Drugs R Us
May 5,2006

The PurpleThink computer crashed last week. This kept our blog writing out of commission for a while. The virus de jour may yet be cured -- our tech buddies have some good techno-drugs. We got up-and-running on a temporary portal and thought a drug discussion was timely on a couple of different fronts.

The Mexican legislature sent Vincente Fox a bill this week that would legalize possession of small quantities of nearly every drug.

Pot? No problem mon. Meth? Welcome Y’all. Crack? Word.

Don’t worry. The U.S. media had a field day and Fox buckled under the pressure. The purpose would have been to reduce the burden on law enforcement. By legalizing personal quantities of drugs, cops could concentrate on the dealers and reduce spending on incarceration for non-violent abusers.

Americans have a knee-jerk reaction to this kind of news. A negative one. After all, most of us grew up with 60-Minute docu-specials on junkies and how drugs can destroy their lives. The “Just Say No” culture is strong and the thought of government condoning drug use is unfathomable to most of us.

Making it even more difficult to understand is how decriminalization works in most countries. The Mexican model would have been much like the Dutch one. Selling drugs is illegal, buying drugs is illegal, but possession and use of small quantities is tolerated. Some find this very hard to understand. The Dutch coffee shops in Amsterdam with exclusive rights to sell small drug quantities had to buy the drugs themselves, didn’t they? The woman smoking Hash with her coffee certainly must have purchased it, yes? The heroin users had to get their supply from someone, right?

While it may not make much sense, the system seems to work pretty well. PurpleThink has friends from Holland and it doesn’t seem to be a problem. The crime rate is minimal and seldom drug related. The number of addicts per capita is in line with other developed nations and the health system is, well, healthy. Could it be that decriminalization works?

Most PurpleThinkers do not want to see rates of drug use rising after so many years of decline. The behavior of young people is greatly influenced by society and our laws speak for society’s will. However, one can very well argue that the violence associated with drug trafficking continues to destroy thousands of young lives each year. Young urban youth choose between $6 an hour at McDonald's or $500 a day selling crack. The gangs have power only through the black market – a black market that would largely disappear with limited decriminalization.

Fact is, drugs destroy lives in two ways -- through drug use and a life of crime. We have a choice with only half the problem. It may be time to exercise that choice. PurpleThinkers look at this issue and believe it’s time for local governments to be permitted to experiment with limited decriminalization. The State of California wouldn’t be a good pilot test, but how about 8 counties in, say, Nevada. We say 8 counties in Nevada because that is exactly the number that have legalized prostitution.

Since "decriminalization" of prostitution, STD rates are down and not a single legal prostitute has ever contracted HIV. Health codes are strictly enforced and violence against these women is strongly prosecuted. Some workers even get vacation days and subsidized health care.

This PurpleThinker is monogomous and not a drug user. While PurpleThinkers have morals, we also understand that to value liberty, one must sometimes accept insulted sensibilites for the greater good. This just may well be one of those times.

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