According to a report on The Times (December 16), George Grech, the director at the Detox Centre said the issue of drug legalisation should be opened for discussion.
The war on drugs pervades every level of society. Every year, vast sums of money are spent by governments to control drug use and to enforce laws enacted to protect society from the dangers caused by drug use. Some people believe the war on drugs has been effective but they contend government agencies and communities are not fighting hard enough to stop drug use and that laws are too few and too lenient. Others argue that a fight against drugs is not needed, that society has already lost the war on drugs and the only way to remedy the problem is to end the fighting altogether by ending the criminalisation of drug use.
Many conflicting views exist on whether or not legislation has had the intended result of easing the problems of drug use. Many argue that legislation and the criminalisation of drugs have been counterproductive in controlling drug problems. Some suggest the criminalisation of drugs has actually contributed to and worsened the social ills associated with drugs.
Proponents of drug legalisation argue the war on drugs, not drugs themselves, is damaging to society. They say the strict enforcement of drug laws damages society because it drives people to violence and crime, creates corrupt law enforcement officers and overburdens the court system, thus rendering it ineffective. They also contend the criminalisation of drugs fuels organised crime, allows children to be pulled into the drug business and makes illegal drugs themselves more dangerous because they are manufactured without the appropriate standards or regulations. Hence, drugs may be adulterated or of unidentified potency leading to deaths when taken.
Another argument in favour of the legalisation of drugs is that legalisation would take the profits out of drug sales, thereby decreasing the value and demand of drugs.
In addition to the tangible costs, some legalisation advocates argue that drug prohibition is an impossible objective. To achieve a “drug-free society” is self-defeating and a misnomer because drugs have always been a part of human culture. In addition, they even argue that prohibition efforts indicate a disregard for the private freedom of individuals because they are employed under the assumption that individuals are unable to make their own choices.
People who favour legalising drugs feel this would give the government more control over the purity and potency of drugs and would allow the international drug trade to be regulated more effectively.
Legalisation, they argue, would also take the emphasis off law enforcement and allow more effort to be put on education, prevention and treatment.
Advocates for decriminalisation assert that most of the negative implications of drug prohibition would disappear.
Opponents of this view maintain that legalisation is not the solution to the drug problem and that it is a very dangerous idea. Legalisation, they say, will drastically increase drug use. They contend that if drugs are more accessible, more people will turn to drugs and this upsurge in drug use will come at an incredibly high price. They contend that society will be overrun with drug-related accidents, loss in worker productivity and hospital emergency rooms filled with drug-related emergencies, drug treatment efforts would be futile because users would have no legal incentive to stop taking drugs, users may prefer drugs rather than rehabilitation and education programmes may be ineffective in dissuading children from using drugs.
The feeling is that, despite their potential health risks, drug use would be allowed by law and that would have a bigger impact than education. Legalisation opponents argue that regulations to control drug use have a legitimate social aim to protect society and its citizens from the harm of drugs. Maintaining criminalisation is not a violation of personal freedom, rather, criminalisation allows a standard of control to be established in order to preserve human character and society as a whole.
The question is far from being resolved and I agree with Dr Grech we should not close the lid on it but allow an open discussion and analyse the research available about this subject. In this way, one will be able to formulate a drug policy for the future.
The author is a specialist in family medicine.