Link to The Case for Drug Decriminalization Part 1
To many, the thought of decriminalizing or legalizing the vast majority of illegal drugs seems inherently ridiculous. My recent article, The Case for Drug Decriminalization, lists the innumerable predicaments within the system as it currently exists. Specifically stated, the issues were mainly the billions of taxpayer dollars spent towards a failed attempt to combat drug use. The mass incarceration rates that imprison hundreds of thousands of nonviolent drug offenders skyrocketed and included disproportionately targeted Black communities. The prohibition on narcotics isn't immoral for everyone. The Mexican Cartels make over 64 billion dollars from trafficking drugs into the United States and use that money to wage a bloody war against the Mexican Government. This war has killed over 164,000 civilians and counting. I currently seek to make the case for decriminalization and how the choice to lift many of the restrictions placed on narcotics would benefit the American people. Regardless of whether they personally used narcotics, as well as saving tens of thousands of lives annually.
An important distinction exists between decriminalization and legalization. Legalization would give drugs the same status as alcohol, citizens would be free to buy, possess and sell narcotics. Decriminalization means that possessing a relatively small amount of the substance, (for consumption, not distribution,) would no longer be punishable with a prosecution, but rather a small fine, no worse than a traffic violation. Decriminalizing a substance removes much of the stigma surrounding it, and gives users the opportunity to have an open and honest discussion about drug use, without fear of legal implications. Relaxing drug laws mean that the door is open to creating treatment centers, which could supervise injections, and provide clean needles to prevent the spread of HIV. Such centers could help to rehabilitate addicts into society, reintegrating addicts into society, helping to treat their addictions by prescribing decreasing amounts of the narcotic, similar to how smokers ease themselves off cigarettes. Instead of treating drug addicts as the enemy, we should treat them no differently than victims of alcoholism, striving to help them with treatment, not a jail cell.
The best way to stop the Cartels is to cut off their primary sources of income, narcotics trafficking. Simply legalizing marijuana would take billions of dollars out of the pockets of the cartels, and put it into the hands of small businesses, and by extension the government. With the legalization of cannabis, the Cartels would stand to lose over 30% of their revenue, legal alternatives forcing them out of the market, weakening their stranglehold on the narcotics trade. When the alcohol prohibition ended, the Mafia stopped bootlegging due to a lack of profit, why give money organized crime when you can go to a pub? As long as there is a demand, a market will adapt to meet it, and there will always be a demand for drugs.The only question is this; do we want the market that fills this demand to be ruthless drug Cartels, or small businesses, whose tax dollars can be put towards building roads, treatment centers hospitals, schools and other projects that benefit the American people, instead of organized crime.
America is a symbol of freedom, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In many respects, we are. Americans are free to express themselves in any way they see fit, whether it be through writing speaking or filming. Americans are free to drink themselves into an early grave, to smoke cigarettes, they are allowed to possess firearms. Their belief in whatever God they choose, or none at all, is without fear of government interference, a privilege that much of the world does not possess. In a land of freedom, why are its citizens imprisoned for smoking weed, but not cigarettes? Why are alcoholics offered sympathy and support, while drug addicts are looked down upon? The double standard around narcotics must be lifted if we are to uphold the freedoms that make America great.
