Think Twice about This Vice?  

[As you read this, note that the part in italics was written in British English, whose spelling of certain words differs from that of American English.]  

In last week’s community lesson, we looked at personal desire, that is, our penchant for vices, and cooperation, that is, our willingness to pay taxes.  We noted that government found itself in a moral morass, because legalizing vices in order to collect taxes might do more harm than good.  

However, according to the view below, the good of legalizing a particular vice outweighs the harm.  

…A pragmatic argument against criminalising drugs is that criminalisation creates vast rents and encourages criminal entrepreneurs to use violence, intimidation, bribery, extortion and corruption to extract these rents. Another pragmatic argument is that it is pointless to waste resources fighting a war that cannot be won. The losing war on drugs wastes resources that could be used to fight terrorism and other crimes.  

Another important argument for legalising, in particular, all cultivation of poppy and of coca (and their illegal derivatives) is that this would take away a vital source of income and political support for terrorist movements, including the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan , and Colombia’s Revolutionary Armed Forces (Farc) and various paramilitary groups.  

The United Nations estimates that opium production in Afghanistan grew to more than 6,000 metric tonnes last year with a value exceeding $3bn. It is the origin of more than 90 per cent of the world’s illegally consumed opiates.  

A significant portion of the profits flows to the Taliban, who act as middlemen in the opium business.  They combine extortion and threats of violence towards the poppy farmers with the sale of protection to these same farmers against those who would destroy their livelihood, mainly the Nato allies and the Afghan central government.…  

“Legalize Drugs to Beat Terrorists,” Financial Times, August 7, 2007.

If you answer the multiple-choice questions below and e-mail to lessonanswers@mymontebello.com with “Lesson answers” in the subject field, you will be credited toward a “certificate of recognition in community affairs” to be awarded in 2007 by a local nonprofit organization.  

1. Legalizing a vice reduces which of the following problems?

(a) Bribery.

(b) Extortion.

(c) Corruption.

(d) Violence.  

2. Where does the Taliban get some of its funding?

(a) New Jersey casinos.

(b) California casinos.

(c) Opium in Afghanistan .  

3. What alternatives to the legalization of drugs might be effective?

(a) Segregation of users and vendors from nonusers, with government watching over users and vendors to ensure that terrorists not make an income.

(b) Paying farmers to grow alternative crops. 

February 7, 2008