In a recent blog my Dad mentioned Clint Eastwood's latest film The Mule. The film is quite slow and is based on the true story of the oldest drug mule that was ever caught in the United States. It's a nice film partly because not much happens, but the reason I mention it is that I find it highlights the absurdity of the War on Drugs. The Clint Eastwood character makes huge amounts of money by transporting hundreds of kilos of Cocaine in his pick-up truck from the South to the North of the USA. At the same time DEA agents spend even more money tracking down an old man in a van. The illegal drug trade in the United States is estimated to be around $100 Billion at the same time State and Federal Drug related law enforcement costs the United States around $30 Billion per year. If all drugs were legalised (but controlled) the impact would be :
- Save $30 Billion
- Taxing the now legal drug trade would probably raise another $20 Billion
- Legal drugs could be checked so that consumers would know what they are taking and sold in specific shops with specific conditions like guns, tobacco and alcohol.
- Reduction in drug related deaths
- Huge loss of revenue for criminals
- Big boost to the poor farmers in drug producing countries who would now get a fair wage for their work
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