Thursday, 05.08.08
Higher Learning
Photo by Flickr User Andronikusmax under a creative commons license
Reefer Madness
August 1994
Read Eric Schlosser's landmark piece about America's irrational drug policy.
More Reefer Madness
April 1997
Eric Schlosser writes another report on unjust sentencing for non-violent drug convictions.
Where's Captain Renault when you need him? I'm shocked, shocked, to learn that drug dealing is rampant at fraternities at San Diego State (one of Playboy's top 10 party schools). Actually, what shocks me is the price the student dealers were charging for cocaine: $35 a gram. In my college days almost 30 years ago, at a small, northeastern liberal-arts school with a less illustrious party heritage, a gram cost $100. So in constant dollars, the price of cocaine has fallen by 85 percent, to about $16 a gram -- imagine how many more coke-fueled novels Jay McInerney could have written at that price!
You'd have to be sucking on a doobie as big as a submarine to think our current drug-control policies work: from 1982 to 2005, the Drug Enforcement Administration's budget increased roughly tenfold, the national arrest rate for drug offenses more than doubled (from 286 per 100,000 to 600 per 100,000) ... and a dangerous drug like cocaine became dramatically less expensive. Meanwhile, busts for the possession of marijuana, which also figured prominently in the San Diego State investigation, still account for the most drug arrests in this country.
The war on drugs not only wastes law-enforcement resources, it also corrodes our respect for the law in general. Using a relatively benign drug like marijuana should become a regulated pastime, indulged in by consenting adults, much like drinking alcohol or gambling. Drunk driving kills more than 17,000 people each year, and 3 percent of the U.S. population meets the criteria for "problem gamblers." But no one talks seriously about reviving the 18th Amendment or shuttering Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Why? Because Prohibition taught us that banning such activities creates a nation of lawbreakers and a popular culture that exalts criminality. Costly, dubious, and ineffective legal strictures just end up undermining the social compact they're intended to reinforce.
But I still don't have much patience for the reaction from the "can't-we-all-just-do-a-bong" crowd, some of whom criticized the DEA for arresting these kids, and the university's president for cooperating in the investigation. The law is the law is the law, whether it prohibits hiring illegal immigrants, cheating on your taxes, or not dealing and smoking dope. If you don't like the law, work to change it. If you break the law, you take your chances. And don't be shocked, shocked, when the authorities actually enforce it.
War of failureBen Wallace-Wells says we continue "to treat marijuana as a major threat to public health, even though we know it isn't" in this blockbuster report. |
Best fix?Jacob Sullum and Charles Stimson debate whether legalizing drugs would increase addiction. |
Demand, supplyL. Jacobo Rodriguez says that fighting trafficking makes no economic sense "so long as drugs remain illegal in the United States." |
Non-partisan truthThe National Review held a symposium on drug laws and found that "We all agree on movement toward legalization, even though we may differ on just how far." |
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I was a student at the University of Virginia in 1991 when the DEA raided three fraternities there, including mine, Tau Kappa Epsilon. Furthermore, I was one of the twelve students arrested- for two doses of LSD- and ended up serving a year in a federal prison.
Given my experience, my first guess is that the vast majority of the students arrested were busted for one or a couple of small transactions, including ones where the informants were stalking them to get them to sell. Either that or some bogus conspiracy charge.
SDSU apparently doesn't believe in "innocent until proven guilty," having stated that it has already suspended the accused students and evicted those living in university housing out of their homes.
My final point is that I hope these guys stay strong. I realize that it's real hard for them right now, But I will assure them that they will get through it. I ended up doing a year, but in retrospect, I feel a lot better about myself for doing the right thing- keeping my mouth shut and not ratting anyone out.
Oh, and get back to school and finish your degree. You will have to overcome obstacles and you'll probably have to work really low-paying jobs for years after you get out of college, and volunteer doing the work you want to do while doing it, but you will make it. My experience led me to social work and prison reform activism. I don't what I'd be doing now if I wasn't an ex-con and a felon- probably making more money- but I feel good about the work I do.
Jamie, you're right. This case has been greatly exaggerated. Now that more of the details are starting to come out, they paint a different picture (just do some googling). It turns out that only 18 students were arrested in the raid. The initial numbers they gave out were actually cumulative arrests over the course of the entire investigation. Most of these were just small-time misdemeanor possession charges. There were also some gang members who rented an apartment in San Diego that were supplying much of the drugs. I think they inflated the numbers and hyped it up to get lots of press and make it look like they were accomplishing something. Also keep in mind, this is an election year, and drug policy will likely be a topic of debate soon.
James, law enforcement does have the ability to exercise some discretion and set priorities. This doesn't seem like money well spent to me. There are a lot of laws on the books that don't get enforced. For instance, several states still have sodomy laws. The DEA is well-known for wasting limited resources that could be better spent elsewhere (like they do with medical marijuana, for instance).
Anyway, there is some marijuana legislation in congress right now -- HR 5842 and 5843. Also, John Conyers, of the House Judiciary Commitee has demanded some answers from DEA regarding raiding Medical Marijuana clinics, and they might be holding hearings on that soon. http://www.americansforsafeaccess.org/ConyersLetter
Talk about cheap? $120 in my day which was equivalent to two weeks of drinking.
Current drug laws produce two major benefits for our corrupt occupation government.
First, by selective enforcement and judicial fascism, they take large numbers of black people off the voter rolls by convicting them of felonies.
Second, they provide billions in bribes for countless officials and police and an undocumented source of money for our "intelligence" community.
Repealing the drug laws would free up billions for treatment and other useful activities such as infrastructure repair and education and bankrupt the drug cartels. Any politician or government official who opposes repeal should be asked to document their freedom from drug bribes and ties to drug enforcement contractors.
The law is the law is the law? Hardly. If it were, half the Bush administration would be in jail.
As a loyal Current reader for the last few months, I just wanted to send my compliments to Mr. Gibney -- his pieces are consistently among the best you offer, and "Higher Learning" might be my new favorite. Well done-
Amen. After all, what's to abuse anymore but the law, and ourselves (read: BOOMERS), for not stepping up in the last couple of decades to change the law. Besides, the San Diego students were getting a great deal: investment bankers still pay $100 or more per gram...but hey, we can afford it, right?
I am a 28 year old current non-pot smoker who lives in VT. My social circles ranges in age from 20 somethings to 50+ somethings. Almost everyone who I spend time with here either uses marijuana as a recreational drug or recognizes the reality that it is as common (or more so) as drinking or smoking cigarettes. The tragedies that affect this state commonly consist of drunk driving accidents and crimes evolved from drug addiction. I find it disturbing that so much of this drug war is wasted on targeting harmless marijuana cultivators and users. Yes, it can be abused, but the fact is that I don't know any functional habitual cocaine addicts, but I do know many successful, healthy wonderful people who enjoy smoking pot.
Posted by courtney | May 8, 2008 9:49 PM