The war on drugs is all politics and the only way to win that war is through drug legalization, said Clifford Thornton Friday.
After his mother died shortly before his high school graduation of a heroin overdose, he wanted all drugs off the face of the earth. Then Thornton said he began to "think outside of the box" and suggest a new way to win the "war on drugs."
Thornton spoke to a packed lecture classroom in the Whitinger Business Building, advocating the end of the drug war by "decriminalization, medicalization and legalization."
Such an effort includes taxing drugs, letting doctors prescribe now illegal drugs to monitor addicts and helping those addicts beat their addiction instead of putting them in jail.
He said current drug efforts are not working.
"D.A.R.E. says if they reach one child, it is worth all the effort," Thornton said. "How would parents feel if math, English and geography only reach one child?"
Thornton's argument stated politicians have made illegal drugs worth more than gold. He suggests punishment has done nothing but increase the profits of successful drug traffickers.
"Every last cent is spent on the habit," Thornton said. "People are forced to steal to pay black market prices for a black market established by politicians."
Thornton's ideal world is one where all drugs would be legal, but no one would use them. He suggests physicians prescribe and administer pure cocaine, but also offer counseling for potential users. Thornton said regulation such as punishing those under the influence, taxing drugs like tobacco and establishing legal purchasing and using ages like with tobacco and alcohol would be more effective than keeping drugs illegal.
Thornton's words were met with mixed reactions.
"He got his point across in a way that was politically correct," said senior Matt Schneider, a member of the Gamma Delta Pi economic organization, which invited Thornton.
Junior Wayne Bott said Thornton was a credible source on the subject and presented drugs more politically than Bott had heard before.
"The biggest shock was, after hearing about his past, I'm surprised he is for legalization," Bott said.
Others, like department of economics chairperson Marilyn Flowers, were not as convinced.
"His point of view was worth hearing, but it is a debate to be had," Flowers said. "What we need to do about the drug policy is something we need to be thinking about, regardless of what side we come out on."
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