Special Issue: The War On Drugs: Why Are We Losing The Fight?

Though the war on drugs is a centuries old war originating sometime in the 18th century, it still continues to this date. The illicit drug trade is a threat to international peace, not only destabilizing many countries in the developing world, but fueling drug related crimes in much of the developed world as well. Many drug cartels, rebel militias, and terrorist organization exploit the illicit drug trade in order to buy weapons and gain more power. As a result, in some areas, these militias have become so powerful that they are able to control vast amounts of territory.

The problem is in the current solution.

The latest United Nations Drug Report estimated the illicit drug market to be roughly 320 billion dollars.[1] Adding to this magnitude, tens of thousands of people are incarcerated each year for drug related offenses, thousands of people die from drug related crimes (i.e. robbery), and hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes in order to escape the havoc wreaked by drug cartels globally. On the other hand, roughly 100 billion dollars is spent per year internationally on the so called ‘war on drugs’.[2] Despite international effort, this industry remains extremely lucrative at roughly 320 billion dollars, and in terms of progress, the war on drugs has been severely and expensively unsuccessful.

Socially, people who are addicted to drugs must live in constant fear of persecution. This is terrible. Addiction is an ailment that must be treated, those who are forced to live in the shadows of society are not seeking treatment, but rather living in constant fear of being incarcerated for their problems. The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, echoed this need to reshape the way we view addicts in his speech at the UN head-quarters during the world drug report in 2011.[3] Furthermore, addicts often commit various crimes such as robbery or prostitution in order to afford many of these drugs, such as cocaine and heroin, which have become so expensive. This illustrates the urgency to draw out these individuals and give them the treatment they need rather than persecuting them and pushing them to the margins of society. Moreover, drug cartels and drug dealers have shown what lengths they are willing to go to in order to ensure the success of their affairs. Gang wars, drug related homicides, and general terror are some of the many costs of the illicit drug trade.

Economically, the war on drugs is a waste of 100 billion dollars per year. The problem is, because the illicit drug trade remains so lucrative, for every drug dealer the government takes off the street, another dealer is created. For every drug cartel the government shuts down, two more spring up the next day. The industry is so lucrative that many individuals would prefer to risk getting caught in order to make such large profits. This is a never ending cycle that burns 100 billion dollars every year.

Illicit drugs such as cocaine, heroin, meth, ecstasy and all other prohibited substances must remain criminalized. To allow these drugs onto the streets would be the acceptance of the decay of our society’s moral fabric. However, the solution to this issue is much simpler than one would imagine. The government must provide illicit drugs to addicts with certain mandatory conditions for the use of these drugs. The first condition is that the drugs will be free of charge. This will virtually eradicate the effects of forcing addicts into the margins of society. The crimes that are committed by addicts in order to secure funds for drugs will all but cease to exist as there will no longer be a need to resort to these tactics. Moreover, these drugs will be cleaner than the drugs sold on the street, and users will not have to fear whether their drugs have been laced with toxic chemicals. The second condition is that the drugs would be consumed within a designated government institution. This is essential to ensure that the drugs are being consumed in a secure location and thus cannot be re-sold on the streets. Not only will this provide a safe medium for the consumption of these drugs, it will also allow authorities to monitor drug users, and in turn, lower the amount of tragic overdose. The final condition for the users of these drugs would require them to undergo government sponsored therapy so as to help alleviate the addiction. Appointments should scheduled any time during the week, and failure to attend meetings would mean withholding treatment drugs from the participant. If they want the help, they must follow the process.

One can argue that this solution would have powerful effects on society. For one, it would remove the stigmatization of drugs addicts. It would allow drug addicts to receive the help they need rather than feeling like they must live in the shadows, committing crimes to support their habits. This solution would also lower drug related deaths due to overdose and drugs crimes. However, one of the most important effects of this solution is that it would undoubtedly put many drug producers and dealers completely out of business, and thus winning the ‘war on drugs’.

Why is this?

Drugs are so valuable because a black market exists for them. Due to the fact that the government has made them illegal and has not provided them in a controlled fashion, the price for these drugs increases exponentially because there are no alternatives. This is a simple concept in economics-market supply- if the government provided clean drugs to addicts, dealers would lose a majority of their clients. As a result, this illicit trade would become less profitable (with fewer sales), and many drug dealers would go out of business. Nobody would be buying their products and the risk of being caught would no longer exceed their profit expectations. In the end, drug cartels would lose massive amounts of money because addicts are no longer buying their drugs since the government now produces them free of charge and distributes them in a controlled setting.

How much would this policy cost the general public? A lot less than 100 billion dollars. If subsistence farmers living in extreme poverty can produce these drugs at dirt cheap prices in the developing world, there is no reason that the production of these drugs, with all of the advancements of modern societies should cost even remotely close to 100 billion. Last year, the United States spent roughly 40 billion dollars on the war on drugs. If this money was reinvested in the form of the policies discussed above, the United states would save billions of dollars each year, not to mention the fact that crime levels would decrease, thus making their society safer.

Instead of empowering drug lords, which is the effect of the current policy, this solution would put them out of business. This would take the power out of the hands of criminals waging wars across the developing world, and would eliminate the thousands of drug related crimes in the developed world. Instead of fighting the criminals, we need to outsmart them.

 

[1] //www.unodc.org/pdf/WDR_2005/volume_1_web.pdf

[2] //www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/alternative-drug-report-20120626.pdf

[3] //www.unric.org/en/drugs/27033-un-secretary-general-drug-addiction-a-disease-not-a-crime

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