five good reasons for legalizing drugs

Here's five reasons why it's time to legalize drugs:

• Prohibition doesn't work. Never has. Never will.
• Drug laws make criminals out of the victims, mostly poor, and rich men out of the operators.
• Save billions in wasted public spending. Money better spent on counselling, rehab and fighting poverty.
• Reduce funding for terrorists. The Taliban earn an estimated 40% of their funds from the illegal drug trade.
• Put an end to organized crime and a lot of disorganized crime. End prison overcrowding and make the streets safer. Not just in the US, but in countries like Mexico, Columbia and Afghanistan.

Moral principles are all very well, but you cannot make people good by passing laws. We can no longer afford to pay the price of this moral righteousness.

Legalizing drugs and liberalizing the supply is not going to lead to an increase in problem drug taking or a massive descent into addiction and depravity. All the evidence points the other way. Most drug takers are people who are isolated and unhappy in their lives. That's the real problem we should be addressing.

And legal drugs do not need to be heavily regulated. No more than alcohol or tobacco.

Drug laws are just another example of the triumph of ideology over good sense.