What Is Omitted in the Controversy Surrounding the Issue of Drugs Legalization - Essay Example

LEGALIZATION OF DRUGS What is often omitted in the controversy surrounding the issue of legalization. Every society has some controversial issues on its agenda but what is of paramount importance for one nation may be quite insignificant from the point of view of others. However, this is definitely not the case with one issue, the urgency of which concerns virtually all countries of the world, and which is recognized as one of the most pressing international problems. This is the problem of drugs abuse, addiction, and related consequences that drugs have for individuals and societies in general. For the United States, the drugs problem today has assumed the shape of the controversy about whether drugs use should be legalized. In this debate emotions often rule, when appeals to the conservative values of the nation are made by the adherents of the continuation of the current "War on Drugs" (Inciardi, 1999, p.128). However, we will see that significant benefits can be obtained from the legalization of drugs and from the shift from the drugs-related prosecutions to harm-reduction policies. Let us explore this issue in detail and try see why this is the case. One of the strong arguments for legalization of drugs stems from the inadmissibility of the continuation of the current state of affairs, when hundreds of thousands of people are arrested every year and kept behind bars for possession of illegal substances for personal usage, and not for sale (Inciardi, 1999, p.133). At the same time, realistically looking at things we have to confess that even under such a harsh regime there has not occurred a significant reduction in drugs use, and there seems to be no perspective for such reduction at all. Indeed, the real problem with drugs is that for many people they have a unique ability to satisfy one of the fundamental human aspirations that lies in the need to escape from the numerous unpleasant aspects of our reality, even though doing so in a perverse way that may finally only aggravate the problems that we are trying to get rid of. If we understand this then we have to concede that drugs, in one form or another, are to stay with us perhaps forever. In this light, the disputable successes that proponents of the maintenance of the criminal status of drugs use allude to when they defend their position may be misleading. Indeed, the measures of prosecution and compulsory rehabilitation of drug addicts substitutes one evil for another as they only add to the unhappiness of people who depend on drugs by intensifying in them an atmosphere of psychological tension that may actually contribute to the drug-oriented behavior and addiction (Zimmer and Morgan, 1997, p. 36). Moreover, the illegal status of drugs is the single greatest boon for the criminal narco-mafia, which has become a proper symbol of evil to be fought with. Is it not ironic that the very situation when drugs are being prohibited actually enables the drug trafficking organizations to reap enormous profits by becoming virtually the sole source of some of the much coveted drugs? In this situation the narco-mafia is in fact the single most interested party that would do everything to maintain the ongoing war on drugs and prevent their legalization. At the same time, attempts to prevent the overseas production of certain drugs have turned out to be futile, as illegal drug business centers can be relocated to different parts of the world. The programs to instigate the poor population of the countries of the Third World to cultivate legal crops are fundamentally ineffective, because it is hard to rival the potential profits from drugs enabled by prohibition laws (Inciardi, 1999, p. 132). But even if drugs supplies from abroad could be ended, the drugs consumption in the USA would hardly diminish because, firstly, alcohol and tobacco are the leading source of drugs-related problems, and, secondly, many drugs are produced within the United States as well. Therefore, such domestic drugs, plus probably some new ones, would quickly take the place of foreign heroin and cocaine. Considering the above-mentioned, we may infer on sound grounds that the current state of affairs regarding policies towards drugs abuse are often based on superficial understanding of the essence of the phenomenon they are aimed against, so they often lead to ineffective and even damaging consequences. In fact, experiments with prohibition are definitely well known for the United States, one has just to recollect the 18th Amendment that in 1919 outlawed the production and sale of alcoholic drinks. Needless to remind that criminal activity surged, and health of now illegal drinkers was threatened by illegal alcohol of dubious quality (Inciardi, 1999, p. 194). The 18th Amendment was abolished in 1933 to remain one the most convincing examples of the consequences of drugs criminalization. Finally, efforts to keep drugs illegal are not cheap, and if we combine these costs with the great number of people arrested for drugs law violation we will see the sad outcomes of overreliance on methods of criminal justice, and of blind adherence to treatment aimed only at abstinence. Apparently, in this situation a sound cost-benefit analysis is badly needed. So, while drugs are a grave problem for society with many associated individual tragedies, the methods of the current war on drugs have only worsened situation. But what can be done to improve the situation? To answer this question we have to contemplate a policy that would encompass the recognition that drugs will inevitably persist in society, and will make its aim to find the best ways to minimize their harm. This policy will have to shed an obsession with reduction of drug use by prohibition that adds additional burden to drug addicts, but rather will have to concentrate on reduction of crime and suffering that drug abuse can cause. The basis for such a policy should be found not in the ignorance and prejudice towards the problem of drug abuse, but in adherence to human rights, scientifically justified recommendations, and common sense. And for a successful implementation of such a policy a legalization of drugs is needed. Considering successful experiences of other countries, this task is not impossible in the United States as well. Indeed, methods of Asia and Latin America in their supply-reduction solutions are of no help for American drug problems, while the harm-reduction policies adopted in Europe and in Australia, and even in some parts of North America, are promising. These policies include the realization of the facts that initiatives aimed at supply-reduction are principally flawed, that criminal justice measures are counter-productive and expensive, and that society completely free from drugs is impossible in reality. And while the initial interest in drug use in both children and adults must be discouraged, harm-reduction policies will address those who already use drugs and cannot, or do not want to, abstain from them. In most respects, countries that went towards legalization, at least partial, of drugs and have adopted harm-reduction strategies as the main principle of dealing with drugs-related problems are quite similar to the United States and also have a close interdependence between drugs, crimes, and other social and economic problems of the modern world. And as in the United States, drug traffickers are prosecuted there with the full force, parents are concerned with the possibility of their children abusing drugs, and politicians voice the familiar principles of war on drugs. But what makes these countries different is that public health is given priority, and authorities in this field can influence the drug policies. Police treats the use and sale of drugs like something reminiscent of prostitution - a phenomenon that cannot be exterminated, but only efficaciously controlled (Inciardi, 1999). Correspondingly, there is a lesser focus on undisputed intrinsic harmfulness of drugs, and a bigger focus, from the side of politicians as well, on the task to deal with drugs and addiction in a humane and pragmatic way. Thus, it is hard to deny that there are immediate benefits that can be obtained from legalization of drugs. While the defenders of drugs prohibition sometimes also offer reasonable arguments, their basic mistake lies in their reluctance to acknowledge that the reasons for drugs use lie so deep in human psychology that there is hardly any hope for extermination of this vicious habit. To aggravate things, many politicians simply do not want to risk their reputation by even proposing the possibility of legalization of drugs (Sloan, 2005). In this regard, what is needed is the understanding from the side of policy makers and general public that the call for legalization of drugs is not about opening access to them for everyone, but about reducing the unnecessary and avoidable harm that they are inflicting. And in this case it may become easier to deal with the roots of the drug addiction as such. Sources Inciardi, J. A. (Ed.). (1999). The Drug Legalization Debate. SAGE Publications. Sloan, S. (2005). All Drugs should be Legalized. Ishipress. 12 July 2005 . Zimmer, L. E., and Morgan, J. P. (1997). Marijuana Myths Marijuana Facts: A Review Of The Scientific Evidence. Lindesmith Center. Outline INTRODUCTION - Formulation of the task of the study BODY - discussion of the specific points A. Current state of affairs in "War on Drugs" B. Perspectives of extermination of drugs supply C. Perspectives of continuation of existing anti-drugs policies D. Suggestions for improvement of situation and relevant experience of other countries CONCLUSION Read More