Back to the BYU Cougars Newsfeed

Letter: The War on Drugs has been a failure; we need a paradigm shift

I would like to respond to Tuesday’s letter from S.G. Letendre, who wonders why Robert Wadman’s Sunday commentary failed to mention addictions’ role in crime.

I don’t know why the relationship wasn’t mentioned, but I am certain that S.G. Letendre is accurate in making the assertion that addiction is related to increased crime. So, let’s change the rules. I believe (after doing my own research) that this relationship would greatly decrease if drugs or the possession of them were legalized or, at least, decriminalized.

In many countries where drugs are decriminalized, crime rates have decreased as have deaths and the transmission of diseases.