What’s the impact of America’s war on drugs, in spending and human terms?
UNC professor emeritus of economics Arthur Benavie of Chapel Hill explores that question and more in his latest book, “Drugs: America’s Holy War” (Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, $29.95 paperback.)
What’s the impact of America’s war on drugs, in spending and human terms?
UNC professor emeritus of economics Arthur Benavie of Chapel Hill explores that question and more in his latest book, “Drugs: America’s Holy War” (Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, $29.95 paperback.)
“Is it possible that U.S. drug policies are helping to proliferate, not prevent, a multitude of social ills?” Benavie asks. In his book, he writes that the 95-year-old drug war causes homicides, property crimes, the spread of AIDS, the erosion of civil liberties and the criminal punishment of thousands of non-violent people. Benavie says that billions of tax dollars each year in a futile attempt to stop illegal drugs from entering the country. Finally, he says, the war has failed to curb illegal drug use and abuse.
“An end to the war on drugs, much as we ended alcohol prohibition, would destroy dangerous and illegal drug cartels and allow the American government to refocus its attention on public wellbeing,” Benavie says. “The United States should follow the example of European countries and Canada, whose drug control policies focus on harm reduction and public heath rather than arrest and incarceration.”
Benavie’s previous books are “Deficit Hysteria: A Common Sense Look at America’s Rush to Balance the Budget” (1998) and “Social Security Under the Gun” (2003).
College of Arts and Sciences contact: Dee Reid, (919) 843-6339, deereid@unc.edu
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