Goal 11: Reform drug laws to be more effective and less retributive.
[For those who haven't been following this series, I post about one per day, each dealing with a specific goal for the 21st Century. The full list is cited at the end of the diary. Visiting my profile page will give you citations to prior sections.]
Obstacles
Modern societies have had a continuing problem with intoxicating substances. Legislative attempts to control use based upon implicit beliefs about people's proper level of personal pleasure have had mixed results. Resistance to change in these policies arises from these fundamental, unexamined, beliefs, as well as the large infrastructure which is economically dependent on control of intoxicants. Even the illegal producers are resistant to change, since legal substances are not as profitable. For a rethinking to take place the medical, societal and economic factors must all be examined and the impact on each affected group be understood.
If change is to happen the the first step is to "follow the money". Those who are making the most money from the drug business are the ones who oppose change. It is socially unacceptable to state that self-interest is at the core of one's objections so a variety of medical, social and moral arguments are provided instead. A quick glance shows the following groups, among others, benefit from the status quo. On the production side: farmers, drug refiners, smugglers, distributors, and pushers. On the enforcement side: police, judges, prosecutors, jailers and prison management firms, social workers and religious leaders. Even the government benefits since arbitrary enforcement of drug laws is a method of social control. This can be seen in the US by looking at the differential treatment of majority and minority group offenders.
Implementation
The perpetual battle between restrictive mood-altering drug policies and the disregard by much of the populace will probably never end completely. What can change, however, is the consequences for disobeying the rules. The US has one of the most harsh policies while being one of the least effective. Other societies have adopted policies of treatment, education and tolerance that have kept the abuse to a reasonable level and left many to continue to lead productive lives even when breaking the law.
The irrational attitudes toward drug abuse leads to a contempt for the law, increasing police presence, and a profitable underground economy financed by drug money. There are no big breakthroughs needed to make the problem manageable, just careful adoption of successful programs used elsewhere. Since the younger generation seems to be more tolerant of drug use, policies may just change over time as the young become the political group in power.
Groups that favor more humane drug policies have been ineffective since they haven't acknowledged the financial rewards for those involved in the drug complex. Using arguments to counter the false reasons put forward that disguise self-interest doesn't work since it fails to deal with the underlying forces which favor the status quo.
The full list of goals can be found here.
The list of general objections can be found here.