NCJ Number
159479
Date Published
1994
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This paper discusses reasons why the chances are minimal of ever winning a war on drugs, and suggests that decriminalization of drugs may be the best way to lower societal costs of drugs and drug use.
Abstract
There are powerful incentives for all employed in the monitoring or combating of drug traffic to continue to depict it in almost apocalyptic terms; their status and prospects depend on the continuation and intensification of the war on drugs. The elaborate and flexible organization of the international drug market is also a formidable obstacle to a successful war on drugs. Intercepting shipments of drugs, patrolling growing precincts, and the occasional raid have media value and may even temporarily impair the flow of local supplies, but such police action has apparently no permanent effect in reducing the consumption of narcotics. There is no reasonable hope of ending or even reducing the drug traffic. In view of the enormous costs to society of vainly trying to protect would-be addicts from themselves by criminalizing narcotics, there is a powerful case for accepting the small risk of some initial increase in their popularity by decriminalizing them. Once that decision is made, however, some ancillary decisions must be made. (1) Legislation is needed to require testing and labeling of drugs to ensure their purity. (2) Should an excise tax be levied on drugs? Should drugs enter the country tax free? Should they be subsidized? (3) What should be done with addicts who continue, even when drugs are freely and legally available, to be vagrants or otherwise make a nuisance of themselves. Notes