cannabisnews.com: Pursuing Drug Traffickers is No Way to Curb Crime 





Pursuing Drug Traffickers is No Way to Curb Crime 
Posted by FoM on January 06, 2000 at 20:25:43 PT
Opinion By Henry Cohen 
Source: Sun Spot
A recent letter suggested that "the problem in the past with shutting down Baltimore's open-air drug markets is that suppliers and consumers simply shuffle to another nearby location . . ." The solution, it said, is for the police to "shut down the illegal pharmacy before it has the opportunity to set up shop" ("Police must do more than just move drug markets," Dec. 29). 
As a shop cannot be shut down before it is set up, I assume the writer meant this satirically, as a comment on the proven futility of decades of drug prohibition. If we wish to eliminate the crime that comes with drug prohibition (which is the vast majority of violent crime in the city), then we have two choices. We can treat currently illegal drugs the way we treat alcohol and tobacco: tax and regulate their sale. Or we can have the government take over the drug market and distribute drugs at cost. If, however, we wish to continue to be victimized by violent crime, and attempt to imprison the one in eight adults in Baltimore who is a drug addict, then we can continue drug prohibition. Henry Cohen Baltimore Originally Published on 01/05/2000 SunSpot is Copyright © 1999 by The Baltimore Sun
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