LOS ANGELES — Few debates in public policy are as controversial as the treatment of drugs. Prohibition has led to over-incarceration, black markets, violent cartels, and record-setting overdoses. A new policy study outlines how drug legalization could be implemented to improve outcomes for all parties impacted by drug use and the failed War on Drugs.
The Drug Legalization Handbook, published by Reason Foundation, the Law Enforcement Action Partnership, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, and the National Coalition for Drug Legalization, illustrates how strict prohibition has failed and details how a legal and regulated market for drugs—even hard drugs—could better address the underlying concerns of every relevant party in the drug debate.
The handbook covers several topics, including how to regulate, tax and test legal drugs, how to eliminate the Controlled Substances Act, the proper role of law enforcement, how to address addiction, how to limit access to adults, and more. The study also highlights harm reduction policies that could help individuals overcome addiction without incarcerating them and ruining their lives and offers ways that quality controls could help eliminate contaminants and reduce overdoses, including fentanyl deaths plaguing the country.
“America needs to recognize that we will not see a reduction in violent crimes until we legalize drugs. All drugs. We need to recognize that we will not see a reduction in opioid overdoses until we legalize opioids like heroin,” argues Veronica Wright, founder of the National Coalition for Drug Legalization and one of the study’s authors. “I ask that all who read this handbook keep an open mind. What is presented is unconventional, but it is clear that the current approach to drug use has failed.”
“The contributors to this volume hope to launch a national conversation about the drug war’s failure to protect the American public from harm,” says Geoffrey Lawrence, research director at Reason Foundation and one of the study’s authors. “We as a society should consider an alternative approach to drug policy based on reason and evidence.”
“Repealing the federal laws that treat drugs differently than other products is the best way forward. There is no need for the government to design rules and regulations for the sale of drugs; markets arise when needed. Letting the market solve a problem created by the government is the best possible outcome,” Dr. Jeffrey Miron, vice president for research at the Cato Institute and the director of graduate and undergraduate studies in the Department of Economics at Harvard University, and Erin Partin, research associate at the Cato Institute, write in their chapter of the handbook.
Full Study
The Drug Legalization Handbook is available here. It includes chapters authored by:
Neill Franklin, a 34-year law enforcement veteran and former executive director for the Law Enforcement Action Partnership.
Michael Galipeau, the national cannabis liaison for the National Survivors Union.
Geoffrey Lawrence, research director at Reason Foundation and the project director.
Michelle Minton, senior policy analyst at Reason Foundation.
Jeffrey Miron, vice president for research at the Cato Institute and the director of graduate and undergraduate studies in the Department of Economics at Harvard University.
Erin Partin, a research associate at the Cato Institute.
Jacob James Rich, a policy analyst at Reason Foundation and a PhD candidate at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine.
Jeffrey A. Singer, M.D., a senior fellow at the Cato Institute.
Howard Woolridge, co-founder of the Law Enforcement Action Partnership.
Veronica Wright, founder of the National Coalition for Drug Legalization.
About Reason Foundation
Reason Foundation is a non-profit think tank that conducts public policy research on education, transportation, and other issues. For more about Reason and its education research, visit Reason.org.
