An ugly truth for Fernando Henrique Cardoso and Ruth Dreifuss

As expected Cardoso and Dreifuss say (The New York Times) that human rights abuses in what they prefer to call the “war on drugs” are “widespread and systematic”, asking you to consider the following: “Hundreds of thousands of people locked in detention centers and subject to violent punishments. Millions imprisoned. Hundreds hanged, shot or beheaded. Tens of thousands killed by government forces and non-state actors. Thousands beaten and abused to extract information, and abused in government or private “treatment” centers. Millions denied life-saving medicines.”

However, they forget to tell you that hundreds of thousands of people choose to use drugs, subjecting themselves to violent and other consequences. Millions lose real freedom by choosing to use drugs. Thousands are killed by rival gangs in turf wars. Thousands are beaten and abused by drug dealers, pimps and others. Millions choose to medicate themselves with drugs.

Legalization doesn´t solve the problem. Anybody naïve enough to believe that legalization would keep organized crime from the drugs market hasn´t understood anything about how the drug market works. Does anybody really believe that legalization would deter smugglers, retailers, street dealers and other distributors of drugs to give up their business? Forget it! They won´t! They will compete with lower prices, better quality, 24/7 delivery service, and no questions asked. Cardoso and Dreifuss obviously don´t understand that.