Pubdate: Thu, 27 Mar 2003
Source: Daily Targum (NJ Edu)
Copyright: 2003 Daily Targum
Contact:  http://www.dailytargum.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/715
Author: Michael Roberts

LECTURER SPEAKS ON AMERICAN DRUG POLICY

University Philosophy Professor Douglas Husak attended Tuesday's Philosophy 
Club meeting to speak about American drug policy.

Husak opened the lecture with a statistic. Approximately 130,000 people in 
the United States are currently serving jail time for drug related crimes. 
This number is on the rise despite legislation limiting the possession of 
specific drugs, he said. One can conclude that, Husak said, "Laws are 
counterproductive and ineffective."

According to Husak, if a drug were decriminalized, possession of the drug 
would bear no penalty. Husak said he feels that the government has been 
unable to supply a legitimate reason for the criminalization of drugs and 
therefore they should be decriminalized.

Possible reasons that drugs remain illegal include the health and safety of 
children, the health of the general welfare, the correlation between drugs 
and antisocial behavior segueing into crime, and morality issues, Husak said.

Husak attempted to refute each of these reasons. "Marijuana, the most 
popularly used illicit drug, has never been proven to have long term side 
effects."

Drugs do not cause people to commit crimes, Husak said. If the country 
would legalize and regulate drugs then prices should drop considerably, he 
said, and the lower price would ensure that no person would kill or steal 
in order to satisfy a physical addiction. Husak also suggested that the 
American penal system is racist toward arresting minority drug violators.

"Eighty to 90 million people have admitted to using an illicit drug for 
recreational purposes in this country," Husak said. Since the government 
cannot possibly arrest everybody, only some of the violators will get 
arrested. On average Caucasian people use just as many drugs as Hispanics 
and blacks do, said Husak, but the minority races are much more likely to 
be arrested, convicted and receive harsher penalties, he said.

At one point, someone asked if purchasing illegal drugs was unpatriotic. 
Husak explained that local demand would not have to support foreign 
imported drugs if the country could legally produce a domestic supply. In 
an attempt to illustrate the possibilities of a domestic supply Husak said 
that, "50 percent of all marijuana used by Americans is domestically grown."

Lasting over an hour and an half, the forum was a "source of inspiration 
and knowledge," said John van Schaick, a Rutgers College first-year student.

"We need more discussion like this one in order for people to learn the 
truth about drugs and their consequences," van Schaick said.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens