Alloy youk See
MSc, Lecturer, CISPS
Recently, the issue of decriminalising marijuana entered the public domain and in the process it sparked a firestorm of debate from many quarters. The smoking or inhaling the smoke of marijuana or the cannabis plant is mentioned in texts from ancient India, China, Greece, Assyria and Thebes. From early on man had discovered the "power" of these psychoactive substances that altered the workings of the mind, influenced thought, feelings and emotions.
Traditionally, society's approach to dealing with illegal drugs has usually been a punitive one based on suppression and punishment. This approach, however, has not been as successful as society would have hoped. This is due in part, because suppression and punishment focuses on the symptom and not the cause of the problem–addiction.
Substance abuse has escalated tremendously in recent years. No nation is immune from the devastating consequences of drug abuse and illicit trafficking, with the attendant upsurge in crime, violence and corruption; the draining of human, financial and other resources that might otherwise be used for social and economic development; the destruction of individuals, families and entire communities; and the undermining of national economies.
Governments continued criminalisation of drug use is predicated on the "misguided" hope of crushing the problem out of existence. Psychoactive drug use has a deep historical antecedent within the human experience. Thus, no amount of suppression is going to stymie its use. The reality is that arresting drug abusers and dealers has not solved the drug problem. Such a situation now begs the question: why has criminalisation failed? What is it about our punitive policy towards drugs that ensures its failure?
For an answer, we can look to the profit motive. Once a product is criminalised, its distribution and sale become more difficult and costly. Selling the product is now much more profitable for those who take the risk. Far from injuring drug lords, criminalising drugs have made them extraordinarily rich! The major beneficiaries from the drug laws are the organised and unorganised drug traffickers. In this way, it seems that the criminalisation of drugs has introduced a de facto "value added tax."
As such, drug enforcement has failed to reduce the flow of illegal drugs and by its very nature it cannot do so, because it artificially inflates profits! It is truly ironic when looked at from this perspective, that drug enforcement encourages the very thing that it is designed to eradicate, drug abuse! The hugely profitable nature of the drug business makes it almost impossible to reduce the use of illicit drugs merely by arrests. As an arrest takes place in one area, they pack up and move elsewhere, in a continual game of cat and mouse. To add insult to injury, because of these enormous profits, it is argued that some officials whose job it is to reduce the proliferation of the drug business are bought off.
Take the profit motive out of illegal drug activity and you take the crime of the business. When the economic foundation of the business of illegal drugs is pulled out from under it, drug dealers are less likely to enter the business, which in turn, can ultimately lead to the dismantling of the illegal drug industry. If people truly want to use drugs, access and availability are easy anyway.
The decriminalisation/legalisation debate is predicated on the notion that it will not increase drug use significantly. Further, when drug users have access to drugs at a fraction of the cost, the motivation to commit crime is substantially reduced; it is argued. Public safety is likely to increase, as citizens are less likely to be victimised on the streets. Fewer drug users are likely to find themselves entangled within the criminal justice system.
Criminalisation and suppression of drugs result in the selling of unregulated products. One day a drug addict will hardly get a high and the next day he could die from an over dose. Quality is not ensured in the unregulated environment, thus, impure and contaminated products are sold to the detriment of the drug user.
Marijuana use has become intricately woven into a viable and rewarding lifestyle for many young people. Attempting to stamp out marijuana use can seem a hopeless venture as users do not see their activity as a serious cause for official concern. Marijuana use is not typically an isolated form of behaviour. It is an expression of a certain ideology; it takes place in conjunction with other activities; and is reinforced by a social group, a subculture, a mini community. These facts make it difficult to control at the official level.
Given the foregoing, it may be unrealistic to expect law enforcement to achieve results beyond "containment." The emphasis therefore, should be on demand reduction/drug education and prevention in the first instance.
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