NCJ Number
123442
Journal
New Republic Volume: 202 Issue: 21 Dated: (May 21, 1990) Pages: 19-25
Date Published
1990
Length
7 pages
Annotation
The current war on drugs is unrealistic and ineffective, and should be replaced by a policy that would make it possible for both rich and poor people to live in neighborhoods, work in workplaces, and go to schools that are as drug-free as they wish.
Abstract
Drugs should not be legalized, because many other social policy changes would be needed for legalization to be effective. In addition, making law enforcement an effective deterrent to drug use would be prohibitively expensive. A more promising approach is to give each individual access to a neighborhood, workplace, and school that is as drug-free as that individual desires. Thus, each parent would be given a voucher to enable them to choose and pay for a school with a drug policy that matches their own desires. Similarly, employers would have broad latitude in enforcing drug rules that make sense for that business and in developing drug policies through collective bargaining or collaborative processes with employees. Finally, landlords in neighborhoods hit hardest by drugs would be able to choose among prospective tenants without having to justify their arbitrariness, and tenant committees in public housing should have wide discretion in screening new applicants and evicting existing tenants. Like current approaches, this approach will not help the underclass, but it would enable those who want to avoid drugs to do so and would make outcasts of those who abuse drugs.