NCJ Number
160032
Date Published
1996
Length
11 pages
Annotation
The criminalization of drug use is counterproductive because it violates individual rights, fails to reduce drug use, creates a black market, poses dangers to drug users and children, and causes crime.
Abstract
Proposals for legalizing drugs have entered the mainstream of public debate in recent years. Frustration with a futile and costly war on drugs has prompted support for drug legalization from both liberals and conservatives. Criminal sanctions against drug users are ineffective for at least five reasons: (1) they limit the freedom of adults to use substances no more dangerous than others now legally available and imprison people for actions that do not directly harm others; (2) they fail to reduce drug use significantly; (3) they increase the danger of drug use by forcing users into an illicit market; (4) they entice children to use and sell drugs by creating a criminal underground that offers young people economic opportunities not available elsewhere; and (5) they cause the bulk of murders and property crimes in urban areas by creating a black market characterized by wars between suppliers. Drug legalization options include legalizing less dangerous drugs, decriminalizing rather than fully legalizing drugs, requiring drug use through a doctor, selling drugs in government stores, allowing the sale of drugs in private establishments, and permitting unrestricted drug sales. The author contends that drugs should be legalized, with some restrictions, but that users should be held responsible for any harm they cause.