The United States Should End the War on Drugs

Thanks, Con. Milton Friedman once said that it is not the purpose of government to make people moral or upright. Laws are created to resolve discrepancies in the way people live, act and trade - not command people on how to treat their own person. While together individuals comprise of a collective society, it is not one's burden to contribute or be a productive and functional member of that society. As such, laws imposing on one's body are intrusive and immoral. The issue here is not harming others (which should be illegal or protected against), but rather the act of consuming, buying or selling illegal drugs, which the WOD actively discourages and punishes. As it stands, there is no moral imperative to do either of these things. My opponent begins by advocating changes to the WOD in the hopes to make it a more effective policy. Throughout this debate I will explain why his suggestions will most likely yield futile results regardless of any proposed alterations. History has shown us that prohibition drastically failed on nearly all accounts, and in fact has yielded even more negative results. For instance, in response to the temperance movement, the opium trade flourished after the criminalization of alcohol. Today, the most abused drugs on the market are legal prescription drugs [1]. The fact remains that humans have sought altered forms of conscious via drugs since the dawn of even the most ancient of civilizations [2]. As such, there is and always will be a market for drugs whether these things are legally available or not. Because of this, the WOD has not been effective at either preventing or inhibiting the widespread use of drugs. Instead of being sold through legal and taxable establishments, gangs and other groups like the mafia have become among the biggest distributors of illegal drugs yielding profits of epic proportions. In other words, it is the criminals who are prospering thanks to this immoral policy that does not accomplish anything substantial. Let's take a look at the facts. In the past 40 years, the U.S. government has spent nearly 3 trillion (!) dollars on the WOD. Still, the number of illicit drug users in America has risen over the years despite the ad campaigns, increased incarceration rates and a crackdown on smuggling [3]. The Drug Awareness Resistence Education program (D.A.R.E.) has so far cost 230 million dollars alone, yet study after study reveals negligent results [4]. It's not hard to see that so far our policies have been completely ineffective. This is therefore a gigantic waste of tax payer dollars that could better be spent elsewhere in such a way that actually significantly benefits society. The WOD disadvantages society in other ways too. Scholars suggest that the WOD has resulted in the creation of a permanent underclass of people who have few educational or job opportunities, often as a result of being punished for drug offenses which in turn have resulted from attempts to earn a living in spite of having no education or job opportunities. Penalties for drug crimes among youth almost always involve permanent or semi-permanent removal from opportunities for education, strip them of voting rights, and later involve creation of criminal records which make employment far more difficult [5]. Consider this: Tobacco kills about 350k people a year, not including the 50k who die from second-hand smoke. Alcohol kills about 80k. All illegal drugs combined kill about 4,500 people per year - or about 1% of the number killed by alcohol and tobacco, both of which are legal [6]. In a society that emphasizes the value of life, it is completely non-sensical to wage an unwinnable WOD when the repercussions of said drugs are 99% less harmful than the drugs that are legal. Additionally, of all psychoactive substances, alcohol is the only one whose consumption has been shown to commonly increase aggression. Drug-related violence is not an issue prevalent because of drug use itself, but due to disputes among rival distributors, arguments and robberies involving buyers and sellers, property crimes committed to raise drug money and, more speculatively, social and economic interactions between the illegal markets and the surrounding communities. All major authorities agree that the vast majority of drug-related violent crime is caused by the prohibition against drugs, rather than the drugs themselves [7]. In other words, the WOD makes things significantly worse far more than it helps. This is true not only because of our specific policies, but the nature of the war itself, which is why Con's adjustments will probably be entirely insignificant. Regardless of any changes to the system, seeking to eliminate the consumption of drug use is a direct violation of our civil liberties. Considering the inevitable market for certain substances, criminalizing the production and distribution of these 'goods' is only successful at distracting law enforcement from more pertinent crimes and filling our prisons completely unnecessarily. Children of inmates are at risk of educational failure, joblessness, addiction and delinquency [8]. The sale of substances that warrant a profit will continue legally or not so long as there is a demand. However, by forcing it to be done illegally, you are actually putting society at a greater risk because of what will inevitably come with the territory (such as gang disputes, which requires the recruitment of gang members, etc.). Moreover, it's reasonable to conclude that the government enacting such useless, wasteful and dangerous legislation is done so only in the name of their own gain. In his book 'Drug War: Covert Money, Power and Policy,' author Dan Russell remarks, "Covert government by defense contractor means corrupt wars of conquest, government by dope dealer. When the world's traditional inebriative herbs become illegal commodities, they become worth as much as precious metal, precious metal that can be farmed ... Illegal drugs, solely because of the artificial value given them by Prohibition, have become the basis of military power anywhere they can be grown and delivered in quantity ... To this day, American defense contractors are the biggest drug-money launderers in the world." It seems the only way to significantly reduce drug consumption in the U.S. is to minimize demand. The only real way to do that is to scare the public out of experimentation and subsequent possible addiction. However, this has yielded completely futile results. For one thing, this is the emphasis of the DARE program which I've evidenced has no real impact. The same can be said about unsuccessful ad campaigns, and the tendency for pundits to depict all drug users as dangerous, scum of the earth. All attempts have failed. Most importantly, the TRUTH as I have explained is that these drugs are not even severely harmful, and definitely not more so than the ones that are already legal and socially acceptable. The only real problem is addiction, thus the focus should only be on educating the public about potential harms (without blatantly lying or exaggerating!) and treatment. No drastic measures to punish offenders, which the WOD would entail, is useful or necessary. Harvard economists have estimated that abandoning the WOD would inject $76.8 billion a year (!) into the U.S. economy at a time when we need it most. This war is one without a clear enemy, which is why it can never be won. Drug use is a victimless crime and as such need not be punished. The war on drugs has become a war on families, a war on public health and a war on our constitutional rights that hurts society far more than it helps. [1] http://tinyurl.com... [2] http://tinyurl.com... [3] http://tinyurl.com... [4] http://tinyurl.com... [5] http://tinyurl.com... [6] http://tinyurl.com... [7] http://tinyurl.com... [8] http://tinyurl.com...