Legalize It All

The Economist has published an excellent editorial in favor of complete legalization of drugs, found via BoingBoing. Here's hoping that other mainstream publications will follow up. It's one thing for a bunch of pot smokers to clamor for decriminalization; it's another for a sober, moderate, highly-respected news magazine to advocate wholesale, international legalization of all drugs.

It's a matter of honesty and the lesser of two evils. Honestly, the "War on Drugs," waged in one form or another for the past century, has been a complete failure by any possible measure. Sure, drug use in rich countries fluctuates over time; meanwhile, the human cost in poor countries rises ever higher. This will never end. The lesser of two evils would be legalization, taxation, regulation and treatment.

I find it strange that this is such a political hot-potato in the U.S. Most politicians cannot talk about it and journalists won't write about it. We are a deeply hypocritical people in certain ways. We claim to want justice, yet we lock up 1 in 5 of our black men. We think (some) drugs should be illegal to protect our children and communities, even if thousands of innocent Mexicans are slaughtered as a result of our drug war. Our new President aims to keep fighting that war, even though he used to snort coke. He likely still enjoys a cigarette from time to time; nicotine, though legal, is as addictive as the hardest drugs.

This hypocrisy is not merely tiresome and idiotic, it is far more dangerous than any drug.