The Re-legalization of Drugs; T. Machan and M. Thornton

One of the clearest lessons from history is that suppression of voluntary trade only drives the mar ket underground and adds a criminal element. We claim that the trade and use of drugs should not be prohibited and must be dealt with by means of edu cation, character building, willpower, and social institutions, without benefit of force of arms. Unfortunately this proposition is no longer obvious in our "free" society-perhaps due to the wide spread conviction that individual responsibility is merely a relic of ancient philosophy and religion. The war on drugs received several major increases in funding during the 1980s,and the U.S. military is now heavily involved in druglaw enforcement. Despite these increased resources we are no closer to success with drug prohibition than socialism is at creating a "new economic man." The fact that a full array of illegal drugs is available for sale throughout the Federal prison Professors Machan and Thornton teach in the Depart ment of Philosophy and the Department of Economics, respectively,at Auburn University.

system, the Pentagon, and in front of the Drug Enforcement Administration building in Wash ington, D.C., demonstrates that little has been accomplished. One lofty goal of drug prohibition was to pre vent crime by removing access to mind-altering drugs. The great American tragedy is that prohibi tion has created a vast new area of criminal activi ty-crimes such as robbery, burglary, and prostitu tion committed in order to pay for the high prices of illegal drugs. It is well documented that drug users commit crimes to pay the high prices brought on by prohibition and that wealthy addicts do not. The rate of crimes with victimsincreased during the alcohol prohibition of the 1920sonly to decline rapidly in 1933,the year Prohibition was repealed. Crime continued to decline until the mid-1960s and has been increasing ever since. The prison population increased by 35 percent between 1984 and 1988. During that period the "criminals on parole" population increased by over 50 percent!

More innocent bystanders are being killed, more school systems are infected, and more neighbor hoods are destroyed by the growing problems of prohibition. The 1990 arraignment of Mayor Marion Barry was a spectacular media event, but drug prohibi tion has been corrupting the political process for a very long time. This corruption is not confined to the United States. A look around the globe shows that countries that produce, process, and sell illegal drugs are also afflicted with corrupt political systems-consider Southeast Asia, Lebanon, Mexico, South America. The government recently reported with great pride that a smaller percentage of teenagers are 154 THE FREEMAN • APRIL 1991 regular marijuanasmokers.What was left out of that press releaseis that consumptionof virtually everyother typeofdrughasincreasedandthat the number of reported deaths associatedwith illegal drug use continues to skyrocket. New types of drugssuchas smokablecocaineand syntheticopi ates are being introduced onto the streets at an alarmingrate. The switchfrom marijuanato the more potent and dangerous drugs is directly attributableto the enforcementof druglaws.

Prohibition forces black market suppliers to take precautionsagainstdetection.This ever pre sent profit-making incentive takes on several formssuchas: 1. Producing only the most potent form of a drug. 2. Switchingfrom low potency drugs, such as marijuana, to high potency drugs, such as cocaineand heroin. 3. Inventingand producingmore potent drugs, suchas "designerdrugs,"whichare synthetic opiatesthousandsoftimesmorepotent than opium. These resultshave been labeledaccuratelyin the popularpressthe "Iron Law of Prohibition." The history of drug prohibitions reveals that black markets produce low quality,high potency, and extremely dangerous products. The most powerfulweaponof theseblackmarketeersis not the gun, but the ability to stay at least one step ahead of law enforcement. The populationof the United Statesis growing older and more affluent. Normallythese demo graphicchangeswouldreducedruguse and addic tion. Even habitual heroin users stabilize their habitsand mature out of addictionif they survive the waron drugs.However,thesebeneficialtrends have beenfar outweighedby the increasedseveri ty ofthe effectsofprohibition.In fact,we wouldbe surprisedifprohibitionactuallydidwork.Anylaw or program that underminesindividualresponsi bility and libertyhas little chanceof enhancinga democraticand free market society.

Most Americans agree that prohibition is not working-the disputeis over what to do about it. Manyarguethat we don't havethe rightpeoplein charge,but we havebeenchangingthe guard(and the law)nowfor over150years.Others arguethat we justhaven'tdone enough,but thingshaveonly becomeworseas we devotemoreofour resources and surrenderour libertiesto this cause.The sup port for prohibitionrests on the fact that people cannot contemplate the obvious alternative legalization. The Benefitsof Legalization Legalizationhas manyobviousbenefits.Lower priceswouldmeanthat druguserswouldno longer haveto resortto crimeto payfor theirhabits.With the tremendousprofitsgone,corruptionof public officialswould be reduced, and because Ameri cansconstitutea bulkofworldconsumption,polit icalcorruptionworldwidewouldbe reduced. Governmentbudgetsat the Federal,state, and locallevelscouldbe cutas entireprogramsare dis mantled. However,one thing legalizationwould not do is balancegovernmentbudgets.There is no way that tax rates on drugs could be raised high enoughto offsetthemorethan$300billionFederal deficit.Furthermore,high tax rates wouldencour agetheblackmarkettocontinue,peoplewouldstill commitcrimesto pay the high prices,and politi cianswouldstillbe involvedin corruption.

Legalizationwillcreatejobsin theprivatesector. Peoplewill be employedmakingheroin,cocaine, and marijuanafor "recreational"and "legitimate" users. All of these products have legitimateuses andmayhaveas-yet-undiscovereduses.Marijuana (hemp) will be a valuable (and environmentally safe) sourceof productssuch as paper,fiber, fuel, buildingmaterials,clothing,animaland bird food, medicineand medicinalpreparations,and a pro teinsourcefor humans.It canbe grownin a variety of climatesand soil types and grows well without chemicalfertilizersor pesticides. The repeal of drug prohibitionswill allow po lice, courts, and prisons to concentrate on real criminalswhile at the same time greatlyreducing the numberof crimescommittedto payfor drugs. No longer will judges be forced to open prison doors because of overcrowding.The courts and police will be better able to serve and protect crimewill pay a lot less! Street gangswill deterio rate withouttheir incomefrom illegaldrugsales.

The peopleinvolvedand methodsof producing and selling drugs will change dramatically.The current dealersof drugswill not survivein a com petitive marketplace.Large companieswill pro duceanddistributethesedrugson a nationalscale. In such an environment the drugs will be less THE RE-LEGALIZATION OF DRUGS 155 "Re-legalization is the admission ofgovernment's failure in pursuit of a lofty goal, not a ringing endorsement of drug abuse." potent and less dangerous. Consumers will be safer and better informed-changes in the product will be consumer-driven. The producers will face many legal constraints such as negligence and product liability laws. The threat of wrongful death suits and class action lawsuits will also con strain their behavior. It is not surprising that these products were much safer before drug prohibition. The makers of Bayer Aspirin sold heroin pills that were safe enough to prescribe to babies, and the Coca-Cola company used cocaine in its product. These prod ucts were generally non-poisonous, non-toxic, and non-lethal. The three major free market drugs alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine-are substantially safer today than they were 10 or 30 years ago. The average potency of all three continues to decrease over time.

Constructive debate can overcome political and ideological maneuvering only if people clearly understand the differences between prohibition and legalization. Prohibition is simply a piece of legislation enforced by use of law officers, guns, and prisons.Prohibition is not drug education, drug treatment centers, rehabilitation centers, self-help programs such as AlcoholicsAnonymous, religion, family, friends, doctors, help hot lines, and civic organizations."Just SayNo" does not have to leave because we say goodbye to prohibition. "PrivateProhibitions" In discussing the problems of drug abuse many people feel that legalization would only reduce the prices of drugs and therefore only increase the amount and severity of drug abuse. People would be smoking marijuana in McDonald's, the school bus driver would be shooting up heroin, and airplane pilots would be snorting cocaine before takeoff. This confusion results from a failure to distinguish between prohibition and private contractual regulations.

Restaurants could prevent people from smok ing marijuana just as they have the right to prevent people from smoking cigarettes or from entering without shoes. Airlines, railroads, and nuclear power plants have the right and incentive to con tract with their workers, for example, not to drink alcohol on the job. These "private prohibitions" are generally aimed at the most significant prob lems of drug use such as safety. Not only are they specificallytargeted, they are better enforced-co workers, customers, unions, insurance companies, and management also benefit from such restric tions and therefore contribute to enforcement. The use of private restrictions and drug testing will be enhanced after the repeal of prohibition. While we haven't examined all aspects of prohi bition and legalization, enough of the issues have been discussed to refute many of the myths of legalization and to make the question of quantity consumed a non-issue. Re-Iegalization is the admission of government's failure in pursuit of a lofty goal, not a ringing endorsement of drug abuse.

Legalization has been labeled immoral by pro hibitionists, but nothing could be further from the truth. Reliance on individual initiative and respon sibilityis no sin. It is not only the key to successin the battle against drug abuse, it is also a reaffirma tion of traditional American values. How can someone make a moral choice when one is in fact forced into a particular course of action? How is the fabric of society strengthened when we rely on guns and prisons to enforce behavior rather than letting behavior be determined by individual responsibility and family upbringing? The sooner we move toward re-Iegalization, the sooner we can begin the process of healing the scars of prohibition, solving the problems of drug abuse, and curing this nation's addiction to drug laws. 0 156 Knowledge-Processing, Spontaneous Order, and the Free Market by Sylvester Petro I hope with this to SP.Oilthe fun they are having in the groves of academe with the ideas about knowledge and "spontaneous order" that Friedrich Hayek has emphasized so much over the years. Even while agreeing that the ideas are inter esting, I think they have become distracting.