The Economic Argument for Legalization
June 4th, 2011 • 5 Comments
*All costs are in Canadian dollars and reflect rates in Canada.
If stripped down to simply an economic concern, the argument for decriminalization and legalization of marijuana and other narcotics is rather compelling. The costs inherent in criminalization of drugs are vast and not fully comprehended. They have become hidden parts of other, larger expenses, and it is difficult to determine exactly what portion of a cost results from drug use and how much from related sources. Costs involving a direct burden to the taxpayer include healthcare, enforcement, judiciary, and corrections. The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse estimated in its 2009-2010 annual report that over $40 billion is spent purchasing illicit drugs or trying to enforce narcotics laws every year. Related costs to society can include damage to property or physical harm to citizens from petty and organized criminal activities. Because drug use has been pushed for the most part to the fringes of society, it has also been pushed to the fringes of public spaces; users in high-risk groups tend to frequent less than desirable, unsanitary areas where the scarcity of clean needles increases the chances of infection and illness. Continue reading ‘The Economic Argument for Legalization.’
The Philosophical Argument Against Prohibition
May 31st, 2011 • 1 Comment
Before one can decide whether or not making certain drugs illegal is an appropriate course of action, one must consider the principle question behind it: can government tell citizens what they can and cannot do as long as their actions do not impinge on the rights of other citizens?
On one hand, people have the right to personal autonomy. If we do not allow individuals autonomy we cannot say that they are morally responsible for anything that they do. Without autonomy a person cannot retain their dignity as a human being, and without their ability to determine their personal behavior people cannot be considered to be free in the customary sense of the liberal-democratic heritage. In Canada this heritage is expressly acknowledged by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms which in §.7, guarantees the right to life, liberty, and the security of persons. There is, however, a limit to what the Charter provides, and as a society we give up parts of our liberty for rules to help protect us from the actions of others. The question is where to draw the line in surrendering aspects of our freedom. Continue reading ‘The Philosophical Argument Against Prohibition.’
History of Drug Prohibition in Canada
May 31st, 2011 • 1 Comment
The Canadian government has been experimenting with different laws prohibiting drugs since 1908. As more drugs came to the attention of authorities, laws were modified to deal with their impact, real and imagined, on Canadian society. While at first there were laws on specific types of drugs such as opium, there was a gradual movement towards more comprehensive laws.
Some were in part a response to a political backlash against the import of foreign labor. Following an influx of Chinese labor in the mid-nineteenth century there was a downturn in the number of jobs available, because Chinese laborers without families could work for lower wages than Canadians. They were in effect prohibited from bringing women over from China by the Chinese Head Tax levied between 1885 and 1923 of $50, which they could not afford to pay. This was done to protect white laborers, but it did not slow the immigration from China, just limited it to mainly men. These same workers brought with them opium, which they had become accustomed to smoking in China. Continue reading ‘History of Drug Prohibition in Canada.’
