Drug liberalization is a drug policy process that decriminalizes or legalizes the use or sale of illegal drugs. Decriminalization is not the same as legalization. To legalize something means to make a previously illegal drug legal under the law. Decriminalization means that the drug remains illegal, but the legal system will no longer prosecute or criminalize someone for possessing less than a certain amount.
Many argue that legalizing drugs would eliminate the illegal drug market while also lowering law enforcement costs and incarceration rates. They frequently argue that prohibiting recreational drugs like cannabis, opioids, cocaine, amphetamines, and hallucinogens has been ineffective and counterproductive, and that substance abuse is better addressed by implementing harm reduction practices and expanding access to addiction treatment.
More than 1.5 million drug arrests are recorded annually in the United States alone, with the great majority being for simple possession. Deportation, loss of federal financial aid, eviction from public housing, loss of professional licenses, loss of the right to vote, and denial of public assistance are just a few of the long-lasting effects of drug arrests, which ruin people’s lives for the rest of their lives and fail to stop more serious and problematic drug use, which causes much greater harm in our community. [1]
Therefore, countries can decrease the amount of people swept into the criminal court system for violating drug laws by decriminalizing narcotics (typically for personal possession). Additionally, this might reduce the harm brought on by the lack of quality control for illegal substances and limit the spread of infectious diseases brought on by needle sharing and other unsanitary behaviours.
The illegal drug market will disappear, according to proponents of legalizing drugs. Let’s not discount the drive for drug production and distribution on the black market, nevertheless. Extremely dangerous drugs would still be available on the black market, regardless of whether some narcotics were legalized and others were not.
Victoria Hood in The Cohen Journal [2] states “Drugs do not debilitate our society simply because people use them. They can only debilitate the body of users (Lamberton 2005, 6). It is possible to keep the debilitation of bodies lower and lower; many users are attracted to the edgy sense of drugs/the glamour of doing illegal activities. This has been displayed through the prohibition of alcohol. When alcohol was made illegal it became a glamour drug and usage increased, the same is happening to the prohibition of narcotics and marijuana. The bigger the risk, the more people it will entice (Lamberton 2005, 2)”.
She also believes that “Drugs can once again be recreational, like they’re meant to be – an escape from the world.” And by not legalizing drugs, America thinks that is keeping its citizens protected. To her, “Illegal drugs, such as marijuana and narcotics, should be legalized, because every person has a right to their own behaviour, it will help clean our gene pool, and they will create safer conditions for drug users while stimulating our economy”. Here, she refuses to acknowledge the statists and the harmful consequences that come along with the usage of drugs.
Milton Friedman, an American economist, estimated that drug prohibition results in over 10,000 annual deaths in the United States and that if drugs were legalized, crime would go down, supporting Mark Thornton’s proposition that drug prohibition increases crime, corruption, and violence as well as drug prices.
The idea that legalising drugs would have an impact on the supply and demand of these illegal substances has been explored numerous times. There are two ways this can turn out.
- Increased rate of production would affect its cost and due to its high price, there would be a decrease in consumers.
- Increased rate of production would make it readily available, decreasing its price, allowing more people to easily access it and buy it, increasing the number of consumers. This could also tempt people to experiment and possibly get addicted.
More than two dozen countries and 19 states have legalized drug use for recreational purposes in an effort to invest in treatment and harm-reduction programs and enhance public health and safety.
Numerous organizations support decriminalization of drugs:
- World Health Organization
- American Public Health Association
- Organization of American States
- Human Rights Watch
- NAACP
- National Latino Congreso
- International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Supporters argue that instead of spending excessive amounts on law enforcement to try to supress the supply of illicit drugs and imprison drug offenders, governments will profit from a new stream of tax revenue and utilize that money to treat addicts and other already existing drug-related problems.
Through concentrating on this, it becomes clear that while law enforcement may save money, the costs of caring for drug addicts and those who are dependent on drugs would be significantly higher. As a result, the government would not gain anything from this and the issue would merely change from one to another. Increased drug use would have negative effects. The social and health expenses of these drugs would also outweigh the tax revenues they generate, which would have an adverse impact on the resources already available for treatment. They are nowhere near big enough to handle the influx of new addicts from the legal system, who number in the millions.
Additionally, alcohol and nicotine, which are legal drugs, serve as poor models for their legalization. The leading contributors to preventable illness and death are alcohol and tobacco. Worldwide, alcohol use results in more than 3 million deaths per year, while illicit drug use results in 11.8 million deaths annually, of which 11.4 million are premature deaths. TCH concentrates, vape oils, and edibles are just a few of the innovative creations that contain cannabis as a result of marijuana’s rising legalization over the years.
Teenage drug use is a major issue that arises with the legalization of drugs. If children can access drugs at an early age, it is highly possible that they will continue to use them in the future, leading to a variety of harmful consequences. How would children gain access to illicit substances? Through the adults around them, mainly parents. [3]
To prevent the numbers from rising, it is imperative to control drug usage and drug production.
Drug liberalization may favor a regulatory structure akin to that of alcohol and tobacco, but there are still many negative side effects. The number of drug users, criminality, broken families, and negative physical impacts among drug users can all rise as a result of drug liberation. It doesn’t help that many of the pro-legalization activists are well-known, including; William F. Buckley, Jr. (American Author), Milton Friedman (American economist), and George Shultz (Former United States Secretary of State).[4]
Every year, when the subject of drug liberalization is discussed, the same arguments are put forward, keeping us in the dark as to what it would involve or what the potential results might be. Drug liberalization has become a much-debated topic, yet the full implications of such a move remain largely unknown. Consequently, it is important for us to consider a wide range of possible outcomes and be mindful of the legal and ethical implications that would arise from making such a decision If drug liberalization were to become a reality, it is certain that the legal and social landscape would be drastically altered.
Reference:
- Drug Legalization | Institute for Behavior and Health (2012). Institute for Behavior and Health. [online] Institute for Behavior and Health. Available at: https://www.ibhinc.org/drug-legalization [Accessed 22 Dec. 2022].
- Drug Policy Alliance (2015). DPA Fact Sheet Approaches to Decriminalization Feb2015 1. [online] Available at: https://www.unodc.org/documents/ungass2016/Contributions/Civil/DrugPolicyAlliance/DPA_Fact_Sheet_Approaches_to_Decriminalization_Feb2015_1.pdf [Accessed 22 Dec. 2022].
- Hood, V. (2015). Our Country is Addicted to Control: Legalize Drugs. The Cohen Journal, [online] 2. Available at: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1013&context=tcj [Accessed 22 Dec. 2022].
- Stares, P. (1996). Drug Legalization?: Time for a real debate. [online] Brookings. Available at: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/drug-legalization-time-for-a-real-debate/ [Accessed 22 Dec. 2022].
