10-11-2016, 09:43 AM
I recently read "Good Cop, Bar War" by Neil Woods, a former undercover drugs squad officer in the UK. He had 14 years undercover busting sellers. What is interesting is that he came around to the legalisation side of the argument. His account focuses on much "harder" drugs than cannabis, but I think the point holds. He likens the outcome of the war on drugs as rather like the cold war (specifically the arms race).
So a gang gets busted by an undercover operator. They go to jail. But the market is still there for drugs, so another gang will fill the vacuum. Understandably, they don't want to get busted the same way, so take ever more violent action to enforce silence. The end point is cities where small time dealers or deal-users know they will end up dead if they say anything. Think of what has happened in Mexico.
I realise I'm conflating all drugs here, and drug might be an unhelpful term when discussing medical use of cannabis. But over all the book is quite a good read, although the writer spends a lot of time explaining himself and justifying actions, I think the basic insight is correct. Some form of controlled market would reduce other forms of crime and really help the problem with gangs in big cities.
So a gang gets busted by an undercover operator. They go to jail. But the market is still there for drugs, so another gang will fill the vacuum. Understandably, they don't want to get busted the same way, so take ever more violent action to enforce silence. The end point is cities where small time dealers or deal-users know they will end up dead if they say anything. Think of what has happened in Mexico.
I realise I'm conflating all drugs here, and drug might be an unhelpful term when discussing medical use of cannabis. But over all the book is quite a good read, although the writer spends a lot of time explaining himself and justifying actions, I think the basic insight is correct. Some form of controlled market would reduce other forms of crime and really help the problem with gangs in big cities.