NCJ Number
128530
Journal
Journal of State Government Volume: 63 Issue: 2 Dated: special issue (April-June 1990) Pages: 46-49
Date Published
1990
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Drug legalization may be an appropriate response in the war on drugs, since it represents a compromise between social reality and the goal of a drug-free society.
Abstract
Federal, State, and local governments spend an estimated $8 to $9 billion a year on direct drug enforcement activities and millions more to house and feed drug dealers and users who represent one-third of Federal prisoners. The main obstacle to thinking about serious alternatives to present drug policies is that no one in government wants to give up the symbolism of criminal law. A noncriminal approach to recreational drug use is suggested that involves legalizing and taxing currently controlled substances. Taxes would be used for drug education and for paying medical and social costs of drug abuse. A commission would be established to determine costs separately for each drug, and the tax rate would be adjusted to reflect information gathered by the commission. Thus, the government would acknowledge the impossibility of eliminating all drug use and use its taxing power and educational authority to encourage safer drug use. Drugs that are now legal, alcohol and tobacco, would not be distinguished from illicit drugs. A problem raised by any system of legalized drug sales, however, is the black market. The tax on drugs would have to be set low enough so that a black market would not be profitable. Legislative models that incorporate drug legalization or quasilegalization are examined, and the cocaine problem in inner cities is discussed.