Three Fatal Flaws with the War on Drugs

U.S. War on Supply

1. “Target drugs at the source by pressuring foreign governments to eliminate [drug] production … and to attack the refining facilities”

2. “Target drugs at or en route to U.S. Borders”

3. “Go after drugs within the United States by trying to locate, arrest, and prosecute drug dealers and to seize drug supplies”

The Flaws in the War on Supply

Governments look at the drug trade as a crime problem rather than as a business

The policies that result actually drive the drug trade

“If the cocaine industry commissioned a consultant to design a mechanism to ensure its profitability, it could not have done better than the War on Drugs: just enough pressure to inflate prices, but not enough to keep its product from the market.”

The Flaws in the War on Supply

Profit Paradox: its success in artificially raising prices also inflates profit – they provide a steady incentive for drug suppliers to remain in the trade and for new suppliers to enter

Hydra Effect: self-reproduction of trade - attempts to stamp out drug production and dealing often spread the problem and make hard-fought gains short-lived

The hydra effect and the profit paradox work together to make efforts to diminish the supply not work

At the Source: The War Abroad

“Production costs are so low that traffickers can easily pay more to refiners – who can easily pay more to growers – when needed, in order to keep the profitable supply flowing”

Countries where the drugs are grown, do not fight as actively against the drugs (as it can be a vital part to their politics and economy)

Corruption can be widespread as Government officials who earn low salaries can supplement their income through the drug trade

“Ironically, then, the more aggressive the antidrug campaign, the more corruption may spread”

When one drug trade organization or group is taken down, another quickly arises to take it's place

At the Borders: The Interdiction War

Huge profits are earned by smuggling drugs into the U.S., so people are willing to chance it and successful interdiction becomes out of reach

New smuggling routes spring up when old routes can't be used

Interdiction has little impact on the availability or price of drugs in the U.S.

On the Streets: The War at Home

The profit paradox and the hydra effect make success in the long-run difficult

It is easy to enter the drug trade in the U.S. and it has low cost

New suppliers are readily available after old ones are arrested

Even though the prices are high, there are still millions of users who still pay the price

The Flaw in the War Against Users

Traditionally this has been the second-front in the war

“The logic of the war against users is straightforward: strategies to make drugs scarce and costly in order to discourage consumption should be backed by sanctions against the consumers themselves”

The Flaw in the War Against Users

“The threat of punishment is supposed to deter an individual from using drugs; and once a user is caught, the infliction of punishment is supposed to deter future use”

This punish-to-deter fallacy is the fatal flaw in the war against drug users

Laws that seek to punish dealers for possession fail to distinguish between dealers who sell for a profit and user-dealers who sell to buy drugs themselves, often because they are addicted

Feeds the cycle of addiction-based crime

The Flaw in the War Against Users

How effectively does punishment deter use?

Jeffrey Fagen found that punishment does not deter use and that the longer the length of the sentence, the increased probability of been rearrested.

Prison environment can actually encourage drug use

The Flaw in the War Against Users

“The deep flaw in the war against users is its conception of what motivates and constrains human action”

How can we make filling that desire so costly that this individual will not consume?

Myth: the failing drug strategy is fixable

Myth: “the drug war itself does little or no harm”

Conclusion

“We all pay a high price for the health and crime costs exacerbated or created by drug war policies.”