All the evidence of our failed anti-drug war suggests that no matter how earnest we are about extirpating this evil, we will fail. Some opponents of the white-flag view take the opposite tack. The real problem with tolerance, they say, is that it will worsen the problem. However frustrating it may be to try to fight a war against drugs, they say, it would be far worse to give up the fight altogether. If today's porous drug laws deter even a single child from experimenting with heroin or crack, then those laws have served some purpose.
Life is more nuanced than that.
This policy worked a lot better than the war against hard drugs did. We should learn from its success. No more criminal sanctions for drug use, but a heroic effort to convince people not to start. Click here to return to the Executive Decision index page.