Why it’s time to end the war on drugs…

The Financial Times of London, U.K. – like most financial newspapers – is not generally regarded as a progressive paper.  It is, however, regarded as one of the most influential journals in the world.    Thus it is very noteworthy that the Financial Times recently published an article entitled Why it’s time to end the war on drugs.

The article notes that 2009 is becoming a watershed year in terms of a growing global recognition that drug policy reform is much needed, or as the article observes, “there is growing sense that reform is possible and increasingly urgent”.

What is drug policy reform all about?  As the Financial Times article accurately points out:  “The argument is not that drug use is A Good Thing. It is that the collateral damage caused by the so-called war on drugs has now reached catastrophic proportions.”

Of course there are many agencies that have a vested interest in the current war-on-drugs status-quo, such as the police, prisons, courts, and most significantly, the Cartels. Opponents of drug legalization often point to the Cartels, arguing that they won’t go away just because drugs are legalized. That might be true, but whose making the legalization case on the basis of abolishing the Cartels as a primary reason anyways? The fact that the Cartels might continue to operate is not a reason, in and of itself, to say the legalization case is without merit. Of interest is the question “What Will the Cartels Do After Drugs are Legal?” and it is addressed in an article at Stop the Drug War website.