We have learned nothing from prohibition in America. It "created" Al Capone who had to be brought down on tax evasion, of course leaving a huge trail of destruction in his wake.
Instead, we forgot all about it, and exponentiated the problems in the form of the drugs market: cocaine, heroin, you name it.
Some officials complain that the price is too high, so that assassins are getting too much profit. Some argue the price is too low, so that it is easy to buy drugs and demand is high.
It is so very commendable to understand the basics of economics (demand is downward sloping, low price, high demand, etc).
But beyhond that, it is only ignorance, shameful political exploitation of the ignorance of the masses, and, worst of all, self interest in keeping this market that is killing millions.
There is only one solution to the problem. Let me repeat this: only one solution.
It is not liberalization. It is not deregulation, allowing legitimate private sector, tax paying, companies to provide heroin on the streets. After all, what we really want is to get rid of heroin on the streets in the first place, not to create another controlled market for cosy allocation of rights among friends of the current political force in power.
It is instead a good old piece of hard core socialism (yes, socialism, it sounds ugly but sometimes it actually makes sense): PUBLIC PROVISION FOR FREE.
1) It must be free. Not something to be sold at marginal cost (where would addicts find the money if not by stealing and prostitution, which is what happens now?).
2) It must be free. This is the only way to kill the competition completely. Nobody will produce something at a cost that can be bought for zero on the market. Thus: no crime, no profits, no theft, no prostituion. The provision cost is peanuts compared to what society currently loses in crime prevention, crime fighting, legal costs, and lost hours of work. But perhaps noone is interested in doing this calculation...?
3) It must be provided by the government: no public-private-partnerships to make money off the drugs market.
4) It must be provided by the government. It must be such that it is both free and UNCOOL. How cool is it to go get your FREE ecstasy pill from a retired lady in a white coat in the local government kiosk? In case you have forgotten, it was the disclosure of secret Ku Klux Klan practices that showed how silly and uncool they were, which started to make the KKK look like an uncool organization led by stupid old white males.
5) Before you start moaning that free drugs will make it easier for (your) children to get access to drugs think about this: a) it is your job as a parent to keep an eye on them. b) there are entire countries (colombia, mexico, afghanistan,...) which are enslaved by the drugs trade. Compared to that, the fact you cannot take care of your kids is peanuts in terms of the grand scheme of things. Sorry.
Now you know the answer. So, when others will put up fake arguments about why this is not admissible this is what I think: they are either idiots, or criminals (they have an interest in the existence teenage prostitute addicts), or most likely both. They may go by the name of politicians.
