To the editors:
Furthermore, Scigliano dismisses lightly the idea that more drug users, which he admits will result from legalization, will lead to more addicts. But the fact is that a certain portion of drug users will always end up, whether for physiological, sociological, or psychological reasons, as addicts, according to all the experts. And while it takes about 15 years to become a full-fledged alcoholic, it only takes 7-15 months to get addicted to cocaine. While only an estimated 10 percent of the nation’s drinkers are drunkards, some experts say that as many as 75 percent of cocaine users are addicts.
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Levinsohn ignores the conclusion I draw after summarizing the arguments for legalization: that it is “the end we should work toward, though we’re not ready to embrace it yet,” by “preparing for the burdens of responsibility that it would impose.” I endorsed such intermediate steps as decriminalization of marijuana for personal use, tests of its legal production and sale with careful monitoring of results, and, more generally, “policies based on the specific dangers of each drug–rather than a blanket declaration of war.” Most important, we should shift our money and our expectations from demonstratedly futile eradication, interdiction, and enforcement to drug treatment and education.
