First, the medical argument. No one disagrees that many controlled substances have legitimate and completely legal medical applications. But there are various degrees of control, based on the degree of risk involved. In an ideal world, the risk would be determined on scientific grounds. In the real world, cultural and political factors also matter. The U.N. conventions reflect that; they can be amended in response to a consensus shift concerning the appropriate degree of control over given substances.
Proponents of legalization cite the link between drugs and crime. It’s true that short-term crime rates would fall if illegal drug markets disappeared. But the big-time criminals would quickly regroup and find other sources of profits–as they are already doing by expanding into corruption, extortion and trafficking in human beings. On the other hand, legalization would certainly increase the rate of abuse. After the introduction of legal opium into China, more than one quarter of the adult male population smoked it. These days, the easy availability and cheap price of heroin–made from opium produced mainly in neighboring Afghanistan–has given Pakistan one of the world’s highest heroin-addiction rates. The same problem is occurring in Iran, where there are now 1 million addicts–about the same number as in Western Europe.
Advocates of legalization often argue that alcohol and tobacco cause more harm to society–higher death rates, higher medical costs–than outlawed drugs. This is correct. But so what? Research has shown that, out of the 100 million U.S. alcohol consumers, 15 percent suffer long-term consequences. Heroin, unlike tobacco and alcohol, causes long-term consequences–as addiction–for almost all the people who use it.
Until recently, most drug-control efforts concentrated on eliminating the supply, by hitting the trafficking routes and the source of raw materials. Today, policymakers unanimously believe that supply and demand must be addressed. There are signs that this may be working. In Europe, for example, heroin-use rates are static, and the average age of addicts is steadily increasing. In the United States, there has been a strong decrease of cocaine addiction. The next generation may be getting the message.
