NCJ Number
172374
Date Published
1998
Length
6 pages
Annotation
In the name of health, economics, and morality, there is no alternative but to keep drugs illegal and fight those who traffic in them, but there is room to debate how best to wage this war.
Abstract
In the decade before Prohibition went into effect in 1920, alcohol consumption in the United States averaged 2.6 gallons per person per year. It fell to 0.73 gallons during the Prohibition decade, then doubled to 1.5 gallons in the decade after repeal, and it is now back to 2.6 gallons. So illegality suppressed usage to a third or a fourth of its former level. At the same time, incidence of cirrhosis of the liver fell by half. So it seems reasonable to estimate that the use of drugs will at least double, and possibly triple, if the price is cut, supplies are readily available, and society's sanction is lifted. Dr. Robert DuPont, former director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse and an anti-legalization crusader, says that the instant pleasure afforded by drugs, superior to that available with alcohol, will increase the number of regular users of marijuana and cocaine to about 50 or 60 million and heroin users to 10 million. All studies show that those most likely to try drugs, get hooked, and die are youth, who are susceptible to the lure of quick thrills and are resistant to messages provided by adults. Although the legalization of drugs in a manner similar to that of alcohol would cost society dearly, there is room to debate how best to administer a drug-control strategy. A consensus is developing that it must be done both on the supply side (at overseas points of origin, through interdiction at U.S. borders, and criminal prosecution of traffickers) and on the demand side (by discouraging the use of drugs through education and treatment and/or arrest and urine testing at workplaces). There is disagreement, however, about which side to emphasize and how to spend resources.