Drug Policy Debate

Non- War On Drug Approaches

• FAQ: Legalization/ Alternatives to the War on Drugs: an introduction to legalization, decriminalization, harm reduction, etc.

Anti- War On Drug
• abby: letters to 'Dear Abby' against the War on Drugs (1994)
• aint.nobodys.business: article on 'the absurdity of consensual laws in a free society' (1993)
• anti-prohibition.article: Nadelmann article against drug prohibition
• bankrupting: 'Bankrupting a Society', against the War on Drugs in California (1993)
• bring.drugs.within.the.law: Economist article for exploring options (1993)
• buckley: quotes and an article by conservative columnist William F. Buckley (1992,3)
• call.it.war: NY Times editorial against drug war (1994)
• condoning: hypocrisy in the Partnership for a Drug-Free America (1994)
• criminality: essay on the difference between 'Criminality and Breaking the Law' (1992)
• dennis.miller: comedian talks about the absurdity of drug prohibition (1994)
• dethrone.the.drug.czar: a judge's editorial against the war on drugs (1993)
• drug.laws.aid.crime: 'No progress will be made against the crime rate--regardless of the number of new crime bills--until drugs are legalized and the welfare system is reformed.' (1993)
• drug.war.and.const: The Drug War and the Constitution (1991)
• moral.culture: 'Moral Culture of Prohibition' from the Humanist (1994)
• mj.enforcement.in.ca: the costs of California's war on marijuana (1993)
• nylawyers: 'A Wiser Course: Ending Drug Prohibition' a report by the Association of the Bar of the City of New York (95K, 1994)
• police.news: 5 articles from a police journal calling for a new drug policy (1994)
• policy-prob: what's the real problem with American drug policy? (1989)
• say.no.to.wod: anti war on drugs editorial (1995)
• letter: a professor of law Blum's letter explaining many of things wrong with the War on Drugs (32K)
• pihkal.42: Chapter 42 of "PiHKAL", dealing with drug laws (50K)
• pros.objects: 'The Prosecution Objects'; attorney's differences with the War on Drugs
• rationality.relevance: a look at drug laws
• reefer.racism: was pot prohibition racially motivated?
• review.against.excess: review of a book on drug policy
• rights.what.rights: editorial showing war on drugs abuses
• wod.is.perfectly.norml: author urges violent opposition to war on drugs (23K)
• zpapers: article on drug policy reform (54K)

Various legalization approaches
• 12.reasons: 'Pragmatist' article, '12 reasons to legalize drugs', for full legalization (1988)
• argument: pro-legalization essay (1994)
• day.after.legalization: what the immediate effects of legalization would be (1993)
• economics.of.cannabis.legalization: DPF paper on an economic plan to legalize cannabis (1993)
• failed.policy: UK article for state-licensed 'drug shops' (1994)
• friedman.interview: Nobel prize winning economist talks about ending the drug war (1992)
• how.leg.would.cut.crime: pro-legalization editorial (1993)
• judges: article on US judges for legalization (1992)
• our.right.to.drugs: excerpts from Thomas Szasz's book (1993)
• persecution: a former federal prisoner argues that the war on psychedelic drugs creates too much suffering
• peyote.speech: speech for Native American rights to peyote (1990)
• prohibition.2: legalization article (1993)
• relegald.lft: Libertarian Party leaflet, 'Should We Re-Legalize Drugs'
• we.lost.the.war: Boston Globe article for legalization (1995)

Other approaches
• frankfurt.resolution: European call for change in drug policy
• harm.reduction: article about European drug policy
• case.for.decrim: pro-decriminalization essay (1993)
• free.dope: Canadian pro-decriminalization article (1994)
• harm-reduction.html: The Harm Reduction Approach to Drug Control: International Progress (122K, 1994)
• la.times.editorial: why the War on Drugs isn't working, what we should try instead (1992)
• mock.mj.license: example of what a marijuana license would look like
• nadelmann: drug Prohibition in the United States: Costs, Consequences, and Alternatives
• wisotsky1: the basic problems of the war on drugs
• wisotsky2: a realistic solution

The Netherlands
• normalization-drugs.html: Normalization of the Drugs Problem: An Outline of the Dutch Drugs Policy (1992)
• netherlands.legalization: index of a Dutch report on legalization (1994)
• 94.fact.sheet: fact sheet on Netherlands drug policy (1994)
• amsterdam: facts and figures about Amsterdam's drug policy
• drug.classes: Netherlands's drug classification plan (1992)
• grassed.up: info on Netherlands marijuana policy (1993)
• netherlands.info: references and info on Dutch drug policy (1991)
• netherlands.needles: statistics on Dutch needle exchange program (1993)
• netherlands.policy: official description of their drug policy (1989)
• who.approves: World Health Organization approves of harm deduction (1993)

Pro- War On Drug Approches

Against Legalization
• crime.link: most major criminals test positive for drugs (1994)
• cruelest.hoax: NYTimes editorial against legalization (1994)
• dont.legalize: essay critiquing a Gore Vidal pro-legalization essay (1994)
• dont.legalize.pot: Canadian essay on how legalizing marijuana would 'devastate our youth' (1994)
• keep.drugs.illegal: pro-prohibition article (1993)
• uk.against.legalization: why the British Government is against legalization (1995)
• wrong.message: 'Wrong Message of Legalizing Illicit Drugs' (PDFA) (1994)

U.S. Politics
• atlanta: overview of an anti-legalization conference in Atlanta (1995)
• brown.comments: transcript of the appointment of now-former drug czar Lee Brown, with Clinton comments on the war on drugs (1993)
• brown.police.view: police journal article about Lee Brown
• commentary.on.drug.war: statement by former drug czar William J. Bennett
• czar.usa.today: some excerpts and analysis of an interview with former drug czar Lee Brown (1994)
• reno: U.S. Attorney General Reno says no to legalization (1993)
• solomon.stifle: 'A drug warrior tries to stifle critics of prohibition.' (1995)
• solomon.vendetta: about U.S. Representative Gerald Solomon, Congress' most outspoken drug prohibitionist (1995)

Other

• ad.hominems: Golden Field Guide of Drug Ad Hominems (1995)
• legalization.details: 10 questions legalization advocates need to answer (1993)
• legalization.stats: an opinion poll's results on the question of legalization (1995)
• macneil.lehrer: transcript of a debate on legalization (1993)
• peyote.politics.religion: good article on court cases (1995)
• review.drug.leg.for.and.against: review of a law-reform-debate book (1992)
• review.economic.anatomy: review of 'Economic Anatomy of a Drug War', with ordering info.
• sacramental.peyote: US court decisions and laws re: religious peyote use (1994)
• support.swells: article on legalization support growth (1994)
• why-politicians-wont.html: Why politicians won't legalize drugs; includes a table of 'Landmarks in the Development of Drug Prohibition'

Essential Links

• DRCNet's Drug Library: claims to be 'the world's largest online drug library'

See an error? Have some info? Contact us!