Drug war failure
My condolences to families of the six people who are the latest victims of Thailand’s failing drug policy.
When drugs are legal for personal use, drug deaths drop. There is a popular belief that legalising drugs must lead to an increase in drug use, addiction and harmful drug use: this “common knowledge” is perhaps common, but it is not in fact knowledge; it is false. “Aside from marijuana and new psychoactive substances, drug use for all other drugs has fallen below 2001 levels” (ibid). The same lesson was learned in the US experiment with alcohol prohibition from 1920 to 1933, that great boon to the mafia and corrupt officials. The same is reflected in before and after statistics for marijuana use in US states over recent years. Drug usage rates are not strongly related to legality. If more evidence were needed that it is factually wrong to equate criminalising drugs with reduced use, the regular reports of massive seizures in Thailand show that demand remains strong and that the supply is being met by criminals that bad law invites to make high profits.
Criminalising the personal decisions of adults only increases drug harm to both users and to society. Current failing drug policy incites criminals to supply the demand. If drugs were legal, they would be supplied by respectable, registered business people who would worry about their reputations in the open market. Quality would be assured. The product would be traceable back to the producers and suppliers, who could be held accountable, just as the drug barons of the alcohol and tobacco industries are held accountable by Thai law for the harm their drugs cause, including many deaths by overdose among alcohol users, by cancer among cigarette users and by road deaths among innocent victims of drugged-up drivers.
Other obvious practical benefits to legalising personal drug use are that taxes are collected. In contrast, at the moment a fortune in tax funds and police resources are wasted on the ever-failing drug wars that do not reduce drug harm to Thai society. Those wasted financial and police resources could and should be diverted to preventing and bringing to justice crimes with actual victims, such as murder, rape, theft, fraud, and even corruption.
Consumers do not choose to buy a product of dubious quality from a criminal when a safe, regulated option is available from a legally registered supplier. And when their drug use is legal, it is much easier for those whose drug use causes problems to seek help without fear of being punished.
The blame for these latest deaths caused by drugs rests ultimately with Thai authorities who refuse to reform a policy that has for many decades been a total failure. But it’s worse than that: the current policy of many decades actively worsens harm by drugs. This policy is in every way morally indefensible.