The Drug Problem part 5:collateral damage:
There are a whole host of undesirable consequences which also follow from the fact that drugs are illegal.
Firstly there is the difficulty of adequate monitoring and warnings. This was referred to in part four of this series. If drugs were legal, it is much easier both to disseminate advice and make it easy for those wanting advice to seek it. Occasionally a particular press story highlighting the dangers of a particular drug will be so widespread that it does have an impact on the amount of use. This is believed to have happened in respect of "skunk" cannabis when use is thought to have dropped after a series of newspaper stories about the dangers. Imagine how much easier it would be to target warnings if packets specified strength, particular health warnings associated with particular drug, side-effects to watch out for, and indications of addiction. At the same time it would be much easier for users to seek medical help at an early stage. In any event, whilst acknowledging the medical problems drugs pose to society, those problems are unlikely to be any worse for the drugs being legal.
There is also the consequent crimewave which accompanies illegal drug use. This is not just a question of the entire system of outlawing drugs being one which bolsters organised crime whilst doing nothing to effectively reduce drugtaking. It is the impact of individual users on the crime statistics. Addicts once hooked in and subject the craving realistically have nowhere to go. In general they can only get the drugs from the dealers. The price of unlawful drugs is higher than it would be in a regulated market even allowing for tax. Addicts are unlikely to seek treatment and help until far too late, and in consequence resort to burglary and theft or prostitution to feed their habit. Given the small amounts they receive for stolen goods, this produces an enormous crimewave. It is also a dangerous crimewave. Whilst I have no sympathy for career burglars, in general they know that there is no point aggravating the offence (for example in terms of threats of violence) because that is only likely to make things worse for them if they are caught. Drug users committing crime to feed their habit have no sense whether of proportion or anything else. The prospect of violence, often completely mindless, is much more likely when an addict is committing a crime. If drugs were lawful then it would be much easier for these people to be obtaining medical assistance at an earlier stage. If they were addicts it would frankly be easier to supply them with drugs and treatment than to have them committing crimes. In any event lower prices would reduce the need for the same amount to fund a habit.
There is also an impact on respect for the law. Just as with alcohol during prohibition, all sorts of otherwise law-abiding people take drugs. Once people start to regularly flout the law, particularly if they think the law is so stupid as to criminalise and threaten with imprisonment conduct which is widespread, that tends to affect their view of the law generally. This is probably even more marked with young people. Whilst there are two schools of thought about "zero tolerance" of crime, there is no doubt that once people start to openly flout the law in one direction they are much more likely to flout it in others. Respect for the law and abiding by the law is a key part of the ordinary operation of a liberal democratic society. Ironically our doomed attempt to stop drug use is undermining respect for the law amongst various sectors of the community at the same time as it entrenches the financial clout and reach of organised crime. The war on drugs is not only failing, but the collateral damage is considerable.