McQuilkin is fond of disputing the claim that you cannot legislate
morality. While this may be debated, what does seem to be impossible is
to legislate vice. The War on Drugs began with Nixon in 1971 and can only
be described as one of the most significant war failures in history. A few
glaring examples of failure are that since 1980 over 1000% increases in
federal anti-drug spending and incarcerations for drug-related offenses
have led to more than a 1000% rise in fatal overdoses.[1]Moreover, the
U.S. prison population saw a 500 percent increase from 1977 to 2017, and
“it is widely accepted that it is the laws and policies of the criminal justice
system and not increases in crime that explain this
phenomenon.”[2]What is often needed by the government to scare
populations and push agendas are bogeymen. The Drug War is no
exception with Chinese opium dens in the late 1800s, the reefer madness
of the 1930s, to Columbian drug cartels and U.S. street gangs in the
1970s–90s, and Mexican cartels and pharmaceutical companies in the
2000s.[3]In the end, the majority of overdoses are not from banned
street drugs but from pharmaceutical and over-the-counter drugs.[4]The
Drug War, much like Prohibition, tried to legislate vice and, in doing so,
only created dangerous conditions and questionable incarcerations for
buyers, not decreasing but rather corrupting and distorting supply and
demand.
Although many decry the legalization of street drugs and predict
dire consequences, it is likely, given the statistics, that the negative
results would be far less catastrophic than alcohol or prescription drugs
are now. Relieving the prisons of a significant amount of offenders serving
time for non-violent drug possession charges could create a punishment
structure similar to alcohol offenses. Moreover, moving drugs into a
market structure such as alcohol and tobacco would cut down on crime
due to access and the safety in the formulation. McQuilkin observes that
“upwards of 75 percent of convicted criminals could be punished in
alternative ways at no risk of violence.”[5]McQuilkin also observes the
famous Tacitus quote that “The more corrupt the Republic, the more
laws.”[6]The United States has so many laws that the only outcome can
be corruptness. Space prohibits exploration of corruptness within the
federal government and the drug war, but this, along with the
wastefulness of government, is well known and documented. In the end,
McQuilkin is accurate in his assessment, “It seems that all that can be
done by law is to hold a person accountable for unwarranted injury to
another’s property or person or for behavior that might jeopardize
another.”[7]
Finally, Christians can do their part by opening up their churches
for counseling and advising those with addictions or family members
coping with addicted members. Many churches already do this with drugs,
alcohol, and sexual abuse. People are responsible for their actions
regardless of their upbringing, race, social status, or background.
McQuilkin correctly observes, “Crime’s root is sin, and the final
responsibility for crime rests with the sinner.”[8]
Word Count: 576
[1]Christopher M. White,The War on Drugs in the Americas(New York:
Routledge, 2019), 1.
[2]Horace A. Bartilow,Drug Wasr Pathologies: Embedded Corporatism
and U.S. Drug Enforcement in the Americas(Chapel Hill: University of
North Carolina Press, 2019), 9.
[3]White,The War,119.
[4]Ibid., 119.
[5]Robertson McQuilkin, and Paul Copan,An Introduction to Biblical
Ethics: Walking in the Way of Wisdom(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity
Press, 2014), 442.
[6]Ibid., 534.
[7]Ibid., 432.
[8]Ibid., 431.
