Busting our mental blocks on drugs and crime.

• Author: Lessard, Suzannah
• Position: Crime

Suzannah Lessard recognized that the drug laws meant to protect us only made things more dangerous. This piece appeared in 1971.

When a drug problem is dealt with in strictly criminal terms, addicts have no choice but to seek out a black market. The dope underworld, in a nation where there are 200,000 addicts and yet heroin is contraband, develops into a grotesque, over-heated form of capitalism. The stakes are high enough to auract the biggest operators, and a small number tend to gain a monopoly.

Zealous enforcement only impels the racketeers to more ingeniously furtive ways, and the greater risk is reflected in the price, once again benefiting the crooks and victimizing the addict. Under the circumstances, he has to turn to crime to support his increasingly expensive habit. The odds for corruption of police are also high. In the course of duty, an agent is bound to come across stashes of heroin worth 50 times their weight in gold, not to mention large sums of money. The quick profits are so tempting that die minute one source is cut off...