Sweet and Short: The Case for Decriminalizing Drugs

Neal Boortz (Somebody’s Gotta Say It):

When I introduce myself as a card-carrying Libertarian, more often than not I get the same old response: ‘Oh, you’re the people who want to legalize drugs.’ Well, not exactly. We’re the people who understand that American taxpayers are paying absurd amounts of money to accomplish goals that could be met at a fraction of the cost. We’re the people who think it’s ridiculous that the majority of the growth in our prison populations in this country is due to slamming people in jail just because they were caught using drugs. We’re the ones who understand that so much of the crime on the streets of our country is drug-related–crime that would largely disappear if the massive profits brought on by drug criminalization were eliminated. We’re the party that understands that you can reduce drug usage more efficiently, and at a lower cost, through treatment than through law enforcement.