Famous Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman makes a point against criminalization of drugs in this video interview
- Criminalization drives people from mild drugs to strong drugs: Marijuana is more bulky then cocaine
- Crack would never have existed without prohibition.
- put people in jail for victimless crimes
- overeating causes more deaths then drugs do: why not criminalize overeating, dangerous skying?
- jails get filled with harmless people.
- thousands die of real crimes by drug users needing money or drug running gang crimes
Human-Stupidity Analysis
Decades of failed drug war have strengthened criminal drug cartels. They control an enormous percentage of the world’s riches and capital and have corrupted governments, presidents, judges. Even if all drug laws were to be repealed, it is very difficult to undo the damage. What other "business" the well equipped armed criminals would engage in to continue earning easy big money? Extortion? Kidnapping?
Of course, use or liberated should be monitored through intelligent government policy, similar to what was done to smoking. We still have alcoholism and sedentary overeating as very serious public health problems to tackle with.
The biggest problems with making drugs legal are:
1. As pointed out, what will these former distributors turn to that will approach the amount of $$$ they have made with drugs? That thought does give one pause.
2. Certain segments of the population seem to have little self-discipline. They also are often the poorest. Thus, what will they do to get money for legal drugs? Crime may be reduced but it will never go away.
3. There is always the subject of alcohol, which is nothing less than a drug in liquid form. One can go to a liquor store and buy cartons of the stuff. Its addicts are everywhere.
I’ve always found it ludicrous that marijuana has such a stigma and seems to drive certain people to extremes when pointing out its negative aspects. But in the end, it seems to do much less harm than alcohol and produces less violence, as it is a “downer” and makes people mellow.
That said, I think legalization makes more sense than the measures being taken at this point to stem the tide and use of drugs. It should at least be given a chance. People have been taking substances that alter their feelings for thousands of years, and the human race is not suddenly going to stop now.