Joe Biden is too timid. It is time to legalise cocaine
The costs of prohibition outweigh the benefits
“It makes no sense,” said Joe Biden on October 6th, as he pardoned the 6,000 or so Americans convicted of possessing a small amount of marijuana. Although cannabis is fully legal in 19 American states, at the federal level it is still deemed to be as dangerous as heroin and more so than fentanyl, two drugs that contributed to more than 100,000 Americans dying of opioid overdoses last year. But the president’s admission applies to drug policy more broadly. Prohibition is not working—and that can be seen most strikingly with cocaine, not cannabis.
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Legalise it”
Leaders October 15th 2022
From the October 15th 2022 edition
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