Joshua Wolf Shenk

About the author: Joshua Wolf Shenk is a freelance writer living in New York City who has written many articles on legalization and drug policy for magazines such as Harper's, the Washington Monthly, and The Economist.

Although the horrors of drug addiction appear to call for prohibition, the war on drugs has created its own victims: innocent children killed in drug-related shootouts, young people lured from school into the drug trade, and nonviolent criminals imprisoned for unreasonably long terms. Instead of spending tax dollars building more prisons and fighting a losing battle, the government should spend money on treatment and education. Drugs are indeed dangerous, yet the government chooses to regulate, not prohibit equally dangerous drugs like tobacco and alcohol. Rather than continue its crusade against drugs, the government should examine alternatives to prohibition.

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