No Simple Solutions Here

It's a dreadful social, political conundrum.  What to do about the iniquitous pervasiveness of illegal 'recreational' drug use in society.  The toll at the personal level it takes on people who become addicted is enormous.  The additional toll it takes for society to render assistance to those with broken health as a result of their addiction, public security services and the justice system to deal with those whose addiction has led them to criminal acts, is enormous.

Drug interdiction has failed.  Criminalizing drug use has led to its proliferation through criminal gangs profiting from prices they can command in dealing with both hard and soft drugs.  There are so many among us who believe that the laws should be relaxed with respect to soft drugs like marijuana, that simple possession should be decriminalized, and that's beneficent to those whose lives have been impacted by the laws deeming them criminals, but it also leads to a pathway toward hard drug use.

The Government of Canada has just mandated (omnibus crime bill) a six-month minimum sentence for anyone growing six or more marijuana plants who shares a joint with a friend.  Even though our top executive-branch lawmaker has recently stated "I think what everyone believes and agrees with, and to be frank myself, is that the current approach is not working."

He's right, everyone's right, but we are invested in criminalizing and punishing people who prefer to continue injuring themselves in the use of illegal drugs.  To do otherwise, obviously, is to allow the drug trade to run amok, and to involve government in the role of overseer, while shutting out drug gangs.  There are no easy answers; to normalize recreational drug use as a casual past time means giving it a green light for social acceptance.

"It is not clear what we would do.  But with respect to drug use in Canada, a willingness to look at the various measures that can be taken to combat [it]."  In terms of simple answers like legalization or criminalization, let me remind you of why these drugs are illegal.  They're illegal because they quickly and totally with many of the drugs, destroy people's lives and people are willing to make lots of money out of selling those products." Prime Minister Stephen Harper

He's entirely correct.  But there are other addictive 'recreational' substances equally harmful to human health, one of which was once declared illegal and as a result a criminal black market trade in liquor resulted, at great cost to society in terms of territorial gang wars, policing costs and ordinarily law-abiding citizens becoming complicit with law-breaking activities.

Tobacco, long recognized as a carcinogen, and one of the leading causes of cancers, heart and stroke and general body breakdown, remains a popular drug among many people whose addiction to nicotine marks them as prisoners of the industry.  Alcohol consumption, while representing part of the social relaxation scene, drives some people to excess, and it destroys vital human organs, causing countless early deaths. 

Both of these substances are legal to manufacture, distribute and purchase.  As much as the makers and purveyors of these substances spend on marketing, public relations and advertising, governments also spend public funding on alerting people to the harms of their use in excess.  Even when alcohol is not used in excess, but just bordering it, its use when combined with motor vehicles is catastrophic.

Needless to say, both of these socially acceptable substances represent a great source of revenue through taxation, for governments.  Were recreational drug possession to be legalized, it too would be heavily taxed through control mechanisms.  Those habits that represent substances whose use the body reacts badly to in excess, are similar to activities like gambling that government has also legalized through management and which also provides a rich source of taxation.

Prohibition of any popular substance that people find value in using as a tool in relaxing social inhibitions or in mood elevation simply never works.  Society is presented with a real, unsolvable dilemma; prohibit and police, or lift the prohibition and guide, mentor and ameliorate.  On the latter option the door is pretty well left open to the personal option of over-use with its concomitant and inevitable addiction leading to ill health and social decline, for ten to twenty percent of the population.

Lift the prohibition and the expensive and hard-to-obtain drugs like cocaine and opium plummet in price and become more accessible to a greater number of people who revel in the opportunity to use these drugs to elevate their spirits and ultimately deaden their consciousness.  The criminal underworld that the drug cartels represent would then look around for another source of income.

But they, like the largely self-sought, self-imposed substances of personal abuse will always remain a curse on society.