CJ 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Wage War, Drug Liberalization, Prohibition Of Drugs
Should Drugs Be Legalized?
Policymakers in the United States have chosen to define drug abuse as a legal problem rather
than a public‐health problem. This choice puts the criminal justice system at the center of a
massive war on drugs. The drug war is an expanding enterprise with deep roots in the political
and social fabric of the U.S. society. It is an effort that involves law enforcement, courts,
corrections, education, health care, and a multitude of political groups. Started by the Reagan
administration and expanded by the Bush and Clinton administrations, the drug war depicts the
U.S. as fighting a deadly enemy. The term drug war refers to a situation created when the
government puts its power behind the drug laws, zealously enforces them, and imprisons large
numbers of drug offenders as if they were enemies in a real war.
The main solutions to the drug problem focus on supply and demand. Supply side ‐
solutions include initiatives aimed at pressuring drug producing countries to halt the ‐
exporting of illegal drugs, intercepting drugs before smugglers can get them across
American borders, passing tougher drug laws, cracking down on drug dealers, and
sentencing drug manufacturers and dealers to long prison terms. Demand side ‐
solutions include drug education and drug treatment. A more radical approach
suggests legalization (in other words, removal of drug offense from criminal codes) as
the only viable solution.
Drugs should be legalized
There are numerous arguments for drug legalization.
1. Criminal prohibition of drugs has not eliminated or substantially reduced drug
use.
2. The drug war has cost society more than drug abuse itself. Costs include the $16
billion the federal government alone spent to fight drugs in 1998. Of this $16
billion, $10.5 billion pays for measures to reduce the supply of drugs. Most of
these measures involve law enforcement efforts to interdict or intercept drug
supplies at the borders. Costs also include corruption, damage to poor and
minority neighborhoods, a world wide black market in illegal drugs, the ‐
enrichment of criminal organizations through their involvement in the drug trade,
and an increase in predatory crimes, such as robberies and burglaries,
committed by drug addicts who are enslaved to drugs.
3. Most illegal drugs are no more harmful than legal substances, such as cigarettes
and alcohol, and therefore, drugs should be treated the same as these other
substances.
4. Legalization would free up billions of dollars that the government now spends on
police, courts, and corrections to wage war on drugs and would produce
significant tax revenues. The money saved could then be spent on drug
education, drug treatment, and law enforcement initiatives directed at more
serious crimes.
5. Drug prohibition infringes on civil liberties. The U.S. Supreme Court has decided
that because drugs are such a horrible thing, it is okay to bend the Fourth
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Document Summary
Policymakers in the united states have chosen to define drug abuse as a legal problem rather than a public health problem. This choice puts the criminal justice system at the center of a massive war on drugs. The drug war is an expanding enterprise with deep roots in the political and social fabric of the u. s. society. It is an effort that involves law enforcement, courts, corrections, education, health care, and a multitude of political groups. Started by the reagan administration and expanded by the bush and clinton administrations, the drug war depicts the. The term drug war refers to a situation created when the government puts its power behind the drug laws, zealously enforces them, and imprisons large numbers of drug offenders as if they were enemies in a real war. The main solutions to the drug problem focus on supply and demand.
