I Hate Drugs--And That's Why I Want To Legalize Them

The death of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman is publicly being treated as a great tragedy.  For his family, friends, and fans, and for the art of acting, it is without any doubt an enormous loss.  But tragedies, by definition, are inevitable.  Hoffman's death wasn't--or, at least, it shouldn't have been, his addiction notwithstanding.  This explains why in greater detail and, perhaps more than anything else about the sad end to a life and a great career, it is well worth your attention.  It should be worth the attention of every lawmaker at every level in every country in the world.  Especially here in the United States, the world's biggest collection of addicts.

Let me get something out of the way at the beginning:  I hate drugs.  Of all the changes in American society that took place in the 1960s, the explosion of narcotics use is by far the worst one.  It has shortened too many lives, damaged too many brains, and collectively made us a society hooked on pleasure rather that self-improvement and adventure.  I am convinced beyond all persuasion that they have played a key role in moving society to the right in the 1970s and 1980s, based on my experience with the evangelical community.  Nine times out of ten, I found a history of drug abuse as part of an evangelical's conversion narrative.

But there is something I hate almost as much as drugs, if not more so.  And that is the way we have responded to the growth of their use--by declaring "war" on them.  We have decimated cities, filled prisons to capacity (and beyond), almost broken the back of our collective criminal justice system, and spent literally billions of dollars that could have been spent on so many truly valuable things.  All to fight what Ronald Reagan jingoistically called a war on drugs.  An ironic way to put it because, to paraphrase Reagan's assessment of the war on poverty, drugs have won--hands down.

And they didn't have to.

I have believed, for a very long time, that the key to fighting the common vices of organized human society--tobacco, alcohol, narcotics, gambling, prostitution, and every other form of addictive behavior--is knowledge.  When it comes to dealing with our deepest and most powerful compulsions, knowing why we do what we do, and how we can reprogram our behavior, is a thousand times more powerful than the power of the sword.  And, for that reason, every human vice should be treated by government at all levels not as a police issue, but as a public-health one.  Limited legalization, followed up by public information programs and treatment options are always the way to go.  Contrast the effects of Prohibition with those of the Surgeon-General's warning on cigarette packages, and you won't need me to make the point.

It's not too late to treat Hoffman's death as a wake-up call, and start discussing a sane approach to drug use that followed the public-health model rather than the police one.  It is, sadly, too late for Hoffman.  I hope and pray that he rests in peace.  I think he's more likely to do so if we consider his unnecessary passing to be a teachable moment.