{"id":2456,"date":"2010-09-13T15:44:25","date_gmt":"2010-09-13T19:44:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nicholsclan.com\/tinblog\/?p=2456"},"modified":"2010-11-24T09:45:18","modified_gmt":"2010-11-24T14:45:18","slug":"prop-19-the-war-on-drugs-and-why-war-is-a-dangerous-word","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timscogitorium.com\/tinblog\/2010\/09\/prop-19-the-war-on-drugs-and-why-war-is-a-dangerous-word.html","title":{"rendered":"Prop 19, the war on drugs, and why war is a dangerous word"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo by Chmee2 on Wikimedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

California is taking the plunge in November and putting up Prop 19 for a vote<\/a>.\u00a0 If enacted, the proposition will legalize various marijuana-related activities, allow local governments to regulate these activities, and permit them to impose and collect marijuana-related fees and taxes.\u00a0 It is estimated to save tens of millions per year just by not paying to imprison marijuana users.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, nine former administrators of the Drug Enforcement Administration have come out strongly against Prop 19<\/a>.\u00a0 They are joined by many politicians and law enforcement officials who warn of rampant increases in drug use, job and school safety related issues, highway fatalities, and an overall breakdown of law and order.<\/p>\n

But is there evidence for all that concern, or is it simply scaremongering?\u00a0 Portugal would seem to provide a pretty good data point<\/a>.\u00a0 After all, in 2001 they legalized the use of all drugs.\u00a0 Note, they didn’t legalize the sale, cops still went after dealers, but users were instead brought before a “Dissuasion Commission.”\u00a0 The commission would determine if the users should be treated for their habit, fined a small amount, or let go.\u00a0 But drug use was no longer a criminal offense.\u00a0 The result turned out to be dramatic decreases in drug related deaths and AIDS transmission by needle sharing.\u00a0 And perhaps most importantly, Portugal has not seen a rise in drug use, nor have they become a vacation destination for drug users.\u00a0 Spain and Italy have introduced similar decriminalization laws, and have seen similar results.<\/p>\n

Place after place and study after study<\/a> show that criminalizing drug use is expensive and ineffective.\u00a0 But the War on Drugs continues unabated.\u00a0 Curiously, it’s one of the few things getting bipartisan support these days.\u00a0 Note that no one is advocating for drug-a-palooza.\u00a0 No one is saying drugs aren’t a problem.\u00a0 What is being said is there are better ways of handling the situation.\u00a0 But those options are off the table.<\/p>\n

The reason is because we have declared “war” on drugs.\u00a0 Wars must be won.\u00a0 The enemy must be crushed.\u00a0 Yet this is not a reasonable end-goal for the drug problem.\u00a0 Drug use is part of the human condition.\u00a0 As long as people are here, drugs will be… one way or another.\u00a0 You can’t defeat drugs any more than you can defeat prostitution, or frankly terrorism.\u00a0 The best option is to cost effectively contain it.\u00a0 Strive to minimize it, limit its impact on the rest of society, but recognize that no amount of might is going to stamp it out completely.<\/p>\n

Positioning the drug problem as a war prevents thinking about the problem in constructive ways.\u00a0 Further, a whole generation of cops and politicians have spent their whole careers fighting this war.\u00a0 To stop now feels like a loss to them.\u00a0 There is an understandable feeling their professional adult lives have been wasted.\u00a0 This means that any change away from the war strategy will be met with resistance from those now fighting the war.<\/p>\n

The word “war” has a specific connotation and should be used sparingly.\u00a0 It should be used only when there is a specific identifiable enemy, and there is a reasonable scenario under which the enemy is vanquished.\u00a0 Otherwise, we’re just asking for trouble.\u00a0 It’s clear why politicians love to declare war on things.\u00a0 It’s easy to get people swept up in the emotion of marching off to crush a foe.\u00a0 But that backfires when it creates an expectation of an unachievable outcome, and then we’re hopelessly mired in the war mindset.<\/p>\n

If California opts for Prop 19, I hope the rest of the country at least has the decency to sit back and observe the experiment they will have undertaken.\u00a0 And then be open-minded enough to learn the lessons it will doubtless teach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

California is taking the plunge in November and putting up Prop 19 for a vote.\u00a0 If enacted, the proposition will<\/p>\n

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