The rising crime rates in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties are directly proportional to the drug wars. Babula proposes that the legalization of drugs would reduce crime and benefit the economy. I agree that legalization and regulation of the distribution of drugs would be more effective in reducing crime than trying to continue the criminalization of all drug activity.
This position is supported by a similar situation in which the sale and consumption of alcohol was prohibited, which led to increasingly higher theft and murder cases in cities. While alcohol was banned, it continued to circulate through the mafia and other gangs who engaged in illegal trafficking. Today, drugs are sold in a similar black market.
The United States is losing the war on drugs. It is spending an exorbitant amount of money trying to eliminate drugs and incarcerate the users. The United States has contributed over $4 billion to Columbia since the War on Drugs started in 2000. (Geers) However, it is too difficult to target each and every dealer or user because this interaction is done as privately as possible. Dealing and using drugs has become an issue not only because the drugs are illegal, but the addiction of drugs such as cocaine and heroin is hard to afford. This causes users to go to extreme measures to get money for drugs. The war on drugs also creates violence because there are often fights and murders related to the purchase of drugs. More than 1,000 Columbian citizens have been murdered within the last year and a half. (Muse)
While Donna Edwards and Albert Wynn fail to mention the War on Drugs, many journals dicuss this economic and social problem. Toby Muse, author of Legalization Now! supports Babula’s idea. Incarcerating users is not helping crime rates decrease in Maryland’s fourth congressional district, or anywhere else. Muse’s article sites Drugs and Crime Facts which says that most people began using drugs after their first arrest. Thus, incarceration seems to increase the use of drugs, while it is also very costly. The money for incarceration is collected at the taxpayers expense. Legalizing drugs would save billions of dollars being spent on law enforcement, prison construction and cost of incarceration. (Geers)
Money spent trying to stop the War on Drugs should be distributed elsewhere. It would be more productive to put money towards facilities to rehabilitate the drug addicts in order to give users a chance to get their lives back on track. Regulation and rehabilitation together would be a better use of taxpayer money.
Thomas Geers also agrees that the legalization of drugs would benefit the economy and crime rate. Because drug related crime is related to the underground economy rather than the use of drugs, there would be less cases involving theft to pay for drugs because legalizing drugs would cause their prices to reduce. “For example, the selling price of $100.00 worth of cocaine ‘on the street’ has only a real commodity value of $1.00.” (Geers) If any lesson was learned from the Prohibition, we would regulate drugs, rather than ban them, which would save money on incarceration, decrease the price of drugs and in effect decrease crime rate.
Works Cited
Geers, Thomas R. "Legalize Drugs and Stop the War on People." Education 116 (1995): 235. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Baltimore. 21 Jan. 2008.
Muse, Toby. "Legalization Now!" Reason 37 (2005): 32-38. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Baltimore. 21 Jan. 2008.
