End The Quagmire

The "War on Drugs" has killed more Americans than Vietnam. There is evidence that it kills more people every year in the United States than have died in Iraq in three years - or than died on 9/11. Every year.

Most of those deaths come from the violence between dealers and gangs protecting their markets, from dealers killing customers and other dealers, and from addicts who resort to violence to get money to feed their habits.

The "War on Drugs" has sapped more of our civil liberties than any other episode in recent history; the groundwork for easy wiretaps, no-knock warrants, property forfeiture laws and the erosion of the Fourth Amendment was laid during the crack hysteria of the '90s.

As Steve Chapman notes, it doesn't have to be that way:

As it happens, no fewer than 11 states on this side of the border have made the decision not to bother filling their prisons with recreational potheads. Among them are not only states like California and Oregon, which you might expect, but states like North Carolina and Mississippi, which you might not. About 100 million Americans live in places where pot has been decriminalized.

Maybe there are planeloads of college kids who travel to Maine or Minnesota to spend each spring break hitting a bong, but if so, it's a well-kept secret. In fact, the most noticeable thing about states that have decriminalized marijuana is that they're not -- noticeable, that is.

Looking at these places, says University of Maryland economist Peter Reuter, "You can't tell the difference from how many people use marijuana." A 1999 report commissioned by the National Academy of Sciences found "there is little evidence that decriminalization of marijuana use necessarily leads to a substantial increase in marijuana use."

Not everyone is in complete agreement. Rosalie Pacula, codirector of the Drug Policy Research Center at the RAND Corp., a California think tank, says her research indicates decriminalization does tend to lead to higher use. But by her measures, the effect is small.

Why isn't the media asking questions about this?

Posted by Mitch at May 22, 2006 07:05 AM | TrackBack