The hidden cost of the war on drugs

[Loren Pechtel]

(Note: Limited-article paywall. Incognito mode will defeat it if you need to.)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...e57a76-72b7-11e5-9cbb-790369643cf9_story.html

It creates a lot of murders that the cops have little hope of solving--which means the risk of killing the person giving you trouble is low. Hence more murders.

 

[SimpleDon]

(Note: Limited-article paywall. Incognito mode will defeat it if you need to.)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...e57a76-72b7-11e5-9cbb-790369643cf9_story.html

It creates a lot of murders that the cops have little hope of solving--which means the risk of killing the person giving you trouble is low. Hence more murders.

There are a lot of other problems with the war on drugs beyond the effect on the murder rate.

The largest increase in abused drugs has been in the abuse of prescription drugs. When we have had spikes in prescription drug abuse before, in amphetamines and quaaludes, the primary way that we have solved it was by limiting the production of the drugs in question. But in the current one, of opiates, oxycontin, etc. we haven't done this. In fact the DEA currently authorizes big pharma to manufacture nearly 40 times the amount of opiates last year as in the mid 1990's. The reason, strong lobbying by the drug companies in the name of deregulation. More like in the name of profits.

A similar problem exists with the DEA's inability to restrict and to track the production of the chemical stocks used to produce methamphetamine. It is currently easier to buy a 200 liter barrel of the chemicals than it is to buy a box of antihistamine containing the chemical.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

(Note: Limited-article paywall. Incognito mode will defeat it if you need to.)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...e57a76-72b7-11e5-9cbb-790369643cf9_story.html

It creates a lot of murders that the cops have little hope of solving--which means the risk of killing the person giving you trouble is low. Hence more murders.

There are a lot of other problems with the war on drugs beyond the effect on the murder rate.

This is just one I hadn't expected.

The largest increase in abused drugs has been in the abuse of prescription drugs. When we have had spikes in prescription drug abuse before, in amphetamines and quaaludes, the primary way that we have solved it was by limiting the production of the drugs in question. But in the current one, of opiates, oxycontin, etc. we haven't done this. In fact the DEA currently authorizes big pharma to manufacture nearly 40 times the amount of opiates last year as in the mid 1990's. The reason, strong lobbying by the drug companies in the name of deregulation. More like in the name of profits.

A similar problem exists with the DEA's inability to restrict and to track the production of the chemical stocks used to produce methamphetamine. It is currently easier to buy a 200 liter barrel of the chemicals than it is to buy a box of antihistamine containing the chemical.

As far as I'm concerned the DEA shouldn't be limiting the amount of controlled substances being manufactured. If nothing else effective limits screw the consumer--because they can make it very hard to get the generic this way. Track it against diversion but don't limit the amounts.

If they want to do something about prescription drug abuse (and I'm not sure they should--they won't cure the addicts, they'll just drive them to heroin. It has the same risks as the prescription pills but add to that cutting agents, variable purity and the risks of needles) the answer is simple: A nationwide database of controlled prescription fills. No doctor can write for a controlled substance (other than for immediate administration in an emergency situation) without checking that database. The drug seekers will become obvious, the pill-mill docs will be easier to catch.