In the article “GHB leads to deaths,” Drew Holland blames drugs for deaths and claims that keeping drugs illegal is the right thing to do. However, the article makes a great case for legalization.

Holland cites rising numbers of hospitalizations as a reason to continue with the status quo. These numbers show that interdiction and stopping drug use from the supply side does not work. Everyone who wants drugs knows where to get them.

Holland also states that “dosages of the drug can be tricky to calculate.” The reason this is a problem is because when you buy drugs on the street you do not know either the quantity or the purity of the drug. Problems such as these are the cause of most overdoses. If drugs were legalized and regulated by the government, then dosage and purity could be controlled.

Another benefit of legalization would be the end of the black market. During the 1920s when regulated brewing companies could not sell alcohol, criminals like Al Capone did. Without the black market there would be no profit for drug dealers, and the drug trade would become legitimate and controllable. As long as drugs are illegal and artificially overvalued, someone is going to sell them. Prohibition did not work for alcohol back then, and it is not working for drugs today. Maybe it is time for a change.

-Jeffrey Blume
junior