Perhaps we can learn from the successes of other nations’ management of drug addiction.
In the U.S. today 1 out of 100 persons in behind bars. If crimes related to drugs can be managed successfully without incarceration that will reduce the number of people in jail and the societal costs of keeping them there.
And, very importantly, if drug addiction can be managed without incarceration for the use of drugs, the angst, and shame that individuals and families experience will be considerable less.
The Swiss have a successful drug addiction program. They have solved many of their drug troubles by creating a successful policy of enforcement, treatment, harm reduction and prevention.
The Swiss have a heroin maintenance program that supplies addicts with cheap pharmaceutical-grade heroin, methadone and other things they need. They have seen a great reduction in addict-caused crime in Switzerland.
Demand for outlaw drug dealers in Switzerland has declined because there is no reason to buy boot leg drugs when a source of cheap, guaranteed, pure, legal drugs is available.
The Swiss have virtually eliminated overdose deaths for those in the program. Injection-transmitted diseases (HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C) have been greatly reduced.
The Swiss drug policy has resulted in a great decrease in heroin’s addiction’s damage to society. In 2008, the Swiss endorsed the national drug policy with a 68%+ vote of support in a national referendum.
Consider what might happen if alcohol was illegal today. Might gangs fight for turf control? Imagine Anheuser-Busch and Miller Brewing gangs killing each other for control of the beer market!
When we had Prohibition there was a surge of violence and organized crime. If pot and heroin are legalized, there’s no need for drug cartels in Mexico to fight each other resulting in thousands of dead Mexican citizens. Why not put the drug cartels out of business with the legalization of heroin and pot.
But before we legalize drugs let’s put a treatment program in place which can replicate the success Switzerland has achieved.
Switzerland is not America. Switzerland is much more homogeneous. One program which fits all in Switzerland might not work in America. For sure, the U.S. does need a drug policy that works better.
For more discussion, see The U.S. Needs a Drug Policy that Works Much Better, Letters to the Editor, The Wall Street Journal, Friday, July 8, 2011
