Pubdate: Tue, 08 Feb 2005
Source: Collegiate Times (VA Tech,  Edu)
Copyright: 2005 Collegiate Times
Contact:  http://www.collegiatetimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/699
Author: Wayne Chiang

PROHIBITION IS A FLAWED ANALOGY FOR DRUG WAR

In Friday's "Drug war wastes needed resources" (CT, Feb. 4), the 
author equates the current war on drug trafficking to the era of 
Prohibition during the early 1900s. The argument entails that with 
the repeal of Prohibition, drug syndicate organizations dissolved, 
along with the terrible affliction of blindness/health effects caused 
by homemade brew.

However, this argument is flawed because it does not take into 
account the repercussions of repealing Prohibition. With alcohol use 
a socially accepted norm today in the United States, the risk and 
probability of driving under the influence has drastically increased. 
This fact is especially upheld by the statistic that 41 percent of 
traffic fatalities involve alcohol, according to Mothers Against 
Drunk Driving. In short, removing Prohibition does not create a 
utopia where alcohol use no longer poses a problem, even though it is 
government controlled.

However, in support of the author, a more structured argument in 
favor of stopping the drug war would rely on the futile attempts to 
win an impossible battle. Since the bulk of illicit drugs are 
internationally imported, winning this war would require the 
cooperation of dozens of other countries, which also assumes they 
share similar standards. An example of conflicting standards can be 
that in the United States, psilocybin is classified as a Schedule I 
controlled substance while in the United Kingdom the magic mushroom 
can be bought on the streets without government regulation.

Another approach on the drug war issue would attack the fundamental 
policies of government. Why should the government control what 
private citizens do in their respective private residences? Of course 
there are many approaches to addressing the drug war debate, but 
comparing it with the Prohibition period is a poorly structured argument.

Wayne Chiang

Junior, computer science