Cocaine Legalization - Personal Statement Example

There is a huge debate worldwide about the solution to the problem of illicit drug use especially concerning the drug cocaine. This debate focuses on whether to legalize the drug, which would facilitate government control including taxation, or whether to keep it banned entirely. This paper will show that it would be more beneficial (in the long term) to legalize cocaine than to continue the ban. One of the first arguments for the legalization of cocaine is brought out immediately by proponents who state that the overall crime rate would fall, and that the crime rate specifically connected with drug use would fall drastically. Mark Kleiman states the following; "Careful consideration of the multiple relationships connecting drugs and drug policy to the crime problem suggest that,,,,,neither an undifferentiated tightening or an undifferentiated loosening of current policies is likely to achieve the best results from a 'crime-control' perspective" (Kleiman 1998) Kleiman's study shows that (from a crime perspective) there would not be any difference between tightening or loosening the reins currently on illicit drugs, therefore, it makes sense to loosen those reins. His study shows that crime would neither become more prevalent, nor less prevalent. The medical field chimes in next with their version of 'what to do to help in with the drug problem'. Jack Westman, MD has this to say, "The only sensible solution, however, is to reduce the demand for street drugs, not legalize them. The sentence for illegal drug use is treatment that may include substituting medications for the illegal drugs" (Westman 2000, pg 10). There could be two possibilities for Westman's stance. One could be that, as a professional in the medical industry he sees the amount of dollars that are being wasted by illicit drug use (and its money the drug companies could be making) or secondly he believes that cocaine use is not that serious and can be controlled in a medical environment more effectively than on the streets. He continues in his article with, "This removes organized crime as the source of addicting drugs, and criminal acts as the means of obtaining them" (Westman 2000, pg 10). It is ironic that a practicing physician talks about organized crime as the source of addicting drugs for two reasons. The first reason is because doctors are actually the biggest source of addicting drugs (by prescribing drugs to patients) and two because he is advocating that doctors take over that role. His idea of medicalizing cocaine use is good as far as it goes, it just does not go far enough. By his words, he is saying that cocaine use is okay, but that the medical industry would be more conducive to controlling usage than allowing individuals to make that decision on their own. Either way, it is still legalization. Other experts have a different take on the matter. Mark Richardson wrote in the Southern Economic Journal, "illicit channels for drug-smuggling are well established and the apparent gains from smuggling are large. And discussion of this issue (legalizing cocaine) must consider the incentives to smuggle that still exist after legalization" (Richardson 1992, pg 659). He believes that smuggling of cocaine (and other illicit drugs) will continue even if they are legalized because there is still a huge incentive to bring them illegally into the country. In other words, he feels that legalization is a good idea, as long as the smugglers are taken care of, or that they no longer have an incentive to do so. Other experts say that the effects of legalizing cocaine will be very detrimental to society and especially to the youth of the world, who supposedly would have freer access to the drugs. Studies do not show that freer access is what entices youth to use cocaine however. "The results indicate that youth cocaine demand is sensitive to price" (Chaloupka 1998). The solution then is to keep the purchase price or cocaine relatively high. Currently the price is high due to demand and the risks taken by the suppliers. "Sanctions for the sale, manufacture or distribution of cocaine and marijuana were found to have little impact on youth cocaine and marijuana use" (Chaloupka 1998). Since sanctions have little effect and high prices of illicit drugs are the determining factor in whether young people get involved or not, then the solution is to keep prices high. If the price were to remain high, government tax revenues would grow (currently on illegal drugs they are zero) and costs would decrease exponentially. Costs of law enforcement, treatment and jail cells for a prison population that is currently at 35% for drug related crimes, would show a marked decline. Governmental funds that are now earmarked as part of a fanciful "drug war" could be earmarked into drug treatment centers, and developing programs that would assist drug users, and potential drug users in finding other outlets of a more wholesome variety. There are still going to be plenty of people who use cocaine, and there are also going to be people that overindulge in the drug as well. Legalization will do nothing to stop that. With the money saved from the "drug war", these individuals can get more professional and timely help with the problems associated with overuse and addiction.. There should be fewer of these individuals because the demand for cocaine use in general should decrease because it will no longer be perceived as a "dangerous" or an "illegal" act, therefore taking away much of its allure. With fewer people ingesting and a lower rate of cocaine use, there will also be less medical and psychological costs involved. "Cocaine users who met criteria for cocaine withdrawal, compared with those who did not, reported a significantly higher amount of cocaine use and a history of medical and psychosocial problems" (Sofuoglu 2003, pg 274). Evidence shows that the higher amount (and longer usage) of cocaine use leads to higher costs medically, so if the usage would go down, so would the higher costs. Legalizing cocaine would additionally be beneficial to the medical community because currently there are no effective pharmaco-therapies that assist in either ending cocaine use or in shortening the length of time and amount of cocaine usage in patients attempting to overcome a cocaine problem. "The illicit use of cocaine is a persistent health problem worldwide. Currently, there are no broadly effective pharmacotherapies to treat cocaine addiction" (Platt 2002, pg 265). Legalizing cocaine would also allow the medical professionals a more open approach to those who do over-indulge. The stigma that is currently attached to seeking treatment would not longer be so associated, which would lead to more individuals accepting their problem and seeking treatment. With additional patients seeking treatment an effective drug to counteract the effects of cocaine could be developed. Some studies show that such remedies are coming closer to reality. No pharmacotherapies have yet been approved for the treatment of cocaine addiction. One new approach is to block the effects of cocaine with anti-cocaine antibodies induced by a therapeutic cocaine vaccine. The cocaine vaccine has been developed which induces a cocaine-specific antibody response in rodents" (Fox 1997, pg 154). With a vaccine available to fight the effects of cocaine, such effects would no longer cause as much concern to the medical industry, especially since this particular vaccine inhibits the reinforcing activity of cocaine. When a drug blocks a reinforcing activity it leads to a lower number of relapses. "These data suggest that a cocaine vaccine may be a powerful therapeutic tool. If the patient uses cocaine after being vaccinated, the antibody will inhibit the reinforcing activity of cocaine and decrease the likelihood of relapse" (Fox 1997, pg 155). This antibody is something that could be excellent for keeping those who have already tried cocaine away from the drug, another study has show that some treatments without the use of drugs or vaccine are effective as well. "The optimal control strategy they found for a particular case of constrained budget resembles bang-bang control: a treatment-only period follows a prevention-only period" (Kaya 2004, pg 59). With treatments available, vaccines being developed and the soaring costs of trying to prevent cocaine usage, it would seem to make more sense to try a whole new tact. That tact could lead to less cost, better control, and a society that can choose to ingest or not a drug that is no worse or no better than alcohol. In the role of devil's advocate this paper cynically asks the question, "could there be more of a reason (that we are not being informed of) that cocaine has not already been legalized" This may be a rhetorical type of question, but there is a lot of money being spent (and made) by government agencies, doctors, drug companies, treatment centers, jails etc that would no longer be spent if cocaine was legal. This fact alone is a strong factor for some experts who desire to see cocaine at the same level as alcohol. References Chaluopka, F.J., Grossman, M and Tauras, J.A., (1998), The Demand for Cocaine and Marijuana by Youth". NBER Working Paper, No W6411, accessed Mar 14, 2006 Fox, B., (1997), Development of a Therapeutic Vaccine for the Treatment of Cocaine Addiction, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, Vol. 48, Issue 3, December 15, 1997, pp 153-158, accessed March 15, 2006 Kaya, C., (2004), Time-optimal Switching Control for the US Cocaine Epidemic, Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Vol. 38, Issue 1, March 2004, pp 57-72, accessed March 14, 2006 Kleiman, M.A.R., (1998), Policy Options - Montreal, Aug 24, 1998, www.sppsr.ucla.edu/ps/webfiles/faculty/kleiman/Drug_Policy_for_Crime.pdf, accessed March 14, 2006 Platt, D., Rowlett, J., Spealman, R., (2002), Behavioral Effects of Cocaine, Psychopharmacology, Vol. 163, Issue 3-4, October 2002, pp 265-282, accessed March 15, 2006 Richardson, M, (1992), Southern Economic Journal, Vol. 58, No 3 (Jan 1992), pp 655-670, accessed March 14, 2006 Sofuoglu, M., Judish-Paulsen, S., Brown, S.B., Hatsukami, D., (2003), Association of Cocaine Withdrawal Symptoms with more Severe Dependence and Enhanced Subjective Response to Cocaine, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, Vol. 69, issue 3, April 1, 2003, pp 273-282, accessed March 15, 2006 Westman, J.C., (2000) Medicalize Don't Legalize Cocaine Use, Wisconsin Medical Journal, Sept 2000, pg 10, 15, accessed March 15, 2006 Read More