Libertarians on Drug Liberalization

Campus Report ^ | July 30, 2009 | Emily Kanyi

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Libertarians on Drug Liberalization

by: Emily Kanyi, July 30, 2009

President Barack Obama’s new drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske, picked up the mantle on the drug war scene by expressing a desire to shift from the descriptive language often used to refer to the drug problem. During an interview with the Wall Street Journal on May 14, Kerlikowske described the terminology “war on drugs” as unhelpful. “Regardless of how you try to explain to people ‘it’s a war on drugs’ or a ‘war on a product,’ people see a war as war on them. We’re not at war with the people in this country,” he said.

Speaking at a Cato Institute policy briefing on Capitol Hill, former congressman Bob Barr—once a drug warrior in the House—echoed Kerlikowske’s sentiments and said there is need to move away from the “war” language. “When you characterize something as a war, you immediately cause people to lock into their position, it’s war, we have battle and it is very difficult thereafter to move people away from that mentality, to get things done,” said Barr.

Timothy Lynch, the director of Project on Criminal Justice at Cato Institute also called on the government to “end the warfare-like mentality,” on drugs. “The federal government needs to take concrete steps to reverse policies that have fed this mentality,” he urged.

Lynch at the same time termed the current U.S. drug policy as a failure. “If the policy is to be judged according to its actual effects instead of just its promised benefits, I think you can come to the conclusion that the drug policy here in the United States has been a failure,” he said....

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Lynch said that channeling more money towards combating the drug problem, as has been the norm over the years, was not the solution. He called on the government to move away from tradition and shift its efforts towards other ways of dealing with the drug problem. “The next few months are going to tell us whether this administration is going to break out from this paradigm of just more money and where do we spend it,” he said.

The current generations think failure on this war is totally acceptable, so I would not predict a change in policy anytime soon. It will take a generation like the WWII generation to actually accomplish anything with regard to this, and I have not seen any sign of such a generation emerging.

The current generations think:

Government is the solution to all problems.
Ban everything we do not like.

[KarlInOhio]

“Regardless of how you try to explain to people ‘it’s a war on drugs’ or a ‘war on a product,’ people see a war as war on them. We’re not at war with the people in this country,” he said.

I'd have to see some evidence of that. There are still too many midnight no-knock raids on the wrong address where the people are handcuffed and the dogs are shot.

[GunRunner]

The current generations think failure on this war is totally acceptable, so I would not predict a change in policy anytime soon.

That's the point, its not a war on drugs as it was intended to be; its a war on the American people, their rights, and their liberties, as well as a huge drain on resources.

[bassmaner]

Cue the drug-warrior hypocrites who claim to hate big government, but sanction the ‘drug exception’ to the Constitution in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...

[Rodebrecht]

Don't you know anything? If you did then you'd know that only the government knows what's best to put in our bodies! Gosh darn libertarians, ruining the moral fabric of this country.



(End post, dripping of sarcasm.)

[corkoman]

Its a war on naughty vegetables. How stupid. Nanny-state irrational exuberance.

[Moonman62]

Libertarians need to purchase their own country and put their ideas in practice there.

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Libertarians need to purchase their own country and put their ideas in practice there.

Actually we just need to go back to our roots. No-knock searches, SWAT teams, and shooting innocent dogs are recent inventions of the stupidest generations in the history of this country, so we just need a generation to come along that isn't as dumb as us.

Even during prohibition the cops needed to knock at the speak-easys to get access, so we do not even have to go back that far.