Dr. Herbert Kleber, CASA Executive Vice President and Medical Director, and Joseph A. Califano, Jr., CASA Chairman and President, are the paper's main authors. CASA is a think tank that studies substance abuse problems and drug treatment and prevention programs. Legalization is a policy of despair, one that would write off millions of our citizens and lead to a terrible game of Russian roulette, particularly for children. Although legalization is not the answer to the nation's drug problems, current drug policies do not give enough attention to drug and prevention programs, the report finds. Legalization would make drugs more available to children and adults.
Surveys show that under the current system, drugs are relatively inaccessible.
Legalization would decrease the public's perception of the risks and dangers of drug use. Economic theory dictates that legalization would decrease the price for drugs, which would increase drug use. The report cites the history of the crack epidemic to illustrate that marketing low-priced doses increases use. Heavy taxes on legal drugs would only create a black market for the drugs, complete with the associated crime and violence. Problems associated with legal drugs forewarn the problems of legalizing now-illegal drugs.