The Compassionate Coalition

The following news advisory discusses our second Zogby poll
result, and is the latest volley in the fight to end drug
prohibition. Note that while the topic is overall legalization,
paragraph four effectively argues the special case of marijuana
legalization as well. The document is available on our web site
at http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle_blog/2007/dec/05/poll_hard_drug_legalization_little_use

-- we'd be grateful if those of you familiar with Digg,
Stumbleupon, Netscape, Reddit or other such sites would vote for
it there to help get the word out. Please visit
http://stopthedrugwar.org/donate to enable us to do even more
too! Thank you for being with us on this 74th anniversary of the
repeal of Alcohol Prohibition. -- David Borden, DRCNet

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Editorial Advisory
December 5, 2007

99% of Americans Wouldn't Use Hard Drugs If They Were Legalized

Zogby Poll Suggests Prohibition Doesn't Reduce Use

Washington, DC -- Marking the 74th anniversary of the repeal of national Alcohol Prohibition, StoptheDrugWar.org today released polling results suggesting that drug prohibition's main supporting argument may be simply wrong. Drug policy reformers point to a wide range of demonstrated social harms created by the drug laws -- crime and violence, spread of infectious diseases, official corruption, easy funding for terrorist groups, to name a few -- while prohibitionists argue that use and addiction would explode if drugs were legalized. But is the prohibitionist assumption well-founded?

Zogby polling data released today asked 1,028 likely voters, "If hard drugs such as heroin or cocaine were legalized, would you be likely to use them?" Ninety-ninety percent of respondents answered, "No." Only 0.6 percent said "Yes." The remaining 0.4 percent weren't sure.

The results are similar to usage rates occurring today under the "drug war," as measured by the federal government's National Survey on Drug Use and Health (formerly the National Household Survey). The 2006 NSDUH found 0.3 percent of the population had used heroin in the past month and 2.4 percent had used cocaine (http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/NSDUH/2k6NSDUH/2k6results.cfm#Ch2). Even for cocaine, the numbers are compatible, because Zogby surveyed persons aged 18 years and up, while NSDUH begins with age 12; and because of the poll's statistical margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.

A comparison of drug use rates in countries with criminal penalties for drug use with the drug use rates of countries that have decriminalized personal use also suggests that policy may play only a secondary role in determining use rates. For example, in the Netherlands, where marijuana is sold openly in the famous "coffee shops," 12 percent of young adults age 15-24 reported using marijuana during 2005, as compared with 24 percent in neighboring France, where marijuana is an arrestable offense, according to data compiled by the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/html.cfm/index419EN.html). In the United States, where police make nearly 800,000 marijuana arrests each year, young adults age 18-25 in the 2004-2005 survey year reported past-year marijuana use at the rate of 27.9 percent (http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k5state/Ch2.htm#Fig2.5).

David Borden, StoptheDrugWar.org's executive director, commented when releasing the Zogby data: "Prohibition is sending hundreds of billions of dollars per year into the global criminal underground. That money fuels crime and disorder on the streets of our cities, while simultaneously helping to finance international terrorist organizations. Meanwhile, inflation-adjusted cocaine prices are a fifth of what they were 30 years ago, and any kid who wants to join the Mafia can sign up to deal it in his school. Addicts are harmed by the prohibition policy worst of all. It's time to stop shooting ourselves in the feet, and to control and regulate drugs through legalization."

The full Zogby poll results, and additional information, are available online at: http://stopthedrugwar.org/legalization/

StoptheDrugWar.org (still known to many of our readers as DRCNet, the Drug Reform Coordination Network), is an international organization working for an end to drug prohibition worldwide and for reform of drug policy and the criminal justice system in the US. Visit http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle for the latest issue of our weekly, in-depth newsletter, Drug War Chronicle.