Brad, I think you and Norm need to put down your bongs, because the left turn signal on the vehicle that is the USA is broken. We’re only turning right now-a-days. Forget health care and legalizing drugs, lets go to War!

You ask “What do we do about the junkies?� That’s a good question, but the junkies that inhabit our city now will be here regardless of whether drugs are legal or illegal. The question is, How can we afford to treat them or keep them from committing crimes to support their habits? Stamper argues that legalizing all drugs will free up billions of dollars spent fighting the War on Drugs —“about $69 billion a year, according to Jack Cole, founder and executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.� It’s not clear to me if that figure includes the cost of incarcerating non-violent offenders, so I’ll leave it at that for now.

There’s also this quote from the article that I did not include in the post:

“Regulated legalization would soon dry up most stockpiles of currently illicit drugs — substances of uneven, often questionable quality (including “bunk,” i.e., fakes such as oregano, gypsum, baking powder or even poisons passed off as the genuine article). It would extract from today’s drug dealing the obscene profits that attract the needy and the greedy and fuel armed violence. And it would put most of those certifiably frightening crystal meth labs out of business once and for all.”

Stamper’s point is that the “bunk” would eventually go away, and the violence associated with illegal drug dealing would also go away. All drugs would be under state control and subject to taxation. The collected taxes and the savings from not fighting the futile War on Drugs could be used to rehabilitate those who want to be rehabilitated.

He doesn’t go much beyond that in his column, but the logical path leads to some sort of state-run safe houses or shelters to house those who are terminally addicted to drugs. Such facilities should be far less expensive than prisons.

All of the problems associate with addictive drugs will never go away. There will always be people who abuse drugs and end up unable to function in society. Stamper argues that we need to take a good long look at our current method of solving the problem and find a new way. His solution starts with legalizing drugs, it certainly doesn’t end there

But legalization Won’t Stop Junkies from existing. Junkies can’t hold down jobs. Junkies won’t be able to earn money to pay for legal drugs, just like alcoholics on the street can’t. They will still steal and commit other crimes for drugs. They will still be high on the street. They will defecate and urinate on the street. They will rant and rave. They will commit assault. They will be victimized by other criminals.

So: what do we do about the junkies? Seattle doesn’t allow the homeless to be forcibly removed from the streets–what will be done with the junkies?

Junkies destroy neighborhoods. They create social problems that we all have to pay for. Explain to me how legalization stops this problem when you can’t force people into rehab (and most would argue it wouldnt’ work anyway.)