I, the Philosos4King, propose the following to combat the rampant abuse of illicit drugs and the rise of gang violence.
Background:
From 1920 to 1933 the United States banned the legal sale of alcohol. However, by all accounts, this did little to stem the flow of alcohol sales. By some estimates, alcohol consumption actually rose during this period. What it did accomplish was shifting the sale of alcohol to organized crime, who experienced a golden era.
Fast forward to the present: booze is now freely sold (well, relatively freely to adults), and prohibition has shifted to drugs. The “War on Drugs” has been going on for decades and what is the result? Billions have been spent, gangs and gang violence are on the rise, and still the flow of drugs is unaffected. There is so much spent on law enforcement, trials and incarceration that there is little left for drug treatment programs.
Clearly a different approach is needed.
Proposal:
Decriminalization of Simple Possession of Narcotics.
Licensing of Drug Production.
Sale of Drugs legal at Government Outlets.
This is a multiple faceted plan, that requires all components to be effective.
First, we stop treating drug addicts as criminals. Addicts need treatment not incarceration.
Second, we offer full pardons to anyone convicted of simple possession, and only a simple possession conviction. No pardons will be offered for trafficking or other drug charges or, of course, any weapon or violence convictions. This would free up money that would be spent on incarceration.
Third, licenses would be issued for the legal production of drugs. These producers would be monitored to ensure 100% of their production is funneled into legal channels and that the product is of consistent quality and not cut with some of the colourful substances that street drugs sometime contain.
Fourth, drugs will be packaged with simple designs and not the attractive packaging of commercial products.
Fifth, drugs will be available in full strength as well as series of reduced potencies to facilitate users weaning themselves off drugs.
Sixth, drugs will be available at government owned and controlled outlets. These outlets will be never be allowed to be sold or outsourced. The last thing we need is a company trying to increase profits by increasing sales. These outlets will be tasked to provide safe and efficient operation, but not to make a profit.
Seventh, drugs will be sold at cost. This will seriously undercut the street market. Users can buy legal, cheap, consistent drugs free of dangerous additives or illegal, expensive drugs with possible additives. It is a goal of this legislation to put the illegal market out of business.
Eighth, the only real restriction on sales of drugs is quantity. Users will be permitted to purchase only enough for personal use – not large quantities for resale.
Ninth, each sale will contain instructions for safest use, warning signs of overdose and contact info for drug programs. For injectable drugs, each will come with syringes to prevent the need of sharing needles.
Tenth, extra short term funding will be provided to law enforcement to move quickly to head off gangs and organized crime moving into new areas of “business” to replace their drug business.
Expected results:
It is expected that there will be a short term spike in drug use when this legislation comes into effect and legal and cheap drugs become available. However, it is believed that this is a temporary situation. Removal of the criminal pusher should cause a significant decrease in demand that will quickly overtake the initial usage spike.
Furthermore, removing gangs and organized crime from the market should greatly reduce violence in the streets. Reducing the prices for addicts will also reduce property theft, as users won’t need to steal to fund their expensive habits.
Finally, gangs and organized crime are expected to try to move into different areas to offset the loss of their drug business. Efforts need to be made to combat this before they establish a firm foothold.
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