I don't see legalizing drugs willy-nilly, but perhaps there is a way to destroy the black market by prescription and regulation. Have the government dole out permits that have to be applied for in person, tied to ID, with a time and amount limit, and redeemed at a legal outlet. Make the users accountable for the after-effects and not bail them out of it in any way. Or something. I don't know, just speculating.
Certainly marijuana should be converted to medicinal use by prescription.
I am not a proponent of outright legalization, either -- except for marijuana, which is a "dangerous drug" only by virtue of its being illegal. It isn't even mildly addictive, has no long-term negative side effects, and its illegal status creates an entire range of problems.
OTOH, Rx drugs like Oxycontin are "legal" by prescription and have created the biggest addiction epidemic the country has ever seen.
Unfortunately, we can do nothing about any of these problems until Republicans and Democrats get off dead center on the idiocy of the current mess. We spend, by some estimates, $100B/year on the so-called drug war, chasing down & trying to interdict suspects, trying them, and incarcerating them. The corrupting influence of this policy is insane. We have law enforcement agencies fighting over the money, the courts routinely expanding law enforcement's ability to ignore fundamental constitutional rights, and agencies literally fighting over the seizure money.
Meanwhile, deaths from black marketers killing each other and innocents over turf is at an all time high.
All the while, idiots like William Bennett claiming the war on drugs to be a success. |
