Libertarians believe that drug prohibition is costly and ineffective. Prohibition encourages violence, since participants in banned activities cannot use legal, peaceful means to resolve disputes. Moreover, people who transact drugs are already hiding from authorities and thus are less concerned about employing violence. Underground markets also increase overdoses and poisonings since quality control is difficult. Prohibition reduces respect for the law, inhibits medicinal use of various drugs, promotes racial profiling and infringements on civil liberties, and spreads violence and corruption both domestically and in source countries. In 2020, Oregon decriminalized possession of small amounts of hard drugs such as fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine. Earlier this year, however, Oregon recriminalized drugs in response to high rates of overdose deaths and open-air drug use. Free-market skeptics claim the state's unsuccessful policy experiment is evidence supporting prohibition.
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Table of Contents
- Libertarians believe that drug prohibition is costly and ineffective. 1
- Prohibition encourages violence since participants in banned activities 1
- Prohibition reduces respect for the law inhibits medicinal use of 1
- In 2020 Oregon decriminalized possession of small amounts of hard 1
- This view is incorrect. First recent research found that fentanyl saturated 1
- Oregonʼs illegal drug market around the same time that decriminalization 1
- Second Oregonʼs policy failed not because it legalized possession but 1
- Decriminalization reduces penalties for use which is presumably good for 1
- Indeed successful decriminalization experiments like Portugalʼs relaxed 1
- 2000 suggesting that their policy changes reduced supply-side violence. 2
- Beyond these points effective legalization must repeal federal prohibition. 2
- While state-by-state legalization is valuable in part because it signals 2
- This article appeared on Substack on November 6 2024. Jonah Karafiol 2
