Pubdate: Mon, 27 Jan 2014
Source: McGill Daily, The (CN QU Edu)
Copyright: 2014 The McGill Daily
Contact:  http://www.mcgilldaily.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2638
Author: Davide Mastracci

THE WAR THAT CAN'T BE WON

The Political And Economic Depravity Of The War On
Drugs

Every war effort is sustained by propaganda. The war on drugs is no
exception. The propaganda that motivates the war on drugs, especially
in the U.S., rests on the idea that illegal drugs are unhealthy, and
that therefore people must be prevented from using them. The influence
of this conception of health in relation to drugs manifests in their
prohibition, state attempts to deter people from violating the
prohibition, and punishments given to those who violate the
prohibition. Yet despite the idea's popularity, it has led to a
disastrous war on drugs that targets the wrong enemy with faulty weapons.

Each component of the strategy against drugs (prohibition, deterrence,
punishment) has led to disastrous consequences. The prohibition of a
wide range of drugs is the most well-funded manifestation of the idea
that people must be prevented from using drugs. For example, the U.S.
has spent at least $1 trillion over the last 40 years in an attempt to
destroy the supply of drugs that millions of their citizens demand.
This effort has failed, as the U.S. leads the world in drug use, with
an increasing rate of illegal consumption.

The next step in most states' anti-drug strategy is deterrence. Since
state efforts to destroy drugs have been tremendous failures, states
should determine that they need to attempt to convince their citizens
not to experiment. Providing accurate information regarding the
negative effects of drugs is extremely important, yet most information
the government relies upon grossly exaggerates the negative effects of
drugs in an attempt to make the deterrent factor more effective. This
is prevalent in numerous examples of television anti-drug campaigns
and the scientific studies they rely upon, such as one by Dr. George
Ricaurte, published in 2002, which claimed that one hit of MDMA could
cause Parkinson's or death in primates. The study was retracted
shortly after publication as it turned out the scientists had used
extremely high doses of methamphetamine in their tests instead of
MDMA. Despite this, Congress members quoted the study extensively,
leading Marsha Rosenbaum, directo! r of the Safety First Project of
the Drug Policy Alliance, to claim that "[this] study looks like
high-class 'Reefer Madness.' The government's trying to scare the kids
out of experimentation and into abstinence, and it just doesn't work."

Finally, the state drafts and enforces punishments for those who
decide to do drugs regardless of all the deterrent efforts. These
punishments are deeply flawed in three ways. Primarily, the logical
basis of these punishments is that taking a substance that only harms
you means you deserve to be punished so that you will stop doing said
substance. These laws impede on an individual's agency but are also
tremendously ineffective at aiding individuals who may have addictions
as a result of their drug use.

Additionally, these punishments disproportionately affect the most
marginalized within society in numerous ways. For example, black
people make up 13 per cent of the U.S. population, but 56 per cent of
those incarcerated for drug-related crimes (and this has nothing to do
with drug usage rates, as white people are more likely to use drugs
and develop addictions than black people, according to a 2011 study
from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.)

These ineffective and racist punishments also create a costly cycle
that does nothing to stop the drug problem, but only adds to the
prison problem. From 1973 (three years after the agreed-upon start of
the "War on Drugs" in the U.S.) to 2009, the prison population has
grown by 705 per cent. These typically unjust prison sentences are
funded by tax payer dollars and have destroyed families and
communities from the inside out.

Essentially, the policies that have emerged from the notion that
people must be prevented from doing drugs are clearly ineffective. So,
despite all of the 'tough on drugs for your benefit' rhetoric, it is
astonishingly clear that drug-prohibiting states do not actually care
about their citizens' health as it pertains to drug use. If they did,
they would drastically alter their anti-drug strategy instead of
spending more money on the same things to get worse results. Future
drug policies should start from a refined conception of health in
relation to drugs which seeks to ensure that people purchase and use
drugs in the safest way possible, instead of banning them from doing
so. This conception would treat citizens like autonomous adults
instead of like children who are told what to do. This means that
current policies regarding prohibition, deterrence, and punishment
must be turned on their head.

Rather than prohibiting drugs, drugs should be legalized and
distributed by the state to ensure that drugs are not dangerously
laced; this would simultaneously destroy the income source criminal
networks rely upon. Then, rather than harshly punishing those who use
drugs, the state should offer rehabilitation and support to those who
desire it. This has been the model in Portugal since all drugs were
decriminalized in 2001, and it has resulted in reduced drug use and
reduced rates of addiction to hard drugs, which have dropped by 50 per
cent. Finally, rather than seeking to use exaggerated health effects
to scare people away from using drugs, states should properly fund
areas where people can learn how to use drugs safely. For example,
safe injection sites in Vancouver have aided local drug users
tremendously, as there have been no deaths on the site even though
over 2 million people have used it in the last ten years.

While these examples are steps forward, it will take much more than a
few minor reforms in a broken drug system to solve the ever-expanding
problem. The way drugs are dealt with in society needs to be
revolutionized. This must begin by reconceptualizing how policies
should deal with health in relation to drugs.  
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D