Pubdate: Tue, 27 Jun 2006
Source: Monitor, The (McAllen, TX)
Copyright: 2006 The Monitor
Contact:  http://www.themonitor.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1250
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

LOSING THE DRUG WAR

Decriminalization Would Be More Effective Than Drug Eradication

There is an old saying: "There are none so blind as those who will 
not see," which comes to mind when we see news reports about 
expanding the international drug war. Two stories from Colombia last 
week support that belief.

The first was a United Nations report that noted that despite 
record-setting eradication measures in 2005, the country's coca 
production increased 8 percent. A day later, Colombian Interior 
Minister Sabas Pretelt said that despite the U.N. report, the aerial 
spraying campaign is working and should be stepped up.

Aerial spraying to kill coca crops is the cornerstone of the drug war 
in Colombia, the largest producer of cocaine used in the United 
States. It allows the Colombian drug warriors, with U.S. support, to 
reach remote jungle areas. The program is a joint effort between 
Colombia and the United States and is part of Plan Colombia, a drug 
interdiction program that has cost U.S. taxpayers $4 billion since 2000.

A report from the Office of National Drug Control Policy in April 
also found that the area under coca cultivation had grown, despite 
the spraying. So here we have two reports in recent months clearly 
showing that what we're doing in Colombia isn't working, and 
Pretelt's plan is to throw even more of our money at the problem?

Actually, the main problem isn't that the aerial eradication program 
isn't successful. It's that the drug war itself is failing. Born of 
the flawed idea that if drug users have trouble obtaining drugs, 
they'll stop using, the drug war has been going on for decades with 
little success. That's not to say federal and local law enforcement 
officials haven't done their jobs. Hardly a week goes by, it seems, 
that the media don't report a large bust somewhere in which thousands 
of dollars of drugs are confiscated. For every pound of illegal drugs 
they stop, however, you can be sure that many more get through to 
U.S. users. If they weren't, the price would be much higher than it 
is. The police are doing what they're supposed to, but they're 
fighting a losing battle because the drug war ignores economics and 
common sense.

Making a substance illegal doesn't make it go away; it merely 
increases the price. Higher prices mean more profits. Suppliers risk 
jail and violence to get those profits. Those risks demand even 
higher prices and profits to make supplying drugs worthwhile.

If officials are serious about lowering the rates of crime and drug 
use, they should curtail their efforts to keep consumers from getting 
what they want.

Decriminalization of drugs would remove the risk suppliers now face, 
which would lower prices. That would, in turn, lead to a decrease in 
robberies and burglaries because users would not need as much money 
to buy their drugs. That's not to say such crimes would disappear; 
they've always been with us because not all crimes are a result of drug use.

The easy availability of illegal drugs in the United States is proof 
the drug war isn't working, despite the billions we spend on it every 
year. That's a pretty high price tag for a policy that's not working.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman