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LEGALIZING RECREATIONAL DRUGS IS A BAD IDEA

The libertarian side of me thinks we should legalize all drugs.  There would have to be some adjustments in our criminal procedures and additional laws dealing with punishments for those who commit crimes while under the influence of drugs.

There could be sentencing enhancements.  Those who commit crimes while under the influence of any drug should have a mandatory five years added to the sentence for the crime itself.  Ten years could be added to the sentence for each and every injury caused during the commission of a crime while under the influence.  A mandatory life sentence would apply to any conviction of a crime committed while under the influence, where a death occurs.

These newly legalized drugs could be taxed, the revenue used for drug education programs, rehabilitation programs and to create jobs for the unemployed, who could be hired to clear the bodies of those who over-abused the drugs that have been newly legalized.  While those mavens of political correctness would have us all believe that drug use is a disease and should be treated as such, I am less sympathetic to that view.

Referring to one who abuses substances as a drug user, or a doper, makes them sound much more cerebral than they actually are.  Many abusers actually use those terms to refer to themselves, as a matter of pride.  Many in law enforcement, unofficially, use a name that much more accurately describes one who abuses narcotics and dangerous drugs: Dopey.  It also takes the aura of respectability from those who engage in such abusive consumption of drugs that are presently illegal.

The realist side of me knows from experience that legalizing drugs would lead to more use, more abuse, more overdoses and more innocent victims of those using these drugs.  Decriminalizing drugs and taxing them would be no panacea for a better society.  It would only increase the use, legitimize their perception, especially among juveniles, and reek more havoc on our families and communities.

Yavapai County Attorney, Sheila Polk, who has done an extraordinary job since she was first elected in 2000, is a fervent opponent of legalizing currently illegal substances.  A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of hearing her speak on this subject.  Where medical marijuana laws are passed, pot use among teenagers and young adults goes up.  In Washington state and Colorado, where marijuana has been legalized, use by adolescents is already starting to go up.

Polk quoted facts from a government survey of arrestees called ADAM II.  In 2012, this survey questioned arrestees in five different cities throughout the country about what drugs those arrested were using.  The answers were then verified by a urinalysis in 88 to 90 percent of those questioned.

The results were not astonishing for those with criminal justice experience, but might surprise those in the general population.  Over 60 percent of those in the survey had at least one drug in their system at the time of arrest.  The substance most often found in the bodies of the arrestees was marijuana, which is the most socially acceptable substance.  The criminal element attaches little or no significance to the use of marijuana, since urinalysis confirmed that 83 percent of those who tested positive admitted to using pot.

Methamphetamine appears to be the next most acceptable drug of abuse by those arrested, since 63 percent of those confirmed to have used it, admitted to using it.  Half of those who were found to have used heroin admitted to it.  Only 43 percent of the arrestees found to have cocaine derivatives in their systems admitted it.

One would think that methamphetamine would be the least socially acceptable drug, but it does make one much more self-confident and talkative, which could account for the large number of those willing to admit using it.  On the other hand, many of those who chronically use cocaine or come down from the high, have feelings of paranoia, which would make them less likely to tell the truth about abusing an illegal substance.

The main point is that legalizing or decriminalizing a substance makes it more socially acceptable and that, in turn, increases its use, especially among adolescents.  This is particularly true of marijuana.  That is very bad news.  Studies have shown that those who chronically use pot at a young age perform poorly on memory tests even after two years of abstaining from using it.  ( See Teen Pot Use Could Hurt Brain and Memory, By Brian Alexander, NBC News, Dec.  15, 2013 ).

Marijuana is much stronger now than it was 30 or 40 years ago, ranging from 2 times to 25 times more potent.  Advocates of legalizing and decriminalizing marijuana claim that their advocacy would not alter current laws of forbidding the use of marijuana for juveniles.  That makes no difference.  The effect of legalizing any substance is that it becomes more acceptable, and that increases use.  There is no quicker way to dumb down our youth, our voters and our citizens, than to legalize marijuana and other drugs.

Buz Williams is a retired Long Beach, Calif., police officer who has lived in Prescott since 2004.