The New York Times Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Nicholas D. Kristof asks from his Facebook page if legalizing drugs makes any sense. Predictably he has received quite a few replies to his query most of them supporting legalization. This is a tired question that many answer without even thinking from a list of “known facts”. It will reduce crime and violence, save money, and we can begin to treat substance abuse as a health issue instead of a crime- yada, yada, yada. He probably would have gotten a lot fewer responses yet a lot better content if he had instead asked these supporters if they thought our society would handle the issues of legalization as well as we deal with the already legal and regulated alcohol in our country.
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Snark on. Since alcohol ceased to be related to violent crime with the end of prohibition (DUI fatalities are acceptable losses for a good time, just ask MADD), I’m sure some would suggest that crime and violence would plummet without the activity of drug related organized crime and cartels. Others might respond by pointing out how our boys in blue never have to deal with alcohol related incidents as proof positive we could save a bundle on law enforcement no longer needed to police illegal drugs. And when it comes to getting addicted to a legal substance, well just ask any alcoholic or prescription pill addict how they are currently embraced by a society eager to assist them with this serious health issue. Snark off.
Other issues of course include what drugs would be excluded in this legalization process, will the government approve meth sales? If not, doesn’t this mean that we still need the same resources for control, search, and seizure? And still add a government regulation infrastructure- ouch! Or how about just legalizing marijuana, surely that wouldn’t be a slippery slope except that even these supporters often get confused about what exactly would be legalized and John Q public hasn’t a clue. As they point to Amsterdam in awe ask them to take a closer look, maybe explain why almost half the smoke shops in Amsterdam been closed over the last 5 years?
If drug legalization begins to get serious consideration, then I would hope that serious journalists like Kristof put its supporters under a lot tougher scrutiny.
