Time to Decriminalize It?

As officials from around the world gather in Vienna this week to chart the next decade of the anti-drug effort, it may be time to rethink the entire approach.

Echoing the Prohibition era in the United States, illegality has engendered organized crime empires that, in order to supply narcotics, undermine the peace and institutions of many countries. The latest example is Mexico, where President Felipe Calderon has unleashed the wrath of the state against the drug lords. The war between the state and the cartels, and among the mafias themselves, has mostly taken place in northern cities such as Ciudad Juarez, Tijuana, and Culiacan. Ten thousand people have been killed and drug-related corruption has been exposed at the highest levels, including the attorney general’s office.

The anti-drug budget worldwide is staggering: the United States alone devotes more than $40 billion yearly to the effort.

Drugs are as available now as before the War on Drugs began. We have a lot more people in jail though. The government solution is not working. Key quote: One and a half centuries from now, people will read in total amazement that so much blood and treasure was wasted in the failed pursuit of a private vice that a relatively small percentage of the world population was not ready to give up.