The War on Drugs A Critical Analysis A Introduction Of all tyrannies a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims maybe the most oppressive those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience C S Lewis Most of the harm in the world is done by good people and not by accident lapse or omission It is the result of their deliberate actions long persevered in which they hold to be motivated by high ideals towards virtuous ends Isabel Paterson This is not a war on drugs this is a war on people our people Jack Cole Retired undercover Narcotics officer founder of LEAP Whether drugs lead to illumination or degradation depends on the spirit in which one takes them George Andrews A drug is not bad A drug is a chemical compound The problem comes when people who take drugs treat them like a license to behave like an Frank Zappa I ve never had a problem with drugs I ve had a problem with police Keith Richards Casual drug users should be taken out and shot Daryl Gates Former Los Angeles Chief of Police Drug misuse is not a disease it is a decision like the decision to step out in front of a moving car You would not call that a disease but an error in judgment 1 Phillip K Dick Vices are their own punishment Aesop Cocaine habit forming Of course not I ought to know I ve been using it for years Tallulah Bankhead Marijuana never kicks down your door in the middle of the night Marijuana never locks up sick and dying people does not suppress medical research and does not peek in bedroom windows Even if you take every reefer madness allegation of the prohibitionists at face value marijuana prohibition has done far more harm than marijuana ever could P J O Rourke You smoke a joint and you re likely to kill your brother Harry J Anslinger Early Drug Warrior B The Pros Cons of Recreational Drug Use Recreational drug use depending on the specific drug dosage etc has been associated with impaired cognitive processes altered perception impaired memory poor judgment impaired motor control and reduced reaction times Likewise it has been sometimes related to impulsive reckless irresponsible antisocial or violent behavioral tendencies Many drugs are psychologically habit forming or physically addictive And many are potentially toxic or have serious side effects Not surprisingly drug use abuse and addiction have been found to be associated with a wide range of social problem including Premature death Assorted serious or chronic health problems including overdoses Assorted serious or chronic mental health problems including depression suicide attempts increased risk of mental illness etc 2 Increased accidents and related deaths injuries and damage etc Linkages to crime violence victimization etc According to the 2004 survey of inmates in state and federal correctional facilities about 1 4 of those incarcerated for violent crime and about 40 of those imprisoned for property crime acted while high on drugs Only about 17 reported committing crime to obtain drug money Assorted family related problems i e divorce spousal abuse child abuse or neglect etc Increased risks of unwanted pregnancy STD infections etc especially among younger users Assorted educational problems i e dropouts poor grades etc Assorted work related problems i e unemployment missed work lost productivity etc Increasing homelessness vagrancy and related problems Increased risk of poverty increased welfare expenses etc Community breakdown or collapse While illegal drugs use clearly results in harm to many individuals communities and the larger society there are reasons to believe that prohibitionists tend to exaggerate the causal linkage between illegal drug use per se and various drug related social problems or over hype the social harms caused by illegal usage Self selection spuriousness Just because illegal drug use and some social problems are correlated doesn t prove mean it causes them this is especially important here because illegal drug use involves strong self selection Drug use itself may be caused by other social problems For instance people with mental health problems sometimes use illegal drugs to self medicate More generally troubled people or troublemakers may actively seek out drugs Never forget illegal drug use involves self selection Many problems associated with illegal drug use may be caused by prohibition itself We need to be careful in sorting out the bad effects of drug use versus those of drug prohibition The causal chain involving drug use intoxication bad behavior and actual harm is very complex and involves numerous variables It is often unclear what if any causal roles drugs played in particular cases Just because someone tests positive for drugs following an arrest or a traffic 3 accident doesn t always mean they were stoned at the time Likewise just because drugs are mentioned in an emergency room report doesn t mean that drugs caused the health problem Identifying which cases actually result from drug use is tricky and common methods for classifying such cases often appear to give inflated estimates A minority of drug users especially heavy users chronic abusers and addicts appears to badly skew the statistical relationships between drugs and other problems These statistical outliers give the false impression that just using illegal drugs strongly predisposes users to harm themselves or others when in fact most users are at moderately low risk of doing so Drug related negative externalities imposed widely on the general public may be much lower than commonly assumed With the exception of predatory crime most of the social costs of illegal drug use appear to be borne primarily by drug users and those closely associated with them especially family and friends Random strangers are typically at much lower risk of harm This is clearly so for things like drug overdoses although some costs are imposed on taxpayers Of course innocent strangers are hurt or killed by reckless drug users But even in the worst cases like drunk driving innocent strangers are not the most likely victims In 2006 80 of auto related fatalities involving alcohol impairment were the drunk drivers themselves their passengers and or and drunk pedestrians Similar points can be made regarding victims of alcohol related violence While we know somewhat less about the negative externalities associated with illegal drugs it seems quite likely that the same general point applies
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