The Drug War: Introduction

Various forms of mood-altering substances have been used since the beginning of human history.  Yet it has only been during the past 150 years or so that the criminal justice system has been used to control and/or regulate the use of drugs.  A careful review of the history of drug laws clearly shows that virtually every instance where there have been laws targeting the use and/or distribution of drugs, those substances used mostly by the most powerless sectors of the population has been targeted.  What has been termed the Awar on drugs@ has, in the past three decades, changed the entire landscape of the American criminal justice system and has, in most instances, created havoc throughout the country.  One only needs to cite the bulging prison population, filled to over capacity with mostly the poor and racial minorities to see evidence of such havoc - not to mention the almost complete destruction of inner-city communities and the widespread corruption throughout the criminal justice system.

Over the past several years I have written about a dozen essays on this topic, some of which were never published.  These essays deal with some of the key issues surrounding this “war.”  As the reader can clearly see, it has become one of my Apet peeves@ which reveals, more than any other subject, my wrath.  I begin with one of the most famous - and least successful - programs to curb drug use, DARE.  Consistent with my overall perspective on crime control, this program continues to demonstrate that it has little or no impact on drug use, yet nevertheless continues along its merry way, with continuous funding each and every year.   The essays that follow are in chronological order.  Some of the more recent essays have already been posted on this web site and the perceptive reader will note that portions of one essay may appear in another essay (some facts and/or comments just beg to be repeated).

            I am often asked why I am so against this “war.”  I will give four main reasons.  First, there is no denying that the drugs that are presently illegal present a health problem, but why criminalize it?  There are many health issues that present a far greater danger to the public than pot, heroin, cocaine, etc.  How about alcohol or tobacco or obesity for that matter?  Should be have an “obesity czar” and arrest anyone over a certain weight?  Sounds ludicrous doesn’t it!  The reader might object and say being fat does not lead to crime.  That’s true, but smoking pot does not directly lead to crime, but making pot smoking a crime creates many additional problems.  Many overweight commit crime, just as many smokers commit crime as do users of alcohol.  In such cases the criminal justice system should do as it always does and respond as if an ordinary crime had been committed. Moreover, the solutions to such problems come in the form of prevention, education and treatment. Second, by criminalizing behaviors and/or substances that are in demand, you set up a whole bunch of other problems, not the least of which involves various kinds of corruption, especially on the part of the police.  Virtually every police scandal has been either directly or indirectly related to what we call “victimless crimes” where both participants are in violation of the law (e.g., the seller and the user of pot) and thus the police have to engage in some very questionable tactics in order to make an arrest.  Moreover, trying to enforce such laws exposes both the police and the general public to many potential dangers.  Third, and related to the second point, since there is a great deal of money being made from criminalizing something that is much in demand, you set up a system whereby greed takes over within the ranks of the criminal justice system.  By this I do not mean only things like bribes and payoffs, but also the fact that the government shells out literally billions of dollars to enforce such laws, which inevitably leads to law enforcement agencies with a vested interested in never really solving the problem but perpetuating it.  Forfeiture laws are just one example of the profits to be had from the enforcement of drug laws.  Fourth, the inevitable result of criminalizing such behaviors is that you target only those persons most vulnerable and powerless.  Since the police cannot arrest everyone engaging in such behaviors, selective enforcement becomes the norm, which translates into seeking out people and places most readily accessible, like the street corners of the inner cities.  Furthermore, you also end up victimizing many ordinary people and in the process ruin many lives.