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How to End the Violence: Legalize Drugs

THE WAR ON DRUGS. How to End the Violence: Legalize Drugs. By Heidi Schweizer March 27, 2009. Current Relevancy. Mexico’s drug related violence has killed more than 9,000 people since December 2006.

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How to End the Violence: Legalize Drugs

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  1. THE WAR ON DRUGS How to End the Violence:Legalize Drugs By Heidi Schweizer March 27, 2009

  2. Current Relevancy Mexico’s drug related violence has killed more than 9,000 people since December 2006. Medical Marijuana is legal some states, like California, but is illegal on the federal level. Many public officials have used illegal substances. Everybody’s doing it…(just kidding).

  3. Users

  4. Common Myths • If drugs are legalized, more people will do drugs False: “There is no correlation between the harshness of drug laws and the incidence of drug taking” (The Economist). • All drugs are bad. False: Many drugs, especially marijuana, have medical uses.

  5. What we can learn from Prohibition • Prohibition led to binge drinking • Prohibition Increased the consumption of hard liquor. • While total alcohol consumption declined, the number of alcoholics increased. • Thousands of people were blinded, paralyzed, or killed as a result of drinking contaminated bootleg alcohol. • The price did not rise as much as we would expect • Prohibition led to the rise of organized crime

  6. The Social Cost of the War on Drugs: Law Enforcement • The U.S. alone spends around $40 billion a year to for law enforcement against the war on drugs. • Examples: • DEA • FBI • Border Patrol • Local Enforcement Agencies • Aid money to Columbia and the Dominican Republic etc. • Yet, as we have spent increasingly more money, drug use has continued at the same rate.

  7. The Social Cost of the War on Drugs: Prison and Discrimination • The U.S. arrests 1.5 million people a year for drug related charges. • About 1/3 of those arrested go to jail. • Prisoners cost about $30,000 dollars a year each. • African Americans and Hispanics are disproportionately represented in prison populations.

  8. The Social Cost of the War on Drugs: Violence • Citizens cannot use the court system to settle drug related disputes. • Drug enforcement “crowds out” enforcement in other sectors, for example the enforcement of property rights. • Law officers cause violence through enforcement. • The criminalization of drugs leads to network of organized criminals. • Triads • Yakuza • La Eme • Mafia.

  9. The Social Cost of the War on Drugs: Violations of Rights You do not own your body. Both federal and state enforcement agencies can seize your money, house, cars, etc. simply on suspicion of drug crimes.

  10. A Sum of the Costs of the Drug War • Government bureaucratic and law enforcement costs • Overcrowded prisons at $30,000 per prisoner • Racial tension and discrimination

  11. A Sum of the Costs of the Drug War • Organized crime • Increased Violence • Increased homicide • Violation of liberty • Violation of property rights

  12. The Benefits of Legalization Less Violence Less crime Less organized crime Less spending on law enforcement More accurate information More reliable quality More options available to doctors

  13. Helping the Sick: Medicinal Marijuana • Medicinal marijuana could help people with: • Nausea • Pain • Muscle Spasms • Glaucoma • Epilepsy • Multiple Sclerosis • AIDS • Migraines • The American College of Physicians (ACP) endorses lifting regulations on the medicinal use of marijuana.

  14. Negative Externalities Example1: People who drive while influenced could hurt others. We could reallocate the resources spent on pursuing drug users and supplier to preventing DWIs. Example 2: Drugs harm fetuses. A lack of the availability of clean needles also causes babies to be born with HIV. Example 3: It would burden the healthcare system. Possibly true, but if drugs shorten the lifespan of people, we could end up spending less than we would have on Social Security and Medicare. A commonly proposed method of internalizing the negative externalities of drug abuse is to issue a pigouvian tax.

  15. What about morality? MORALLY, PROHIBITION IS THE WORST CHOICE FOR ADDRESSING DRUG ABUSE. Prohibition causes violence. Prohibition allows criminals to get rich. Prohibition increases the number of children born HIV infected. Prohibition prevents patients, many of whom are terminally ill, from lessening their suffering.

  16. Suggested Readings The United Nations 2008 World Drug Report Drug War Crimes: The Consequences of Prohibition by Jeffrey A. Miron Organized Crime by Paul Lunde

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