A new prescription

An overlooked takeaway from the sad Breonna Taylor story should be about injecting some sanity into national drug policy. Enough already! This ineffective, failed, 50+ year “war on drugs” has cost beaucoup bucks, clogged the legal system and criminalized many while achieving the polar opposite of any benefit it ever aspired to. And cost lives. Most recently Ms. Taylor’s.

Legalize all drugs now. Make them pure, available and cheap. No age limits. It is parents’ responsibility to parent. Not government’s. Aggressive factual messaging and timely, affordable rehab opportunities should be the norm. Being “under the influence” during the commission of any criminal activity should never be considered a mitigating circumstance.

One has a right to engage in self-destructive behavior. That’s not an unreasonable definition of freedom. Not all choices one makes are wise or good and consequential outcomes often bite, creating negatively impactful ripples enveloping many. Is it the state’s responsibility to pick, pester and persecute some harmful personal activities while remaining deaf, dumb and blind to other equally destructive and costly behaviors?

Draconian drug policies put police outside Ms. Taylor’s front door that fateful day. Those same policies generate the cash necessary to corrupt many facets of the legal system, hatch criminals, destroy family structures, crumble communities and degrade safety. Some define stupid as doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. Is the fix on, or in?

William Baxley

Spokane