Letter to the president

Dear Mr. President, I have something to say to you. The war on drugs has been going on since 1971, but it may be a war that is unwinnable the way we are fighting it. By arresting drug addicts like convicts we are worsening their addiction. instead we should be treating it. The war on drugs has been a negative impact on most people. There is something called supply and demand. It means that if the US reduces the supply without reducing the demand, it means that the cost of these drugs goes up. But since the drug market is not price sensitive, nothing changes. People will consume drugs no matter what.

So attacking supply wont work. for example attacking supply causes more traffickers recruitment and more drug production. This is the balloon effect. For example: meth. The US tried to stop production by restricting chemicals used to make the drugs. This forced big meth producers to shut down. The consequences were the thousands of smaller operations across the country. Which led to the US restricting more drugs, killing the small scale operations. The supply stayed the same, why? because Mexican drug cartels took over and then opened large scale meth production operations. Their meth was even purer than before, and they had more experience in smuggling it.

So I've covered all this bad info, so now I'll take a look at the bright side. The way to win this war is harm reduction. Rather than reduce supply, focus on treating addicts. Don't incarcerate addicts. Instead look at what Sweden did. In 1980 Sweden experienced a public health crisis related to heroin. street crime increased and overdose rates skyrocketed. Sweden took a different approach to the matter. Rather than eliminating supply, Sweden open free treatment centers for addicts. HIV rates decreased, heroin OD rates decreased by half, and street crime decreased drastically.

So Mr. President, will the country fall into drugged disrepair, or become a better place. For all.

Sincerely, Baylen Enderton