96 lines
4.6 KiB
Plaintext
96 lines
4.6 KiB
Plaintext
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DRUG LAWS KILL
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A Libertarian Outlook
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by Gerald Schneider, Ph.D.
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Bad as drug use can be, government laws to prevent drug use
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are worse! More people die and are maimed because of drug laws
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than from the drugs themselves. Drug laws can turn what may be a
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personal tragedy into a criminal catastrophe. Both drug users
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and drug haters would be better off if drug use were
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decriminalized.
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The intellectual establishment already knows that drug laws
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do not work and are counterproductive. Popular culture figures
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ranging from William F. Buckley, Jr. to _Bloom County_ cartoonist
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Berke Breathed have denounced drug laws openly. But the public
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still misunderstands.
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Democratic and Republican candidates have exploited public
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apprehension about drugs to get votes. These politicos promote
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the fiction that drug laws help and more drug laws would help
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more. They all stand guilty of fostering public hysteria about
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drugs.
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In contrast, Ron Paul, the 1988 Libertarian Party Presiden-
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tial candidate, opposes drug laws. He is supported by a few
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brave politicians such as Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke. More
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politicians would join with them if they did not fear public
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censure.
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Drug Laws Breed Crime
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Crime syndicates prosper from illegal drugs today just as
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bootleggers enriched themselves thanks to prohibition in the
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1930s. High illegal drug prices attract and sustain criminals,
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while addicts murder and rob for money to buy drugs.
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In contrast, legalized drugs would sell at prices low enough
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to discourage professional criminal entrepreneurs. Addicts would
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not have to steal to pay for drugs to support their habits. For
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example, the legalized price of heroin necessary to maintain an
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addict would be about $1.50 per day.
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With the end of drug laws, murder would drop 70%, burglary
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60%. Cities would be much safer. Police would be freer to focus
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on real crimes. Courts and jails would become uncrowded,
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ensuring swifter justice and less need, if any, to build new
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prisons. Government officials--foreign and domestic--would no
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longer be corrupted by large sums of drug money.
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Legal Drugs Safer
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History proves that regardless of health risks, drug users
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will be drug users. Alcoholism is considered a disease, not a
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crime. Why should this be less true for drug use? Better to
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depend on education, counseling, and voluntary treatment to curb
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addiction than to turn addicts into criminals.
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Coping with living is tough enough for addicts. Why saddle
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them with the added burden of finding safe and affordable drugs?
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Illegal drugs sold on the street are of unknown quality and, like
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"bathtub gin" during prohibition, can harm and kill users. Legal
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drugs would be sold over the counter in drug stores where safety
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and cost could be judged.
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Children especially need to be protected from bad drugs.
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Drug vending should not be left to strangers in school yards and
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on playgrounds. Legalized drugs would put most street drug
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peddlers out of business. Legal drugs obtained by children would
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at least be safer, even if these drugs are considered undesirable
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by parents.
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A Double Standard
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For what it is worth, legal drugs--alcohol and nicotine (in
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cigarettes)--kill thousands more people than illegal drugs do.
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For example, in 1984 (the latest year for which complete data is
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available), illegal drugs killed 3,500 people. In that same
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year, there were 150,000 alcohol-related deaths and 350,000
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tobacco-related deaths!
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Beware of the contrived "war on drugs." Self destruction
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through drug abuse of any kind should be discouraged by
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responsible people. But keeping drugs illegal does not help,
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and, as facts show, only makes matters worse.
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Reprinted from THE WHEATON NEWS of Wheaton, Maryland, May
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12, 1988. For a one year subscription to Mr. Schneider's biweekly
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"Libertarian Outlook" column, send $15 to: Gerald Schneider, 8750
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Georgia Ave., Suite 1410-B, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Copyright
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1988 Gerald Schneider, Ph.D.
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(This is the text of one of a series of eight topical Libertarian
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outreach leaflets produced by the Libertarian Party of Skagit
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County, WA. The leaflets have a panel with National LP member-
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ship information, with a space for other LP groups to stamp their
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own address and phone number. Samples and a bulk price list/
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order form are available from: Libertarian Party of Skagit
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County, P.O. Box 512, Anacortes, WA 98221.)
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