Losing the Drug War

Carter argues that one of the most destructive effects of the illegality of drugs and its accompanying war on drugs is the corruption of law enforcement officials. He compares the corruption of police in the days of Prohibition to the corruption today created by the war on illegal drugs:

Al Capone would have been proud of the latitude that bootleggers were able to buy with their payoffs of constables, deputies, police chiefs, and sheriffs across the state. But . . . Prohibition-era corruption . . . was penny ante stuff compared with what is happening in the United States today. From Brooklyn police precincts to Miami's police stations to rural Georgia courthouses, . . . sheriffs, other policemen, and now judges are being bought up by the gross (9).

Worse, drug money "is also buying up banks, legitimate businesses and, to the south of us, entire governments" (9).

Whatever one's objections to the legalization of drugs and the end of the war on drugs, it is utterly undeniable that such a radical change in policy would instantly abolish this corruption of the law enforcement agencies in this nation. Legalization would put the criminals instantly out of business from the top drug kingpins in other countries to the lowliest deal

. . .
gendered among suppliers, dealers and users of drugs. Elimination of the financial incentives of dealing drugs will eliminate much of the violent crime which is an expression of the competition for drug customers and territory among drug suppliers and dealers. Carter addresses the alternative to legalization: an increase in efforts to stop rugs through the courts and jails: Since the courts and jails are already swamped beyond capacity by the arrests that are routinely made (44,000 drug dealers and users over a two-year period in Washington alone), and since those arrests barely skim the top of the pond, arguing that stricter enforcement is the answer begs a larger question: Who is going to pay the billions of dollars required [for such an expanded law enforcement effort]? (10). This question is especially vital and relevant in an increasingly conservative era in which every penny and dollar of public monies is analyzes as to its allocation and effectiveness in public programs. Conservatives are inconsistent in the conflict between their moral and practical stands on this issue. The costs of increased law enforcement with respect to illegal drugs are prohibitive, and the practicality of such a policy is non-existent. Anothe
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Approximate Word count = 1459
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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