A number of prominent Americans have in recent years shown great courage by suggesting that the legalization of drugs should at least be studied as an alternative to the present failed war on drugs. There seems little chance of these voices being heeded given the degree to which drug use has been demonized in American society, but there are good reasons to consider this alternative, however unpopular an idea it may be. The move toward legalization, or at least decriminalization, would be a recognition that the "war on drugs" is a failure and that a different approach to the issue is needed. It would also be an admission that laws against drug use for adults are an incursion into our civil rights, that drug prosecutions are destroying our criminal justice system, and that related crimes could be better controlled if drug use were not illegal. The legalization of drugs should be examined, considered, and probably implemented as a more realistic way of addressing the problem of drug use in society today.
Several arguments can be made for the legalization of drugs, and three of these are noted here:
1. Drug use is a matter of personal choice and so is an issue that is fundamental in a democracy based on individual freedom as protected by the Constitution.
2. The link between street crime and drug abuse would be broken by legalization. Whereas today criminals rob and kill in order to get enough money to buy drugs, with legalization this cycle could be broken so that abusers would not have to hurt innocent citizens in order to get the drugs they crave and need. It is the illegality of drugs that makes them so expensive.
3. The failure of law enforcement to win the war on drugs reflects badly on other law enforcement efforts and contributes to widespread disrespect for the law. Legalization would free a massive amount of police resources for concentration on other criminal activity.
The first of these arguments for ...