I respect the significance of five Nobel Prize-winning economists endorsing a report by the London School of Economics’ IDEAS Center titled “Ending the Drug Wars.” But the way the media are hailing this report you’d think it called not for ending the drug wars, but for decriminalizing all drugs. Now that would’ve been a report worth hailing.
Instead, this report’s “eureka” (or Nobel) finding is that:
The pursuit of a militarized and enforcement-led global ‘war on drugs’ strategy has produced enormous negative outcomes and collateral damage. These include mass incarceration in the United States….
(Huffington Post, May 6, 2014)
And the bold change in strategy it recommends is that:
The world’s governments [should] reframe their drug policies around treatment and harm reduction rather than prosecution and prison.
Hence, the ‘Duh’ in my title.
Frankly, all of the hullabaloo about this report is akin to the media hailing the fact that Nobel Prize-winning scientists endorsed a report which found that fast food and supersize portions have contributed to an epidemic of obesity in America, and recommended a change in diet to more fruits and vegetables.
After all, even I have been among those calling on the world’s most powerful and influential government to end its war on drugs and redirect resources accordingly:
America’s declared war on drugs has always been a misguided farce. Not least because targeting drugs coming into the country is rather like bailing out a sinking ship with a spoon.
Instead, lobbying to decriminalize the use of all drugs is the only war that was ever worth fighting. In the meantime, though, eliminating the gross disparity in sentencing for drug offenses is certainly a battle worth fighting.
(“The Real Drug War: Crack vs. Powder Cocaine,” The iPINIONS Journal, August 5, 2010)
I decried the negative outcomes and collateral damage – including mass incarceration – in many commentaries, including “Black Users of Crack vs. White Users of Powder Cocaine,” November 3, 2011. In “Mexico-U.S. Relationship Is All about Supply and Demand,” March 31, 2009, I pointed out the absurdity of the U.S. government fighting the war on drugs south of the border to interdict supply, when it should be fighting on the home front to curb demand. On the other hand, in commentaries like “Legalize Drugs!” October 20, 2011, I delineated the positive economic and social-justice impacts legalizing marijuana would have.
More to the point, and with all due respect to the LSE and its Nobel Prize-winning economists, I hope we can be forgiven for thinking that the Obama Administration heeded our calls. After all, it clearly preempted the findings and recommendations in this report by duly demonstrating its intent to end the war on drugs – just as it is ending the misguided war on terrorism (in Iraq and Afghanistan). And choosing not to prosecute citizens for recreational sale or use of marijuana is just the most obvious change in strategy in this regard.
In fact, the Obama Administration has been reframing its drug policies so significantly that I felt obliged to hail the way Obama himself is evolving on this issue only months ago:
Just as I was always certain Obama was a closeted supporter of legalizing same-sex marriages, I’m certain he is a closeted supporter of legalizing marijuana too. Not least because he’s intellectually honest enough to appreciate that only rank moral hypocrisy (and vested interest in the prison industrial complex) can explain why alcohol – with its many harmful and, in far too many cases, deadly effects – is legal, but marijuana – with its relatively mild and, in very many cases, medicinal effects – is illegal.
And let’s be clear that the harm alcohol causes to others range from drunken arguments that lead to domestic violence to driving under the influence that leads to vehicular homicides.
(“Obama on Marijuana…,” The iPINIONS Journal, February 6, 2014)
Nevertheless, I have no problem with the LSE and its Nobel Prize-winning economists trying to claim credit for ending the plainly feckless 40-year war on drugs, especially if their endorsement gives political leaders the cover they need to raise the white flag of surrender.
Related commentaries:
Real drug war…
Legalize drugs…
Obama on marijuana