Drug prohibition has increased the value of drugs to
phenomenal levels. Yet drug crops are easy to grow and
to process. Drugs are thus widely available, at very
high prices. Yet the illegality of drugs results in
the entire drug marketplace operating outside the law.
The conflicts in the "ordinary course of business" in
the market cannot be resolved through the courts, and
thus the disputants resort to violence. The valuable
commodities are tempting targets for theft, and thus
the criminals who run the markets require armed guards
for the most elementary protection.
The ever-harsher sentences imposed for drug trafficking
results in ever-more desperate strategies to minimize
the risk of being apprehended. All of these factors
lead to the recruitment of children into the drug trade
and its associated violence.
The most fundamental drives of the society are to protect
its children. The drive to protect children from the
abuse of drugs has created a "zero-tolerance" paradigm
that has overwhelmed consideration of other strategies
for protecting children, and other vital interests as
well. Yet the desire to protect children from the "menace"
of drugs exceeds the desire to protect children from
many other dangers.
In twelve step programs of recovery from alcoholism
(Alcoholics Anonymous) and drug addiction (Narcotics
Anonymous), one of the most important lessons for recovery
is to learn to detach. Twelve-steppers are taught to,
"let it go, give your problem up to God." As a nation,
we are "addicted" to the "war on drugs." Perhaps if
our nation is to recover from the obsession of the anti-drug
effort, we need to acquire some greater detachment.
As long as policy is driven by what seems "most infuriating,"
and not what is most logical or most effective, our
ability to fundamentally address these problems is minimal.
Eric E. Sterling
Spring, 1997
Notes
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