LEGALIZE DRUGS?

Victor Bloom MD

Many people who have watched the drug war for decades are now coming to the conclusion that addictive drugs (ëcontrolled substancesí) should be legalized, or at least, medicalized. It is argued that the price of crime, addiction and ëthe warí is too high and the results too low. Drugs are as available as ever. The jails are full of drug dealers and users, heavy and petty. Crime connected with drugs is indigenous, ubiquitous and chronic. Corruption contaminates the highest places. The international drug cartels are as heavily funded and technologically advanced as our own DEA, FBI, CIA and armed forces. The CIA itself has been implicated in drug trafficking, allegedly using profits to fund its undercover operations. ( Details and evidence are in the book ìWhite Outî by Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair--- Verso Publishing, London and New York--- ISBN- l 85984 139 2).

As long as politicians and law-enforcement personnel are on the take, as long as the super-wealthy are making tons of money, nothing will change. Drugs are available relatively freely at almost every high school in the USA. A certain percentage of our teenagers will ëexperimentí and get hooked. Fine minds will go down the drain. The degree of human suffering can hardly be imagined. Affluent and seemingly wholesome and protected suburban kids are not exempt from contamination. The film, ìTraffic,î dramatizes all this, has the ring of truth and is on the short list for an Academy Award..

At the end of the movie the new drug czar decides not to take office, but to take care of his own family. He asks everyone to ask questions and come up with some answers, because the present reality is totally unacceptable. Drug traffic has the potential to tear apart the fabric of our civilization. Cocaine is coming through our borders by the ton. The seemingly huge drug busts we see in the media are a drop in the bucket. As long as there is demand, the supply will continue. What does some poor farmer in Colombia or Bolivia know or care about our drug problem and the havoc wreaked? It is a cash crop and they are only trying to survive.

Foreign and domestic drug observers say that as long as there will be high demand in America, there will be ample supply, from many corners of the earth. While we are trying to cut off supply, the drug cartels are successful in maintaining and increasing demand. It is a simple law of economics that as long as there is demand and profit, there will be available supply. The profit is irresistible. Too many, the drugs are irresistible. The only solution, say some, is to remove the profit motive. The only way to do that is to legalize and medicalize these ëcontrolled substances,í as has been accomplished in England, where the degree of crime and the percentage of addicts is much lower than here. Ironically, distribution of these ëcontrolledí substances is out of control. The DEA is failing to stem the tide of drugs. The movie shows how and why.

If the profit motive is eliminated, and the government takes control of these drugs and legalizes them, as alcohol was legalized after Prohibition failed in the 30ís, the drugs, like alcohol, will be taxed and better controlled. As it is now, there are a limited number of liquor licenses granted, and the distribution of alcohol is only allowed to adults age 18 and over. There are rules that bartenders must follow, and there are laws against drunk driving, and in many areas, ëblue lawsí about when alcohol can be sold or served. There are laws which can be enforced about blood levels of alcohol which are illegal while driving a vehicle. Customs have gradually been developed in which ëdesignatedí drivers keep drunken friends and relatives from being a menace behind the wheel of a car. There are alcohol rehab centers, Alcoholics Anonymous groups, and intervention mechanisms presently in place, because alcoholism is still a huge medical, psychiatric and social problem.

What would American life be like with legalization? Side by side with taverns and bars, coffee shops and fast food emporia, will there be a new kind of drugstore serving up marijuana, cocaine and heroin at affordable prices? Or could drugs be prescribed and dispensed by selected medical doctors who are specialists in treating drug addicts? If drugs were available at affordable prices there would be no more need for kids to steal parentsí jewelry or knock people on the head, and no more incentive for drug pushers and dealers. One wonders what would be the overall effect on society and everyday life?

It is said that with the money saved giving up the war on drugs, the money it would have cost to buy them illegally, and the money gained by taxes--- universal health care could be funded. This would include the treatment of those who still abuse the available drugs. Would the now illegal drugs become as socially accepted, as common and ënormalí as alcohol is, in time? Would we tolerate the fact that some young people would truly choose to drop out? Would society simply support and tolerate dope addicts they way we now support and tolerate alcohol addicts?

What would America be like with legalization, medicalization and taxation of ëcontrolled substances?í Shouldnít drug addiction be medicalized, instead of criminalized? Is there any point to pursue the question? Can Puritanism be part of the problem here?