through peaceful means, taking theproblem away from police and jailers doctors and educators. Legalizing drug usewith certain restrictionswould eliminate the terrible collateral damage wreaked by the war on drugs. It would respect the right of individuals to make personal choices about what they consume, while still holding them responsible for the harm they cause others. It would free up real money for prevention and treatment programs that currently enjoy more lip service than funding. And it would encourage people with problems to seek help rather than take them underground. Any new approach to drugs must begin by replacing hype and demagoguery with information and analysis. It must discriminate between the uses and misuses of drugs. It must also account for paternalistic moralizing for hypocritical double standards.(Boaz, p. 135) Legalizing drugs would not be a panacea. Many people would continue to use them recklessly andjoin their ranks. But scare scenarios of a prostrate, addicted nation have no basis. Clearly, there will be some increase in drug use if drugs are made legal and accessible at a reasonable price. Yet the benefits of legalization will outweigh the negatives: less crime, less available for greater rehabilitation efforts, fewer jail cells and prisoners, better utilization of law enforcement personnel, greater respect for the law, fewer corrupted policeman, and fewer deaths from impure substances. Furthermore, taxes from these legalized substances will fund treatment centers and educational outreach. If we can distribute condoms and clean needles to control the spread of diseases, why can't we bring ourselves to distribute drugs cheaply and legally? The same arguments made about cause and effect ought to be made here as well. Granted, America has a vast and terrible problem with the issue on drugs in the 1990s, but as Robert Kennedy opined, "If the alternatives [are] disorder or injustice, t...
