AHS Views

Another heated debate about whether or not drugs should be legalized: this one between a retired police captain and a district attorney. The police captain says drug laws are causing crime and violence that we wouldn’t have if we made drugs legal. Sounds to me like he’s just given up. Can’t blame him really – with about 10 million people in America needing drug rehab to straighten out, it must seem pretty hopeless.

However, I don’t think legalization would handle the problem. While it’s true that the crimes of possession and trafficking wouldn’t exist, we’d still have a country overrun with people trying to get drugs. Drug habits are expensive – how will addicts support their habits? Not by holding down a 9 to 5 job.

And what happens when we want to curb the crime and violence connected to just getting the drugs, legal or not? Will we then raise our health insurance rates even higher so addicts can go to the doctor and get a prescription for heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, or marijuana?

And what happens to drug cartels and local dealers who want to control the turf and make more money? That’s not going to go away with legalization. The only difference is that the police won’t have to do anything about it because they won’t be doing anything illegal. Until they kill each other, or an innocent bystander, because someone stepped on someone else’s toes.

And what about the violence created by the drugs themselves. Do parents on drugs abuse their kids because drugs are illegal? No, it’s because that’s the effect drugs have on them.

Making drugs legal is suicide. God knows drugs have already caused enough damage – continue the crack-down, and continue getting more people into a drug rehab program.