ryan r roth and his photographs

Drugs should be legal.

Yep. That’s coming from a guy who has never even smoked a cigarette. Our prohibition policy (click me!) is just plain stupid, economically and socially.

The United States spent > $13,000,000,000 last year on the drug war alone. Hmmmm, if we repurposed that money, could it be used to cover healthcare for all of our citizens without raising taxes? Perhaps.

But really - how would our country change with such things legalized?
A few thoughts:

1. We save $13,000,000,000 a year minimum
2. Drug dealers = gone, drugs are regulated, inspected and certified by the FDA, and sold at Walgreens. (this makes $ via taxes)
3. Prison system shrinks exponentially (this saves $ too)
4. We treat addiction as a medical problem (think alcohol, tobacco) instead of a crime
5. Proper use could be taught, drugs could come with instructions, clean needles, a phone number for help (think casinos and gambling addiction).
6. Police officers/ Federal Agents could focus on real crimes and real productivity

I’ll think about this more too - please comment away. Somehow I got sidetracked on drug policy while studying a little physics this morning.

Filed by ryanroth at March 31st, 2008 under Dijyano, Our World