Pubdate: Mon, 29 Mar 2010
Source: Daily Tar Heel, The (U of NC, Edu)
Copyright: 2010 DTH Publishing Corp
Contact:  http://www.dailytarheel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1949
Author: Tom VanAntwerp, Guest Columnist

THE BUSINESS OF ILLEGAL DRUGS

Some people might have been shocked in September when several UNC
students were arrested for selling cocaine. And, if the charges prove
true, they probably weren't making the best career choice in the
world. I wouldn't be too surprised. After all, illegal drugs are big
business. In 2003, the United Nations estimated that the global
illegal drug trade was worth nearly $322 billion. Cannabis is
America's top cash crop, with a market value greater than corn and
wheat combined. In a survey of more than 1,700 UNC students I
conducted through Facebook, cannabis use was consistently more common
than tobacco use.

Laws prohibiting recreational drugs haven't eradicated demand, as is
obvious from the size of the market. Unlike the markets for office
chairs, television sets or dish towels, the drug market is strongly
linked to violence. But, contrary to drug warriors' claims that drug
use is the primary cause of such violence, it's the drug war itself
that's largely to blame. Most businesses operate within the scope of
the law. Laws create rules for securing property rights, enforcing
contracts and guaranteeing peaceful transactions.

But prohibition forces the drug business far outside of any legal
framework. Without courts to settle disputes or police to protect
ownership, drug dealers must resort to enforcing their own rights
through violence. Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron, after analyzing
U.S. murder rates and anti-drug enforcement, found that the murder
rate is 25 percent to 75 percent higher than would be the case without
prohibition. Faced with direct government antagonism, it should be no
surprise that drug dealers reach for a gun rather than dial 911.

Prohibition - regardless of the substance - enriches violent killers.
Al Capone's vicious criminal enterprises were fueled in large part by
illegal liquor sales. The ruthless Pablo Escobar became one of the
richest men alive by exporting Colombian cocaine and killing anyone
who stood in his way. In Afghanistan, some provinces had completely
eradicated poppy production. Now, as the Taliban struggles to fund its
insurgency, it accounts for more than 90 percent of the world's opium
trade. And near our southern border, crackdowns on the sale of
marijuana have led to 18,000 deaths in Mexico since 2006, according to
the BBC.

Pablo Escobar's policy was "silver or lead," meaning you either were
on his payroll or a target for assassination.

But his maxim works just as well to describe the outcomes of
legalization versus criminalization. Drugs could be legalized,
allowing legitimate and peaceful businesses, like Amsterdam coffee
shops or California dispensaries, to take the place of violent
criminals and terrorists. Public health could also improve; Portugal
legalized drugs in 2001 and has seen declining drug use and more
treatment for addicts, according to Time magazine. But if governments
continue their policies of prohibition, would-be businessmen will be
crowded out by deadly thugs.

Rather than spend money on treatment of serious drug addictions, we'll
waste it on enforcement that only encourages dealer ruthlessness. We
need to choose which world we prefer: the "silver" world of commerce,
or the "lead" of an endless war.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake