard this topic discussed on several talk shows, usually by hysterical callers who would have us believe that the end goal is to have a dose of heroin in each toddler’s kindergarten lunch.  This argument seems to assume that, were narcotics legalized, most of the population would immediately become junkies.

I dispute this.  How many of you actually believe that the average, drug-free American, is that way because they think there is no way for them to acquire drugs?  Hardly.  The fact is that the average, drug-free American, is that way because they want to be that way.  That is, they use their freedom of choice to choose not to “do drugs”,  just as most of them choose not to abuse legal alcohol, just as many of them choose not to use legal tobacco products, and an ever increasing number of them choose to quit using legal tobacco products.

I propose that we drop the emotional reactions and, instead, take a rational look at the drug issue in America.  I will start by posing (then answering) 2 simple questions:

1. Is the current so-called “war on drugs” doing anything to lessen the harm caused by the sale and use of illegal drugs?  My answer:  Emphatically no.  There has been some drop in the use of illegal drugs in the past but experts in the field attribute virtually all of this to improved education and information, not to policing.
2. Has the current so-called “war on drugs” done anything?  My answer: Plenty.  All of it undesirable, including:

• The funding and increasing power of drug cartels.  Crime syndicates that rival those that were spawned during our failed experiment with alcohol consumption, nearly a century ago.
• Overwhelming our criminal justice system with non-violent offenders whose only crime was the use of a substance arbitrarily deemed illegal by government.  This has long since gotten to the state where truly dangerous criminals are being plea-bargained out in court and/or released early from prison to make room for these non-violent “offenders” whose main crime was to not live by someone else’s standards.
• Acting as a price support system for the drug cartels by interdicting enough illegal drugs to keep the prices high, but not enough to really affect usage.
• Ensuring that the sale and consumption of these drugs is entirely unregulated in any meaningful way.
• Inflicting a significant drain on our Treasury.
• Increasing the power and intrusion of our government bu increasing the number of armed personnel intended to be used against us rather than for our protection.
• Thereby, imposing on the individual liberties of American citizens, to the point of taking a giant leap toward becoming a police state.

Allow me to raise some elementary facts:  The first is that there is a multi-billion dollar market for drugs that are presently illegal.  A “free market”, if you will… that is, a market of relatively free people choosing for themselves.  In a relatively free country like American, a market this size will be served.  This is a fact whose truth is demonstrated thousands of times each day.  You don’t have to like it, but, not liking it, not approving of it, will not make it less true.

So, the real question concerning our drug issue is not whether the obvious market will be served!  No.  The question is “who will it be served by?”

Currently, our answer is that we think it better served by the drug cartels.  With all the attendant violence, mayhem and police state antics.  For sure, a lot of us wish it would simply go away, but, until it does, we leave the supply to the cartels.

Would it not obviously be better served by reputable businesses, under strict regulation of the U.S. Government, much as is done with alcohol today?  I make no claim that legalization would make drug use disappear.  To the contrary, I think it will be with us forever to some degree.  Again, without regard to what you and I like of approve of.  But, there are potential benefits from legalization that would be a step in the right direction, including:

• The DEA could be disbanded, saving billions for the taxpayers and preventing it morphing further into our version of the Gestapo.
• The drug trade would cease to be a net drain on the treasury, becoming a net revenue source instead.  Revenue that could be, at least partly, directed toward the education/information approaches that have shown some success in reducing the demand for illegal drugs.
• The cartels would be bankrupted.  This would take away the primary incentive for gangsters and their toadies to get our youth hooked on drugs to begin with.  It would also tend to take the influence of illegal drug money out of our political processes.
• Our criminal justice system would have much more capacity to deal with those who truly do threaten our peace and security.
• The resulting government regulations would make it harder for drugs to be sold to children.
• The crime and mayhem attending the current so-called “war on drugs” would mostly cease, saving much future harm to our own citizens as well as to those of the producing countries.

As a Libertarian, I am insulted by the continued inference that we want an America that is drowning in drugs.  To the contrary, what we want is to first, stop the collateral damage, then, once the situation is under some level of control, to implement the education/information approaches that have been shown to work.

I would really like to hear comments on this as I well know it is not a widely accepted position.

Besides, it would just be nice to hear from some of you (please?).

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