Crook Chimes In On US Drug War

Clive Crook, writing in the Financial Times, adds his voice to the chorus of dissent regarding our "draconian" drug laws. I'm not sold that our drug laws are criminally stupid, I would call them slightly mistargeted. And to point to the countries of western Europe as an example of how dumb our drug laws are is to swing and miss. Countless times when I was in Europe I awkwardly stumbled upon, much to my dismay and fear, people using heroin in public. I'm glad I don't have to encounter those scenes in my country. And it's not just because I come from some bourgie suburb. Walk the streets of inner cities and tell me the next time you see groups of people out in the open handling needles and obviously injecting themselves. It just doesn't happen out in the open. That's not to say that because our strict laws force people to use behind closed doors they are perfect; but I prefer that over the laissez-faire attitudes toward drugs in Europe where any passerby might encounter a scene that they shouldn't have to.