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Thirty Deaths Too Many

By Theresa Fritz Camoriano

So far this year in Louisville, there have been 61 murders.  According to the authorities, at least half of those murders are related to illegal drugs.  The war on drugs has claimed additional lives as well, such as those people killed by the police in sting operations that have gone bad and in other drug-related transactions.  In short, the death toll related to illegal drugs is very high.

Not only are there far too many deaths involved in the war on drugs, but the illegal drug trade also destroys neighborhoods, families, and entire countries, puts far too many people in prison, causes distrust between police and the communities they are supposed to protect, and siphons away money that could be used against murderers, rapists, and thieves.  Indeed, the cost of the war on drugs is very high.  And what have we received in return for this very high cost?  Apparently, nothing. 

Just as alcohol prohibition created a climate conducive to organized crime and gangs, without solving the problem of alcoholism, drug prohibition has encouraged the growth of crime and gangs without solving the problem of drug addiction, and, according to a recent study, without even reducing the use of harmful drugs.  http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1419

To be sure, the use of drugs such as cocaine is a problem, just as alcoholism is a problem, but that problem is not solved by prohibiting the drugs any more than alcoholism was solved by prohibiting the manufacture and sale of alcohol during the 1920’s.  In fact, instead of getting at the root of the problem, making the substance illegal simply compounds the problem, adding crime and violence to the picture. 

Wouldn’t it be better if an adult who wanted to use cocaine could simply go to the drug store, sign a waiver acknowledging that he was aware that the substance is harmful, maybe even be required to watch a movie informing him of the negative effects of the drug, but then be allowed to buy the product and use it?  Sales of the drug could be taxed to create funds that would be used for treatment programs to help those who become addicted and to provide enough police to keep the roads safe against impaired drivers.  Meanwhile, the pushers and gangs would have to find honest, legitimate jobs, and the drive-by shootings and other violence associated with the illegal drug trade would stop.  Then, taking the drug would be its own natural punishment.  If a person chose to take dangerous drugs and ended up frying his brain, it would be a result of his own informed choice, and at least he could serve as an example to others of what not to do rather than becoming another inmate or another crime statistic. 

As the number of murders increases, and as whole communities are destroyed by the war on drugs, maybe there will finally be recognition that the war against drugs is really a war against people, and the death toll and other casualties are much too high.

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