(Drug) War Without End (Part 2)
Monday, March 16th, 2009
Or, Why I Predict the War On Drugs Will Not End in My Lifetime.
A few days ago in this space, I took up the issue of the “Drug War” as it’s currently being waged, and one of the solutions–namely, legalization–that’s been offered as a means to end it. While I think that there’s tremendous public benefit in solving the drug problem, I have reason–call it my cynical side tempering my idealism–to think that it won’t happen any time soon.
It’s not that the means don’t exist, or that they’re some kind of state secret. Tightening legal loopholes, making better use of existing laws, and going–for once–after the right targets all have the potential to radically alter not only the discussion of this problem, but also (more importantly) its ultimate solubility.
The present methods don’t work. There’s evidence enough on the news, and in any number of cities and suburbs. Multimillion dollar seizures of guns and dope, and the arrest of a handful of hapless small-time dealers make for magnificent theater. But at the end of the day, that theater is about as important–if as expensive and elaborately staged–as a Jerry Bruckheimer movie. The seizures that take place are more theraputic in nature than practical, allowing politicians and law enforcement to congratulate themselves on how wisely they’ve spent your money. They have not, in the meantime, stopped the flow of drugs, nor have they made our neighborhoods one iota safer. They’ve driven a black-market economy that much further underground, and driven prices just that much higher, with all the attendant mayhem. (more…)