Drug Legalization: The Human Cost

I’ve been listening to a lot of self-described Libertarians explain their position on drug legalization. I don't mean marijuana. I mean all drugs. They frame it as a ‘liberty’ issue (obviously). To paraphrase, governments shouldn’t be allowed to set limits on personal freedom. Drugs constitute personal choice and are therefore off limits for enforcement. Cartels and gangs are powerful because of the money they make from illegal sales. This keeps them strong and violent. Making all drugs legal would remove their power and keep petty drug users out of jail.

I don't pretend all pro-legalization types are drug users themselves, but it’s disheartening when a major social crisis destroying families and communities is said to be an issue of liberty.  I’ll try to be fair because a lot of the writers I like (Kevin Williamson, Megan McArdle) support drug legalization. But nothing says insane like allowing someone to burn their house down and standing back to watch because “It isn’t my mess”.

Legalization would increase the number of addicted and add a monumental burden to social services, not to mention ruin a generation of kids. Keeping laws in place ensures a lot of people will never try them or at least not use as often. Removing the punishment removes the stigma.

Almost everyone agrees the ‘war on drugs’ feels like a loss. Not because law enforcement hasn’t had success. Drug busts and high profile arrests do happen on occasion but the sheer volume of abuse and violence tells a story of loss. The drug war will always be difficult because of the high demand for drugs. High demand means suppliers (local and foreign) rake in cash. The money creates incentive to produce more. More production means increasing security and enforcement to protect the product. The violence from street gangs and large cartels leads to turf wars, reckless killing and paying off officials. If you want a good picture of what happens when a drug economy takes hold, check out Mexico.

Libertarians will say “Mexico is a violent hell-hole BECAUSE the substances are illegal; making them legal would eliminate the violence”. But making drugs legal will only cut down on some of the crime. The violence is tied almost solely to black markets, it doesn’t matter what product or service is offered. Members of street gangs and cartels won’t suddenly apply to law school because drugs are legalized, they’ll move on to the next thing. They’re power comes from operating in an illegal environment. Mostly that means vices like prostitution, gambling, and narcotics.

Gambling is legal in a lot of states as long as you go to a casino. Yet it isn’t hard to find illegal games or unsanctioned betting. If drugs were legal they would likely operate in a similar way. They could be sold through licensed federal (or state) facilities where the quality gets approved by federal officials. But what would stop illegal sellers and cartels from undercutting official sales with unofficial lower quality stuff? What makes proponents of legalization think the black market would dry up? It goes against every historical understanding of market forces. Remember Eric Gardner who was choked on a New York street by police trying to arrest him? He was selling cigarettes (a legal product) without a license, a common practice when prices are too high.

Another justification for legalizing is in cutting down the number of prisoners in overcrowded prisons. I’m sympathetic to this argument, but large populations of prisoners should not be a reason to overturn sound policies. Tweak some things on the margins, like offering more work release and lower sentencing. My first thought when hearing we have the largest prison population in the world is, “We have a big problem with drugs”. Libertarians hear that and think, “We have a big problem with laws”.

If every action has an equal and opposite reaction, than the reaction to legal drugs would be runaway social costs. We already have a heavy social cost with illegal drugs and only a part of that is because of violence. A lot of it is just ordinary drug addiction, the kind that states spend millions on every year through rehab programs, counseling and family services. Families with addicts suffer immense pain and lose years fixing damaged health and broken lives, wrecked relationships. Pro-drug enthusiasts want to add an extra layer of destruction to the already bleak national picture. Legalization makes it more likely that others will try it and become addicted. 

Legalization is the lie of ‘choice’ gone too far. At some point your ‘freedom’ interferes with others and the mess you leave behind is what others clean up. I think at the core of legalization theory is something selfish and cruel that makes proponents tout liberty while encouraging slavery. Liberty is a wonderful thing and restrictions on personal choice should be small and measured. But drug addiction strains social welfare and destroys lives, not only for the addict but also those in his/her circle. Removing the law against it opens up a real chance that a generation of Americans (kids especially) will be lost to reckless social engineering.

    

Libertarians tend to see the individual as the highest moral authority in a society. But individuals make choices that affect others in the process of discovering their individuality. Laws against keeping a Bengal Tiger in your apartment aren’t because the predator might kill you. They exist to keep the people near you unharmed. Personal choice ceases to be ‘choice’ when your obsession gets out of control.

 In other words, your choice takes away the liberty of others. Liberty goes both ways after all.  

I Peter 2:16 (MEV) "As free people, do not use your liberty as a covering for evil, but live as servants of God".