The Case for Ending Drug Prohibition

About the Lecture

In recent months, some of the rationale for ending drug prohibition has been aired. The economic arguments concerning the regulation and taxation of drug trade profit, the elimination of turf battles between rival gangs, the reduced need for addicts to steal in order to get drug money, and the elimination of the drug dealer as role model for young inner city youth have been prominent. But most often, in the discussions aired in the mass media, it is assumed that illicit drugs are uniformly extremely dangerous in and of themselves, and much pharmacological, psychological, and sociological information which should play a more prominent part has not been aired. Furthermore, for the most part, the discussion has been from within the disease/criminal paradigm of addiction. This talk will present information which is available in books, papers, and lectures at universities but rarely gets mass media attention.