Has the “drug war” been a success and should we continue it? You decide…
The pernicious, hidden effects of drug criminalisation:
- erodes the privacy boundary, thence respect for public space
- criminalises pursuit of fun and millions of otherwise law abiding citizens, eroding respect for the law
- excuses the creation of a police state, wire tapping (87% of 2012 wire taps in USA) and racial profiling
- criminalises poverty and misery
- feeds the industrial prison business
- promotes moralism as if it were a virtue
- draws arbitrary distinctions between substances that harms the reputation of the law
The obvious effects:
- increases criminal opportunity for theft, violence and smuggling
- sends money to criminal gangs, enabling other more serious crimes
- reduces access to rehabilitation and education
- increases corruption
- destabilises producing countries
- lost government revenues
- increases danger due to lack of quality controls
- enables the introduction of untested, dangerous new substances
And that’s before even mentioning:
- wastes police and prison resources
- crowds the judicial system with non-violent, otherwise civil citizens
- no correlation between amount of resources spent on the ‘drug war’ and the rate of drug use
UK LIFE 